look for their feces-trails of clotted blood.

Since bed bugs have been discovered in even high-end hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, every American hotel guest should be certain they understand how to check hotel rooms for bed bug infestations. Being cautious in this regard is an excellent form of bed bug pest control. By being selective about your hotel rooms, you can prevent bed bugs from hitching a ride back to your place on a piece of luggage or clothing. Following, you'll find bed bug control experts' clues that a hotel room is harboring bed bugs.

1. A room inspection reveals live bed bugs.

Leave your bags at the door while you venture into a hotel room to look for bed bugs. Another option is to place your luggage in the bathtub - you just want to quarantine your bags so that bed bugs can't jump onto them.

Begin your room examination at the bed. Scour the entire thing: under the sheets, around the mattress seams, inside the cracks of the headboard and mattress frame. All of these places make a fine home for bedbugs, whose flattish rusty- or tan-colored bodies are either the size of a poppy seed (juveniles) or an apple seed (adults). Should you happen to see any bugs while carrying out this examination, tell the hotel staff so that they can arrange for bed bug control.

2. Online resources suggest a bed bug pest control problem.

Check with the Bed Bug Registry to see if a hotel has been reported to have a bed bug pest control problem. The Bed Bug Registry provides bed bug information on 12,000 different locations in the US; this database has been compiled via user reports.

3. You discover brown-red streaks in the room.

Looking for actual bed bugs is only the first step in your room inspection. Bed bug pest control experts would suggest that you also look for their feces-trails of clotted blood.

It's smart to bring a headlamp or flashlight with you for this step. Check out the area under the mattress pad and sheets, near the headboard, around the base of the bed, and under the box springs and mattress. But your preventive bed bug control check isn't done yet. Since bed bugs often retreat to a nearby piece of furniture after their nightly feedings, you'll also want to carefully examine the room's furniture. Finally, look at the baseboards near the bed, and scour the luggage closet. Bed bugs are known to live within a certain vicinity of the bed; they scurry to sleep in dark, protected places during the day.

Move to a different hotel if you see any blood-stained trails. Typically, when carrying out bed bug control analysis like this, professional providers of bed bug pest control will find only feces, not the bugs themselves.

The ultimate, telltale sign of a bed bug infestation is to discover bites in groups of twos or threes upon awakening. If you find bloodstains on your linens, you've been the victim of poor bed bug pest control. The itchy suffering you'll experience will continue until you're able to completely clean your luggage and clothes. Leave these items outside of your home upon your return, so that you don't risk the chance of personally spreading bed bugs to your own bed. For more information on how to avoid transmitting infestations, get in touch with your local bed bug control provider.