Hotels: prepare for summer travelers! bed bugs are hungry and want to eat your guests and customers

by Tommy Underhill
May 6, 2021

Congratulations: your hotel or motel survived the pandemic! You’re ready to spring back to business and thrive again! Don’t let bed bugs threaten to devour your reputation and suck your future dry.

Part 2:
Don’t wait for bed bug complaints to make a plan

This is the second in an 6-part series on bed bugs in the hospitality industry, how to identify them, and ways to combat them and protect your reputation.

• Part 1: Not just a problem for travelers
• Part 2: Don’t wait for bed bug complaints to make a plan
• Part 3: Where to find bed bug infestations
• Part 4: Get the equipment for discreet 1-day bed bug eradications
• Part 5: Eliminate bed bugs in the room today and prevent their return for up to a year
• Part 6: World-class equipment and training backed by empirical results from university studies

A single breeding pair of bed bugs will create an infestation numbering well over half a million hungry, breeding bed bugs in just ten months. Anything less than 100% success is a failed treatment... and any bed bugs that survived your last treatment are ready to repopulate your hotel.

Bed bugs continue to be one of the most difficult pests to control and are commonly reintroduced by hotel guests. These insects are expert hitchhikers, easily making the journey into or out of your facility by hiding in clothing, bedding, electronics, and luggage. Bites can cause irritations ranging from itching to a rash to blisters. Severe cases can result in infection or allergic reaction and may need medical treatment.

According to Brotherhood Mutual Insurance, “If a guest’s interaction with bed bugs results in injury or financial damage, your hotel could potentially be liable for any expenses incurred. Costs associated with paying medical bills, refunding a portion or all the guest’s room fees, and paying to treat the guest’s home could reach into the thousands.”

Brotherhood Mutual Insurance offers the following advice: “The following often are considered ineffective and potentially dangerous measures used by do-it-yourselfers: ammonia, bleach, fire, gasoline and kerosene, wasp spray, bug bombs, and overuse/improper use of agricultural or outlawed insecticides bought on the internet. Use of these can result in toxic fumes, serious injuries, and property damage.”

According to Grant Schwarz of Bed Bug Law in Hollywood, Florida, bed bug lawsuits in the hospitality industry often focus on a few common details:

• Simply having a bed bug treatment policy in place is not enough. Accurately following the approved protocol is no guaranteed shield from litigation or settlement.
• As management, you and your maintenance team, their inspections and treatment documentation could be subpoenaed during the course of a lawsuit. Make a habit of being complete and thorough.
• Juries tend to find liability with hotels and other hospitality properties which have not adequately attempted to treat an active bed bug infestation.
• Juries tend to find liability with hotels and other hospitality properties which have evidence of continuing and/or past infestations.

Be prepared for when your guests arrive... any bed bugs that survived your last treatment are excitedly looking forward to your guests this spring and summer! GreenTech Heat Solutions equipment will kill bed bugs and sanitize and deodorize guest rooms (and the rest of your facility, too!) in one convenient one-day treatment.

GreenTech Heat technology is 100% effective for all life stages of bed bugs, lice, cockroaches, and all other insects that might infest your property. Heat kills microbes, viruses, and bacteria that can cause allergies and odors. GreenTech Heat equipment allows you to self-treat with heat on your schedule and as your needs demand. Our certified training lets you do it right and do it safely the first time. Heat safely kills insects and microbes everywhere they may be found in a single one-day treatment. Call us at 888-699-3944. We have bed bug heaters for sale to get started with heat today.