Hotels On Independence Day
Now that summer is here, the phones at www.bedbuglaw.com are ringing off the hook. School is out and the summertime travel season is in full season. AAA forecasts that travelers during summer 2017 will hit record numbers. A total of 44.2 million people will be traveling in vehicles, airplanes, trains and boats. The Independence Day Holiday travel weekend is often when most people leave their homes. When people travel from their homes, they need a place to stay. his often means hotels, motels, apartments, condo rentals, vacation rentals or even rented RVs.
Hotel Bed Bug Bites Can Ruin Your Vacation
Unfortunately for many hotel and motel guests, a good time summer trip can lead to disaster due to a small insect: the bed bug. Bed bugs infest tens of thousands of hotel and motel rooms each year. Bed bug bites can cause a seriously painful rash, allergic reaction, burning sensation and permanent scarring. The only way to protect yourself and your family this summer is to educate yourself about bed bugs.
What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?
Bed bugs are small, flat, round brownish-colored insects with 6 legs. A recent survey conducted by the New York Times revealed that most hotel guests cannot properly identify a bed bug. This is because most people have never encountered one. Ants, beetles, roaches, mosquitoes and bees are readily identifiable by most people. But bed bugs are different. Most people will confuse bed bugs with ticks or even termites. The truth is that bed bugs are small. Depending on the life cycle stage of the bed bug seen, it may be hard for even a professional to properly identify it.
When shown this lineup of insect silhouettes, most people could not identify the bed bug.
How Do I Know If My Hotel Room Has Bed Bugs?
Early detection is the key to prevention. This concept applies to just about everything in life, so it is not a surprise we would recommend it for bed bugs in hotel rooms. It is very important to conduct an inspection of your hotel room before accepting it and laying your bags down for the weekend.
Staying at a hotel or vacation property, no matter how clean it may appear poses a great risk of bed bug-related injuries to travelers. Make sure to conduct a visual inspection of the room prior to settling in. Stains, spots or actual bed bugs inside mattress seams or crawling on the headboard or box spring are signs of an infestation.
Red or brown stains are caused by dried blood after a bedbug is crushed after a feeding. Blood spots will appear on the mattress and/or the sheets. Black spots are bedbug feces that is released following a feeding. “Fecal spotting” is a sure sign there is a bed bug infestation in that room. Seen at right is an example of fecal spotting.
Travelers should inspect their rooms prior to getting settled in and unpacking. If any of the listed evidence is found, a new room must be requested and a written incident report should be done. If a new room cannot be provided, do not stay. The risk of injury is too great to stay in a room which could be infested.
What Do I Do If I Find Evidence Of Bed Bugs In My Hotel Room?
If you believe you have found evidence of a bed bug infestation in your room, make sure to document it with photographs. Contact hotel management and make a complaint, insist that the incident be documented. Obtain a copy of the incident report. If you were injured as a result of bed bugs in the hotel room, take pictures of the injuries. Consider seeking medical treatment if the bites are extremely painful.
Hotel Bed Bug Injury Attorney Available For A Free Case Evaluation
If you believe you are the victim of a bed bug attack while on vacation, contact our office today.