The Subtle Warning Sign That Your Hotel Room Might Be Infested With Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are notorious for being hard to detect — they typically only come out in the dead of night when you're already fast asleep, and in most cases, you'll never actually see them in person. The psychological paranoia that develops upon realizing you're sleeping among an infestation could only be described as dreadful. One of the risks of traveling is coming across a bed-bug-infested hotel room and bringing them back home with you, because once they've made your home theirs, they can be extremely difficult to eradicate. While seeing physical signs of these creeping critters may be the closest you can get to confirmation of these bugs being present in your hotel room, there's another sign that might tip you off through one of your other senses.

If you enter a hotel room and get hit with a noticeable whiff of something sweet and musty, there could be a swarm of bed bugs hiding anywhere from the luggage rack to the mattress. This is exactly why tourists should avoid using hotel dressers or putting their luggage on the hotel bed. Bed bugs thrive in and around wood and fabric surfaces, so putting your clothing in plain reach of them is practically inviting the bugs to hitch a ride in your suitcase to wherever you're off to next.

The distinct odor, described as being akin to wet towels or overripe and moldy fruit, is the result of the pheromones that the bugs release to communicate with each other; however, at other times, the smell might seem more akin to wilting or crushed coriander. The message being emitted is one of danger — bed bugs warning their cohorts that a potential threat has entered their safe space. The stronger the scent, the more bed bug enemies you've just entered the arena with.

If you detect an odor similar to the one described above in your hotel room, it's important to act quickly. First, keep your luggage free of bed bugs by putting it in the bathroom and leaving it there. Then run a practical inspection and look for other signs of these hard-to-spot insects. Check mattress seams, box spring edges, tags, and even sheets for dot-sized black- to rust-colored stains or discarded casings. You might even spot eggs, which look like pearly white pinheads, or the shells left behind by hatched larvae, which turn a pale yellow sheen. You can also look behind headboards, under chair cushions, or even around outlets and wall fixtures — these critters are notoriously sneaky and can survive in the most unusual of places. Since they're nocturnal, they'll typically hide in utter darkness until night, when lights are off and all human movement has stilled, so you're unlikely to see the live bugs with your own eyes. However, don't let that deter you from making a confident assessment if you've confirmed these other signs.

The bathroom typically won't harbor bed bugs because they're averse to non-porous surfaces, humidity, and extreme heat (which you might activate during a hot shower). But once you're confident they're present in your room, you should report the problem and remove your belongings from the room immediately, requesting another one as far away from this one on the property as possible. It's best not to blame the owners, as these critters are typically carried in by other guests, unbeknownst to management. Once you've brought the infestation to their attention, it will be important for them to remain calm and act quickly to eliminate the problem and prevent the spread throughout their facility.