by Tommy Underhill, GreenTech Heat
April 20, 2021
Congratulations: your hotel or motel survived the pandemic! You’re ready to spring back to business and thrive again! Don’t let bed bugs threaten to devour your reputation and suck your future dry.
This is the complete 5-part series on bed bugs in the hospitality industry, how to identify them, and ways to combat them and protect your reputation.
Preserve your room inventory and don’t let bed bugs lose you money. Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments has the discreet bed bug heat treatment equipment that will get your rooms back in service in just 1 day!
A single breeding pair of bed bugs will create an infestation numbering well over half a million hungry, breeding bed bugs in just ten months. Anything less than 100% success is a failed treatment... and any bed bugs that survived your last treatment are ready to repopulate your hotel.
The National Pest Management Association cautions travelers that this past year-long hotel and lodging vacancy has emboldened hungry bed bug populations. GreenTech Heat Solutions wants to get the word out to the hospitality industry— including hotels, motels, hostels, and camps— that any bed bugs that survived your last bed bug treatment have been patiently waiting for their next meal to arrive.
“Bed bugs can be found virtually anywhere, and while many Americans are excited to resume travel plans as stay-at-home orders are slowly lifted across the country, it’s imperative that [hospitality managers] remember to stay vigilant against bed bugs,” said Brittany Campbell, Ph.D., entomologist for the NPMA. “Bed bugs can survive several months without a blood meal and with many hotels experiencing low occupancy over the last few months, bed bugs will be hungry and may actually come out in broad daylight to feed— a dramatic shift in behavior for a pest that is notorious for feeding at night.”
People can’t wait to travel again! Don’t assume that any bed bugs that survived your last treatment starved this past year— adult bed bugs have survived in laboratories without food for as long as 550 days and they will be hungry! As far as bed bugs are concerned, as we continue to return to business as usual— whatever that ends up looking like— you will be hosting a grand-re opening buffet special for them: a potentially unlimited supply of guests that will become their next meals. 
All it takes is a few adult bed bugs that did not encounter pesticides from your last treatment to feed on your customers, resume mating, lay eggs which hatch, and reinvigorate the infestation. Understanding the bed bug life cycle shows where each stage of the insect’s metamorphosis from egg to adult will continue to pester guests. Call us at 717-478-HEAT to interrupt this cycle.
Bed bugs continue to be one of the most difficult pests to control and are commonly reintroduced by hotel guests. These insects are expert hitchhikers, easily making the journey into or out of your facility by hiding in clothing, bedding, electronics, and luggage. Bites can cause irritations ranging from itching to a rash to blisters. Severe cases can result in infection or allergic reaction and may need medical treatment.
According to Brotherhood Mutual Insurance, “If a guest’s interaction with bed bugs results in injury or financial damage, your hotel could potentially be liable for any expenses incurred. Costs associated with paying medical bills, refunding a portion or all the guest’s room fees, and paying to treat the guest’s home could reach into the thousands.”
Brotherhood Mutual Insurance offers the following advice: “The following often are considered ineffective and potentially dangerous measures used by do-it-yourselfers: ammonia, bleach, fire, gasoline and kerosene, wasp spray, bug bombs, and overuse/improper use of agricultural or outlawed insecticides bought on the internet. Use of these can result in toxic fumes, serious injuries, and property damage.”
According to Grant Schwarz of Bed Bug Law in Hollywood, Florida, bed bug lawsuits in the hospitality industry often focus on a few common details:
Bed bugs continue to be one of the most difficult pests to control and are commonly 
reintroduced by hotel guests. These insects are expert hitchhikers, easily making the journey into or out of your facility by hiding in clothing, bedding, electronics, and luggage. Bites can cause irritations ranging from itching to a rash to blisters. Severe cases can result in infection or allergic reaction and may need medical treatment.
The problem is more widespread than just finding bed bugs in guest rooms— these insects can infest all areas of a hotel property. Prudent property managers and maintenance teams are always on the look out for multiple problem spots, including...
Don’t assume it’s common knowledge that your staff will know where to look for bed bugs every time they clean or inspect a guest room, or any other area of the property. The best rule to follow is to look in tight places by where humans sit, stand, walk, or sleep. This pie chart shows the most common harborages found within a sleeping room.
The best bed bug to respond to is the one that hasn’t yet bitten a guest or employee. Make sure your team knows the signs to look for, and make it a policy for them to call Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments at 717-478-HEAT to proactively respond to bed bug infestations.
Traditional pesticide-based bed bug treatments can take weeks to completely eradicate an infestation, and the continuing bites will destroy your reputation in the interim. Don’t let a block of rooms be off-line and out of use for the duration of that treatment. A heat treatment by Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments is the only one-day single-treatment protocol effective for bed bugs and other insects. Join the hundreds of hospitality managers, property management companies, and homeowners who have decided that self-treating with heat is the most effective and economical method of bed bug elimination available to the hospitality industry. One treatment by Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments kills bed bugs and their eggs.
The proper heat treatment from Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments will treat guest rooms, meeting rooms, recreation facilities, laundry facilities, and offices in a single day and then certify them as bed-bug free. Call us today at 717-478-HEAT to get a heat treatment scheduled.
Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments bed bug treatments give additional peace of mind that your guests, employees, and staff will be safe from bed bug bites. Our heat treatments get your rooms quickly back in service.
Insurance companies suggest your staff keep excellent records surrounding anything to do with bed bug: complaints, proactive heat treatments, and any repeat bed bug treatments. Hotels that keep excellent records and treatment logs according to protocol are more successful in showing that reasonable steps were taken to eliminate or control infestations, especially when routine inspections and heat treatments are conducted by certified technicians. If a claim is ever filed, your insurance company will want your records. Having well-documented procedures for regular heat treatments and inspections show that your hotel actively takes measures against infestation—and can prove it. Ensure that maintenance, and cleaning staff understand the importance of accurate documentation and preserving all records.
Bed bug claims across the hospitality industry continue to rise. The total cost of one bed bug claim— medical bills, room fee refunds, replacing belongings, and paying to treat the guests’s home could reach into the thousands... even before you factor in negative word-of-mouth, online reviews, and the loss of your good reputation. Business and revenues have been down for too long and Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments knows you deserve better than that!
Be prepared for when your guests arrive... any bed bugs that survived your last treatment are excitedly looking forward to your guests this spring and summer! A heat treatment by Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments will kill bed bugs and sanitize and deodorize guest rooms (and the rest of your facility, too!) in one convenient one-day treatment.
Heat will make your home or business a better place by killing bed bugs and other insects, dust mites, bacteria and other microbes. Trust Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments to kill all your insect and microbial pests. We do it right and do it safely the first time— in a single one-day treatment that even prevents an immediate reinfestation by killing all the eggs. Call us at 717-478-HEAT safely kill all your bed bugs with heat today.
Very difficult situation for Bill. Townhouse with little to no barrier in attic. Reasonable prices and very understanding for a buggy problem. Highly recommend!!
Janet Cook
5 Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
August 22, 2019
The past year needs no introduction: 2020 was the year the world stood still. We all stopped traveling, eating out, going to the office, attending church, and going to movie theaters. And it finally looks like we will start our long-anticipated return to “normal”... and, like it or not, we will be taking bed bugs with us! Read more
Every year, a major pest control company publishes a list of the top US cities for bed bugs. Many sources across the internet will inform you (and those of us at Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments know first-hand!) that treating for bed bugs can be expensive and traditional chemical treatments can require several weeks or more to knock out an active infestation. Now that the economy is open again, you don’t need to live in one of these cities to have a potential bed bug problem... the person next to you could have traveled through one and brought them to visit you! Read more
Camps across the country have been closed during the pandemic... and people can’t wait to return! Don’t assume that any bed bugs that survived your last treatment starved this past year— adult bed bugs have survived in laboratories without food for as long as 550 days and they will be hungry! As far as bed bugs are concerned, as we continue to return to business as usual— whatever that ends up looking like, you will be hosting a camp grand-re opening special for them: a potentially unlimited buffet of guests that will become their next meals. Read more
Congratulations: your hotel or motel survived the pandemic! You’re ready to spring back to business and thrive again! Don’t let bed bugs threaten to devour your reputation and suck your future dry. Preserve your room inventory and don’t let bed bugs lose you money. Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments has the discreet bed bug heat treatment that will get your rooms back in service in just 1 day. Read more
Call: 717-478-HEAT
Email: thehomelessbug@gmail.com
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