School is out and families are piling the kids and the suitcases into their SUVs and hitting the highways. It’s vacation time! You’ve packed the sunscreen and the bug spray. You’re prepared to cope with a few picnic ants and evening mosquitoes. Unfortunately no amount of bug spray will protect you from bed bugs. The annoying little insects are a real vacation killer.

Bed bugs have cropped up in all 50 states. They’ve been found in little mom and pop hotels and big fancy national chains. If last night’s guest had bed bugs, you can bet they didn’t all leave when he packed his suitcase. They’re still there, waiting to chomp on the next person who rents the room. And unless someone complains about being bitten, the hotel’s management may not even know they have a problem.

If you want to guarantee yourself and your family a pleasant night’s sleep and enjoyable vacation, take these simple precautions before you bring your suitcases into your hotel room:

• Look for tiny reddish or black streaks on sheets and blankets.
• When you check in the sheets on the bed will have been freshly laundered, so strip them off and look for telltale colored smears on the mattress pad and at the side edges of the mattress along the seams.
• Bed bugs don’t just live in beds. They may be in the carpet, under the wall paper, behind the baseboards, in any tiny crack or crevice. Pull the bed away from the wall and look for smears behind the headboard.
• Pull drawers completely out of the nightstand and dressers and shine a flashlight inside to look for evidence of the critters or the tiny bugs themselves scurrying away from the light.

If you find anything suspicious, ask for a new room in a different part of the hotel. Avoid rooms to either side of the first room or on the floor directly above or below. Bed bugs spread easily through wall voids, duct work and electrical and plumbing conduits so rooms next to or above and below an infected room will be the first to be infected as they spread. Make sure you check the new room for signs of bed bugs. Or just take your business to a different hotel.

If you take a few simple precautions, bed bugs won’t ruin your vacation. If you do happen to encounter the critters and bring them home with you, call Stern Environmental Group immediately. We are the bed bug experts and will eradicate the pesky intruders from your home — guaranteed.

If you are a business owner and a guest complains of bed bugs (or being eaten alive while he slept), call us today. Bed bugs will drive away the vacation season business you rely on. Our bed bug experts can inspect your facility and make sure that you are bed bug free — peace of mind for you and your guests.

To find out more about bed bugs and the full range of services offered by Stern Environmental Group, click the post title. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.