Travel experts warn: don't place your suitcase on hotel beds

Summer travel season brings the risk of bringing bedbugs home. Experts caution against one common habit that most travellers do when arriving at a hotel – placing luggage on the bed.

Summer is in full swing and travellers are increasingly concerned about one particular fear: bringing bedbugs home. Warmer weather accelerates the spread of these parasites, so a holiday trip should bring home only pleasant memories – not unwanted hitchhikers.

Experts warn against a habit that seems completely innocent but which most people do when arriving at a hotel room: placing luggage on the bed. Bedbugs hide in mattresses, bed frames and bedding folds, and a suitcase is the perfect vehicle for them to move to a new home.

Instead, specialists recommend placing baggage in the bathroom – on bare tiled floors or in the bath – until the room has been thoroughly inspected. You should also check for bugs lurking at the edges of the mattress, in the joints of the bed frame and in the drawers of the bedside table. If in doubt, inform the hotel management immediately.

Bedbugs are small, but their bites cause itchy red marks on the skin, and getting rid of them completely from home often requires professional assistance and considerable expense. Therefore, prevention is far cheaper and less stressful than dealing with the problem after the fact.