Most guides about bed bugs in hotels start at the same point: you've already arrived, you're standing in the room, flashlight in hand, peeling back the mattress. That advice is fine — but it's incomplete.
The best time to find out about a bed bug problem is before you book, not after you've arrived at midnight with your luggage.
Here's how to check for bed bugs at every stage — from researching the hotel online to inspecting the room in person to protecting yourself when you get home.
Before you book: check the reviews
Bed bug problems rarely happen once. If a hotel has bed bugs, multiple guests will mention it over weeks or months. The evidence is sitting in the reviews — you just have to find it.
Read the negative reviews, not the summary score. A hotel can have an 8.5 on Booking.com and still have bed bug reports buried in the detailed reviews. The aggregate score is an average — a few guests mentioning pests won't move the number if hundreds of other guests had a fine stay.
Take this hotel in Paris. It scores 8.5 on Booking.com — "Very Good." Looks like a safe pick for a trip to France.
This hotel has confirmed bedbug infestations in room 504 as recently as May 2025, with staff reportedly aware of the problem yet continuing to assign guests to affected rooms. Multiple reports of mold on curtains and bathroom walls, plus musty odors, indicate ongoing moisture and sanitation issues. These critical health hazards make this property unsafe regardless of its decent location near metro stations.
🚩 Red Flags
Staff at this hotel were reportedly aware of the bed bug infestation in room 504 and kept assigning guests to it anyway. One reviewer described the administrator seeing photos of the bugs without even being surprised. None of that shows up in the 8.5 rating.
Search within the reviews. On Booking.com, use the search or filter function in the reviews section and look for keywords like "bed bugs," "bites," "insects," or "pests." Do the same on Google Reviews and TripAdvisor. If multiple guests mention bed bugs independently, that's a pattern — not a one-off.
Check the dates. A bed bug mention from three years ago might mean the hotel dealt with the problem. Three mentions in the last six months means the problem is ongoing.
Look for adjacent complaints. Hotels with bed bugs often have other hygiene issues too. If reviews mention dirty sheets, stains on mattresses, cockroaches, or general uncleanliness, those are warning signs that pest control may not be a priority.
When you arrive: inspect the room before you unpack
You've done your research and the reviews looked clean. Now you're at the hotel. Take five minutes before you unpack to do a quick physical check. Bed bugs are small (about the size of an apple seed) and hide during the day, but they leave visible signs.
Step 1: Stash your luggage in the bathroom. Put your suitcase on the tile floor or in the bathtub — bed bugs can't climb smooth surfaces. Don't put your bags on the bed, the carpet, or the luggage rack until you've inspected.
Step 2: Pull back the sheets. Strip the bed down to the mattress. Check the seams, especially at the corners and the head of the bed. You're looking for:
- Live bugs — small, flat, reddish-brown, about 5mm long
- Dark spots — tiny black or rust-colored dots (bed bug droppings)
- Blood stains — small reddish smears on sheets or mattress
- Eggs or shed skins — tiny white or pale yellow specks, often in seam folds
Use your phone flashlight to see into the seams clearly.
Step 3: Check the headboard. If the headboard is detachable, pull it away from the wall and check behind it. If it's fixed, inspect the edges and any gaps between the headboard and the wall. Bed bugs love the crevices behind headboards.
Step 4: Inspect the nightstand and furniture. Open drawers, check screw holes, and look at the joints of wooden furniture. Bed bugs can hide in any crack or crevice within about 2.5 meters of the bed.
Step 5: Look at the upholstered furniture. Check the seams of any chairs, couches, or cushions in the room. Lift cushions and inspect underneath.
Step 6: Check the walls and ceiling. Look behind picture frames, along baseboards, and around electrical outlets near the bed. If the room has textured wallpaper or a popcorn ceiling, scan for dark spots.
The whole inspection takes about five minutes. If you find anything, don't panic — bed bugs don't transmit diseases. But do act quickly.
What to do if you find bed bugs
Take photos. Document everything you see — the bugs, stains, eggs, whatever you found. You'll need this if you want a refund or compensation.
Tell the front desk immediately. Ask to be moved to a different room — ideally not adjacent to the infested room (not next door, not directly above or below). Bed bugs can travel through walls, ceilings, and floors.
Don't just switch rooms silently. If you don't report it, the next guest gets the same surprise. Hotels have an obligation to address infestations, and most will take your report seriously.
Consider leaving the hotel entirely. If you're not confident the hotel takes pest control seriously — especially if reviews from other guests suggest an ongoing problem — it may be worth rebooking elsewhere. The cost of one night at a different hotel is less than the cost of bringing bed bugs home.
When you get home: prevent hitchhikers
Bed bugs are called "hitchhikers" for a reason. Even if you didn't see any in your room, it's worth taking precautions.
Unpack outside or in the garage. Don't bring your suitcase straight to the bedroom. Open it on a hard, light-colored surface where you can spot anything crawling.
Wash and dry everything on high heat. Bed bugs die at temperatures above 50°C (120°F). Put all your travel clothes — even the ones you didn't wear — directly into the dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Washing alone doesn't reliably kill them; the heat of the dryer is what works.
Vacuum your suitcase. Go over the inside and outside, paying attention to seams and pockets. Seal the vacuum bag or empty the canister into a plastic bag immediately and throw it out.
Store your luggage away from the bedroom. Keep suitcases in a garage, basement, or closet away from sleeping areas. If you want extra protection, seal your luggage in large plastic bags between trips.
The smartest check takes 30 seconds
Physical inspection is important, but the most effective bed bug check happens before you even pack your bags. If previous guests have reported bed bugs in their reviews, that's a stronger signal than anything you'll see with a flashlight.
It's not just small hotels either. Here's the Excalibur — one of the most recognizable casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, rated 7.6 on Booking.com:
This hotel presents serious health and safety risks with confirmed bedbug infestations as recently as June 2025, widespread billing fraud including unauthorized charges up to $2000, and rooms contaminated with blood, mold, and previous guests' belongings. The pattern of security failures, including strangers accessing occupied rooms, combined with systemic cleanliness issues makes this property fundamentally unsafe regardless of its Strip location.
🚩 Red Flags
Bed bugs, blood on sheets, mold, and unauthorized credit card charges totaling over $2,000. From a hotel with over 3,000 rooms on the Strip.
Paris. Vegas. It doesn't matter where you're going — bed bug problems hide behind ratings at every price point.
I built DoNotStay to catch exactly this. It's a free Chrome extension that reads every detailed review on a Booking.com hotel page and flags bed bug mentions automatically — including how many guests reported them, how recently, and what they actually said.
Check any hotel in 30 seconds. Add to Chrome — free →
