Even the best luxurious five-star hotels and resorts can occasionally get an infestation of bed bugs. This is sometimes unavoidable because many hundreds, or even thousands of travelers and tourists can be staying at a hotel or resort at any given time. These little blood drinking critters can easily hitch a ride on unsuspecting travelers or hide in their luggage. Hotel and resort managers are very aware of this problem and do their best to prevent this from happening.

What do these blood sucking pests look like?

Bed bugs are tiny, flat, wingless bugs. Their size can vary from a head of a pin to approximately one-quarter of an inch in length when fully grown. They're oval shaped and look similar to small watermelon seeds. Their color varies from translucent yellow to dark reddish brown. If they have just dined on a traveler's blood their color may look dark brown or black.

How easy are they to find?

Travelers are usually not aware of bedbugs until they observe or feel the red bite marks on their bodies and start scratching their itchy wounds. Bed bugs can be extremely difficult to find if the infestation is light. Their eggs are very tiny, about the size of grains of rice which are even harder to see. And to make matters worse they tend to be nocturnal so they're waking up and looking for a blood breakfast when most vacationers are sleeping.

When you check into your room it is advisable to roll the bed sheets, blankets and comforters all the way down to see if you can find any bed bugs. A tell tale sign that they are there are dark fecal spots or drops of dried blood on the bed linen, pillowcases, or in the seams around the mattress or box springs. You may also find what appear to be shells of bed bugs which are in fact the skins that they shed as they mature. If you find any signs of their presence, call down to the front desk and ask for another room. You may be able to get a discount on your room rate for the upsetting experience and inconvenience.

However, bedbugs do not reflect on the cleanliness of hotels or resorts. These insects do not eat crumbs or dirt, or anything we may associate with unsanitary hotel room conditions. They only feed on blood. In terms of a vacationer's health, current research indicates that these insects do not appear to spread disease even though they can harbor well over twenty-five different pathogens.

Not everyone gets bitten by bed bugs. Sometimes, if there are two travelers asleep in the same bed, only one may get bitten. However, bed bugs don't discriminate. Given a chance they will gladly drink anyone's blood. Bed bugs are attracted by the heat of our bodies and the carbon dioxide that we exhale when we breathe. They also release chemicals that attract each other. These night crawlers move quickly and are excellent climbers. They can easily tag along in a traveler's luggage or on their clothing.

What can you do to avoid these pests when you travel on vacation?

Unfortunately, apart from checking the linen, mattress, box springs, bed frames, behind the headboard, all upholstered furniture, and along the baseboards in your room, that's about all you can do.

Bed bugs are a universal problem and can be found in motels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, hotels, pod hotels, resorts, hospitals, airplanes, trains, cabs, buses, cruise ships, etc. These small blood suckers can be found near any readily available source of blood, like tired travelers. Bedbugs can even hitch a ride home with you and turn your home sweet home into a living hell.

What can you do to get rid of pesky bed bugs?

You should leave this job to a professional pest control company as these insects are very difficult to get rid of. It is expensive and can take a lot of time treating an infestation of bed bugs which usually involves the use of pesticides and steam. This process may have to be repeated a number of times before the very hot steam and pesticides kill them all. Don't forget that the insects must come into direct contact with the hot steam and pesticides for these tactics to be completely effective.

As for your home, prevention is a lot easier and far less costly than the cure. In your home, you do not have to throw your mattress and box springs out. You should cover your mattress and box springs with zippered plastic coverings which will stop bedbugs from hiding in the cracks and crevices of your mattress. Zippered plastic pillow protectors are just as effective for your pillows. This prevents any possible bedbugs that are on the inside from getting out. At the same time it will stop any new infestations from getting in, eliminating the bed as a problem. However, this is only one part of ridding the house of bed bugs. You will still have to apply steam and pesticides to any areas of the home where they might be hiding.

There is a new and exciting revolutionary product that looks very promising for monitoring and eliminating bed bugs. It is called the NightWatch Bedbug Trap designed by Bio Sensory, Inc.. This small, easy to use product has a kairomone, carbon dioxide, and heat lure that traps and kills bed bugs. Under a monitored field test this product captured and killed over a thousand bed bugs. The company's website is Biosensory.com.