If you are a hotel owner or manager, you must be aware that hygiene is the most important aspect of the business. If your hotel is always spotlessly clean, clients will keep coming back. However, regardless of how clean you have kept your hotel, bed bugs may still find their way there. Guests who have may have spent the previous night in a less than hygienic hotel may pick up the pests and when they check-in to your hotel, they may be carrying the pests on their body or luggage. Such guests are likely to spread the pests to your facility. Bed bugs are known to love dark areas and once they reach your bed, they will hide in hard-to-reach areas and continue multiplying.
Before long, you will have a major infestation regardless of the fact that you clean your sheets with a disinfectant on a daily basis. When this happens, you may have to call a bed bugs removal company to take care of the problem. Although bed bugs do not transmit diseases, they are problematic because they bite and leave itchy marks.
The presence of bedbugs in a hotel can spell doom for the business because clients may leave a negative review in travel blogs or even sue the business in a very public manner. If they ever infest your hotel, bed bugs need an urgent solution. You should look for a reputable bed bugs removal company.
How to look for a good bed bugs Removal Company
Experience –
It is essential to work with a bed bugs removal company that has the necessary experience in eliminating the pests from a hotel. A company that has worked on domestic households only is not the best one to work at a hotel because those are two different settings. You should only hire a company that has tangible proof and testimonials to prove that they can eliminate the bugs in a hotel.
Availability –
When you discover that you have a bed bugs infestation you need to work with a removal company that is ready to start work in a day or two. Scheduling you for the next week will not work because it may lead to a full scale infestation that might cause great harm to your business.
Reasonable quote –
While it is important for a bed bug removal company to offer professional services, the job should not cost too much. It is best to ask for 3 different quotes from qualified companies and make a comparison. You should however be aware of a company that will send you a quote before inspecting the scope of the job.
Bed Bugs Removal Techniques –
Before you settle for a company, you may want to inquire their methods of operation. Some may opt to use chemicals while others may opt to use heat treatment.
How to eliminate bed bugs
Once you have agreed with the company to remove the bedbugs, you should set a schedule for the job. This involves ensuring the rooms that will be cleared of bugs are free of guests. A good bed bugs removal company will use an integrated pest control management system. When the bed bugs removal team comes in they usually do the following:
Clearing the rooms –
This involves removing all fabric materials such as bed sheets, duvets and curtains. These items are usually put in large plastic bags ready for cleaning. The cleaning process involves washing them with very hot water containing a disinfectant. They are then dried completely to ensure they are clear of any pests. Mattresses are given special treatment to eliminate any bedbugs on them. The team will use its discretion and in consultation with the management to discard items that are heavily infested.
-All detachable items such as drawers are removed from their positions and kept separately for treatment. This allows the team to reach those dark and hidden places that bugs love to hide.
-Heavy items such as beds are moved to one side and treated thoroughly including on all joints.
-The team then ensures that all cracks and hidden places are sprayed. In addition it uses heat treatment on the affected rooms. This requires the team to liaise with the hotel’s technical team to turn off the heat sprinklers if available. The heat treatment is applied depending on the size of the room and its layout. A room that has clutter and hard-to-reach places needs heat treatment.
-The team then turns to the carpet and vacuums it wile spraying any joints next to the wall. The team will then seal all cracks and openings that may be providing hiding places for the pests.
-Once the entire treatment is done, the team should then replace everything to its former position.
Post bed bugs treatment action-
The bed bugs remover should provide a warranty for the service. This means that after a month or so they should visit the hotel, bed bugs monitoring should be conducted on the follow-up visit to confirm whether they were completely eliminated. A reputable company will not have a problem with scheduling a number of visits to confirm that the hotel is free from bed bugs.
This action is necessary because bed bugs have a life span ranging from 6 to 12 months. It would therefore take almost a year before your hotel is declared completely free of bed bugs. During the period, they should recommend and put in place bed bug monitoring products. In addition, they should also recommend safe products for you to use on your beds during the period.
It may appear like the bed bugs company is going overboard but if you consider the fact that a female lays about 200 eggs in a day which then hatch in 2 weeks, then you realize the action is totally necessary. In about 8 weeks the hatched nymphs will have grown to maturity. This illustration just shows how fast they can multiply.
As the management of the hotel, bed bugs should really concern you and cleaning staff should also be trained on control and monitoring measures. This knowledge will assist in the identification of any infestation at its earliest stage to allow you take immediate corrective action. With Singapore having warm weather for long periods, bed bugs and other pests are likely to multiply fast when they get an opportunity. Do not give them a chance.