Everybody’s pet peeve when going on a vacation is having to sleep with bedbugs in a hotel room. No matter how fancy a hotel is, bedbugs usually are the “unseen” hosts in these spaces.

According to Pest World, the 2015 Bugs Without Borders survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky revealed that in the U.S., bed bug infestations continue to increase and about 99.6 percent of respondents sought treatment for bedbug bites.

So, what does one need to do to make sure you won’t be sharing your room with these pests? Inspect your room first. Although it may seem like a tiring thing to do (because everyone wants to just sleep under the cozy hotel sheets), it’s the wisest thing to do. How do we spot them? Jim Dill of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension teaches us in this video what to do once we get inside a hotel bedroom to find out if it has bedbugs in it.

First, instead of putting your luggage on the bed or luggage rack, put them in the bathtub or shower. Why? It’s because the bed and the luggage rack are the places where these bedbugs usually hide.

Next, use a flashlight to check for bloodspots and black sand-like spots (or tiny black spots that resemble ground black pepper) on the bed’s backboards, the piping of the mattress, the mattress pad and inside the bed’s nightstand.

Now, the next question is, what do you do if you find evidences of bedbugs in your hotel room? Jim recommends leaving that room ASAP and ask for another room – or just check out of that hotel. It’s the best thing to do to avoid waking up all red and feeling itchy. Moreover, these bedbugs are transported easily and can creep into your luggage and go with you wherever you go.

Watch this video:

Sure, it may take a few minutes of your precious holiday time, but it sure is much better to sleep in a hotel room where there are no bedbugs that bite.