Businesswoman stands in hotel room. Credit / ShutterstockBusinesswoman stands in hotel room. Credit / Shutterstock
Exploring a new hotel room is always exciting but before you settle into your temporary home, always place your luggage in the bathtub.
While this might seem odd, industry experts say the safest place for your personal belongings is the tub, reducing the risk of taking home more than just memories.
What’s the first thing you do when you check into a hotel room? Maybe you check the bounciness of the mattress, scope out the minibar or scan the bathroom to sniff the toiletries?
Chances are, before you do any of that, you dropped your suitcase on the bed or the luggage rack. According to travel and hygiene experts, this common habit might be one of the worst mistakes made by travelers.
Instead of placing your suitcase on the bed or floor, there’s one unexpected place that should be your go-to: the cold, hard, (hopefully) clean surface of the tub, which is the safest spot for your luggage.
So, why is the bathtub the safest place for your suitcase? The answer is simple: bedbugs.
Breeding grounds
Hotel rooms, no matter how high-end or well-maintained, can be a breeding ground for these tiny pests, stowaways looking for a free ride to a new home.
“Bedbugs are highly efficient hitchhikers. They can move quickly across a room and climb onto luggage or anything left on a bed or floor in just one night,” writes pest control company, Orkin. “Hotels are ideal homes for bedbugs because of the high guest turnover rate. They are also found in these spaces because of how difficult it is to control bedbugs in hotels due to the number of rooms.”
And, the creepy little critters are expert predators, lurking “close to the humans they feed on,” warns Orkin.
Bedbug-free zone
Since the pests thrive in soft, warm areas like mattresses, carpets, and even upholstered furniture, placing your suitcase in these spots only promotes their survival.
The bathtub, on the other hand, is a bedbug-free zone. These bugs struggle to climb smooth surfaces, and since hotel bathrooms are typically cleaned more thoroughly than bedroom areas, your luggage is far less likely to come into contact with the pesky pests.
Entomologist Katelyn Kesheimer, PhD, told Reader’s Digest that she always places her luggage in the bathroom while she examines the room, thoroughly, for bedbugs.
“Once I know it is clear, I bring my luggage out into the main room. But I never put it on the bed, just in case,” Kesheimer said. “A bathroom is the least likely place that bedbugs will be found in a hotel room due to the short amount of time that humans (the bedbugs’ source of food) spend in the bathroom relative to the rest of the room.”
S.L.E.E.P.
When travelling, Orkin suggests using the acronym S.L.E.E.P. to avoid taking bedbugs home with you.
Survey the hotel room for signs of a bedbug infestation. Keep an eye out for dark, ink-like stains on bedding, the crevices of mattresses and box springs. Also, make sure you know what bedbugs look like at all life stages (eggs, newly hatched and adult).
Lift and look in bedbug hiding spots like the mattress, box spring, bed skirt and other furniture, as well as behind baseboards, pictures and even torn wallpaper.
Elevate luggage away from the bed and wall. The safest place is in the bathtub.
Examine your luggage while repacking and once you return home from a trip.
Place all dryer-safe clothing from your luggage in the dryer for at least 20 minutes at the highest setting when you return home.
Masters at hiding
After you’ve inspected your hotel room and found no signs of bed bugs, Orkin recommends taking extra precautions to “keep your belongings secured from a potential infestation.”
Here are some simple tips to protect your belongings.
Luggage: Place your suitcase in the tub during your stay to help prevent bedbugs from making their way into your belongings.
Clothing: If you don’t want the crafty critters clinging to your clothing, use resealable bags to pack clothing and shoes. Also, clothes are more likely to pick up bedbugs when moved to closets or drawers, so avoid unpacking and live out of your suitcase.
Personal items: In addition to being great hitchhikers, bedbugs are also masters at hiding. They have been known to hide in books, cloth toiletry kits and other non-metal personal items. Ensure your belongings are secured properly throughout your trip.
No food? No problem
It might seem like a lot of work but remember that bedbugs are extremely resilient and can live a very, very long time. “They can go months to over a year without a blood meal, so if left in a suitcase or on clothing, they can certainly survive and infest later on when there is access to food,” says Kesheimer.
While putting your suitcase in the bathtub might seem a bit odd, it can drastically reduce your risk of bringing home unwanted guests from your travels.