5 Common Hotel Pests and Effective Ways to Eliminate Them

Pests need three basic things to survive. Food, water, and shelter! And hotel rooms have everything these pests need to easily thrive and multiply. If you’re a hotel owner and you’re struggling with pests, we have answers to most of your common miseries we aim to solve! Read on to learn more.

1. Common Hotel Pests

• • • Bed Bugs
      One of the most common pests you can run into is bed bugs. A common misconception is that bed bugs only live on beds. But they can be found in many different places. If you are on the lookout for them, some places to target could be in furniture, cracks and crevices, and seam lines. They can even end up on your luggage or clothing as well! If you are wondering how to get rid of bed bugs, some of the warning signs you should look out for are black spots on bed, dead carcasses, shed skin, and tiny blood spots on sheets.Not to say bed bugs are nocturnal, but they only come out when they sense the presence of food. The extra warmth created when guests sleep on beds, excess carbon dioxide can attract bed bugs to come out.
    • Cockroaches and Flies
      Cockroaches and flies love damp and dark areas. And they usually get into closed spaces through drains, pipes, and cracked walls. These entry points that are often missed out and different types of cockroaches find easy access to move in and out. It can be a ghastly sight for guests if they find cockroaches swimming in the bathtub or moving around in a restaurant.
    • Rodents
      Rodents can certainly get into hotel rooms. When there are close quarters, rodents can move from one place to the next very easily. Look out for rodent droppings in hallways and parking lots because those can transfer very quickly. Rodent control will eliminate possible diseases that can immediately spread in closed spaces.
    • Ants
      Ants love the warm climate in spring and summer just as much as you do. And they are looking for an opportunity to settle in as soon as they can. Most business owners know that if you sight a few ants around, there’s a good chance there are another hundreds of them hiding in safe spots, busy building a home. Guests know what nuisance ants can create when they find a few of them moving around the coffee machine in the hotel room, in the restaurant, and perhaps tons of them just outside the kitchen. It can cause you all the years of reputation if an ant infestation is not treated on time.
    • Birds
      While birds don’t have as much of a chance to move into hotels, they’re often sighted in outdoor areas and common spaces like parking lots. These places are susceptible to the occupation of pigeons, seagulls, and other birds. Pest birds bring plenty of diseases with them and can potentially sicken your guests.

2. Implement a Smart Integrated Pest Management Strategy

Killing pests every single time you spot them isn’t the best solution for businesses that have earned a reputation over a large number of years. Instead, an Integrated Pest Management strategy will mitigate the risk of a potential pest infestation all year round. Make sure there are proactive steps taken to regularly inspect and monitor hotel rooms and common spaces, and take necessary steps to combat a pest problem before it blows out of proportion.

3. Encourage Food Services and Housekeeping to Follow Best Practices

Your staff has a big role to play in ensuring hotels remain pest-free all year round. Make them report to you on a regular basis if pests are spotted and eliminate them at the earliest. Even if you have the best exclusion practices in place, it won’t mean a thing if your staff is not on a proactive lookout for pests.

Engage your team in regular pest prevention training with all your staff members so that they put what they have learned to regular practice. Once their shifts begin, it should only come naturally to them to inspect common spaces and hotel rooms besides their daily tasks.

Hotels should work with commercial pest control services that can provide effective year-round pest prevention services that eliminate pests from every nook and corner of your reputed hotel.