Pest Prevention In Hotels - Lady Killers Pest Control

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4 pests that really annoy hotel guests and how to prevent them

An encounter with a pest in a hotel can ruin a guest’s stay and result in negative comments on social media spreading a bad reputation for the hotel, seriously affecting business. An infestation of pests can also result in authorities taking legal action to ensure public safety, especially if the kitchens, restaurants, and bars are affected.

Pests can enter any class of hotel — some are brought in by the guests themselves — so it is essential for every hotel to have effective procedures for preventing, monitoring and controlling pests. Five of the most common pests that guests encounter in hotels are:

Bed bugs
Cockroaches
Fleas
Flies

Contact

We will do a quick phone assessment and arrange an appointment at your property.

Assess

We will discuss your pest problem, arrange a survey, and provide a quote and recommendations.

Treat

Our certified specialists will come out to provide your treatment.

Aftercare

We'll make as many visits as required to ensure your problem is resolved.

Bed bugs

In the last two decades, bed bugs have become more common with the increase in international travel. Bed bugs are the most difficult pest to prevent from entering a hotel because they are mainly brought onto the premises by guests themselves — even the best hotels can suffer from an infestation.

Bed bugs can survive for several months without feeding so can easily be taken from hotel to hotel in luggage over several trips.

No guest wants to return from a hotel with a set of irritating bites that can last for days. A lingering reminder of a bad experience is far more likely to lead to a complaint on social media.

The key to preventing bed bugs attacking the guests is to identify the problem as early as possible and take steps to eliminate them.

Bed bug feeding  

Bed bugs are attracted to a feeding host by warmth, carbon dioxide, and various body chemicals. They need to stay near potential hosts to be successful at getting a blood meal. If they are starved, however, they will crawl some distance and spread from room to room, both horizontally and vertically to other floors.

Bed bugs are mainly nocturnal feeders, crawling out of their shelters in the dark and using their sensors to find a warm, breathing body. They crawl on the bedding and feed where bare skin touches the bedding, which is usually face, neck, hands, and arms, leaving a distinctive line of bites on the skin. Bed bugs need only 5-10 minutes of undisturbed feeding to be full.

With an adequate supply of blood, a female bed bug can lay 200-500 eggs per month. The eggs hatch and the young mature into adults over about 5 weeks, which can lead to a rapid increase in population if not checked.

Bed bug prevention

Prevention of bed bugs requires an integrated approach to detect and eliminate them economically, with minimal danger to guests and staff, property, and the environment.

An effective bed bug prevention strategy requires a system of:

inspection, identification, and quantification
implementing control measures
monitoring the effectiveness of controls

The best strategy is to implement suitable measures to prevent an infestation from taking hold:

good maintenance practices to remove access to harborage in the
building structure and fittings
use of bed bug traps to detect their presence
train staff how to detect signs of bed bugs
include checking for bed bugs in your room cleaning procedures
set up an effective policy for dealing with a bed bug infestation
have a procedure in place for handling bed bug complaints from guests

Lady Killers Pest Control’s temp air heaters by Thermal Remediation

Lady Killers Pest Control’s Thermal Remediation heat treatment is a chemical-free method of controlling bed bugs — and other insects such as cockroaches — through the targeted application of heat. It is applied to a whole room to ensure that structural areas that are difficult to access with traditional chemicals are treated. It is safe and highly effective with one treatment.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are a pest where there are readily available food sources. In hotels, cockroaches can infest kitchens, restaurants, bars, public washrooms in the lobby or bathrooms in the guest rooms. They are primarily nocturnal, preferring to stay in a shelter during daytime and searching for food at night. They take shelter in small dark places in furniture, equipment, food packaging, cracks and crevices in the building structure, and in hidden places such as along pipework and cables and inside drain pipes and sewers.

There are several species of cockroaches with slightly differing habitat preferences, but generally, they prefer warm and humid places.

Apart from the negative reaction customers and staff may have on encountering this insect, cockroaches are a health hazard due to their habits of:

feeding on foul contaminated matter such as mold, rotting food, fecal matter in sewers, from rodents and birds, and animal carcasses
contaminating their environment by defecating where they run, frequently expelling saliva on surfaces to ‘taste’ their environment, and discarding cast skins and egg cases
carrying pathogenic microorganisms, such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Listeria, E. coli, and parasitic worms
producing allergens from their droppings and shed skins

Cockroach prevention

Cockroaches can feed on almost anything organic, including cardboard, and on tiny amounts of foods and liquids, therefore good sanitation is the key to prevention. This includes:

good cleaning practices in food storage and preparation areas to
eliminate any residues on surfaces, including floors
store food in cockroach-proof containers
maintain drainage system in good condition
implement waste handling processes to remove waste to suitable containers in a well-maintained waste storage area
good building design and maintenance to deny access and shelter
implement a good inspection regime to quickly identify the presence of cockroaches in deliveries

Lady Killers Pest Control’s cockroach treatment

Lady Killers Pest Control technicians know the best solutions to control cockroach infestations and reduce the risk of re-infestation. Our highly trained and experienced technicians will provide:

safe, targeted treatments: we use products that are non-toxic to humans and pets, which are highly targeted at the places where cockroaches hide
expert knowledge: after identifying the type of cockroach, we will use the most appropriate treatment (sprays, gel baits, dusting powders) to eliminate the problem safely and effectively
professional prevention advice: our technician will highlight areas of cockroach infestation and where proofing is needed to prevent further problems with useful prevention tips.
long-term support: our technician will arrange follow up visits if needed to re-treat the infestation — such as to eliminate newly hatched cockroaches — until your problem is fully resolved.

Fleas

Fleas are a major annoyance to hotel guests because of their irritating bites. Also, unlike bed bugs, they are a potential health risk as they can give their hosts a number of diseases from bacteria, viruses, and parasites that they carry.

Fleas tend to prefer particular animal hosts to feed and breed on, but there are several types that can bite humans apart from the human flea, including cat, dog, bird and rat fleas.

Hotel guests are a major source of fleas, as are pet dogs and cats. Pest animals can also bring fleas into hotels, including birds and rats nesting on or in the building. When the host animal leaves the nest, which could be as a result of pest control measures, fleas will seek new hosts elsewhere in the building.

Like bed bugs, fleas require a blood meal to lay eggs, but unlike bed bugs, fleas lay their eggs on an animal’s hair or feathers, human clothing, or in the sleeping area of the host animal. The eggs hatch into larvae in 2-14 days. These feed on any organic matter, especially adult flea feces in the nesting area of the host animal, vegetable matter and dead insects.

The larva of the human flea can take 19 days to develop into a pupa. The flea can survive over winter in the larva or pupa stage or survive several months in the cocoon as an adult. However, once emerged from the cocoon the adults need a blood meal within a week to survive.

Flea prevention

It is difficult to prevent fleas from entering a hotel, but once present they can be controlled by having a suitable management policy, including:

identify the pest species and determine the source of infection
carefully remove infested bedding and wash on a hot cycle or dispose of
vacuum around the infested areas
treat the infested areas with approved flea killer
treat pets with a suitable flea product

Lady Killers Pest Control’s flea treatment

Lady Killers Pest Control’s technicians are trained in identifying and controlling fleas. They understand the habits of different types of flea and can offer the most appropriate and effective solution for your hotel. All our treatments are safe for your guests, staff, and pets.

Flies

A number of species of fly that are attracted to food products, including food waste, are pests in hotels. House flies, fruit flies, drain flies and blow flies are attracted to the food odors from kitchens and food preparation areas. The main pest species are the house fly and the fruit fly.  

House fly

House flies are not just a nuisance to guests, they are also a health hazard from their habit of feeding and breeding on animal feces, garbage and rotting food.

  House flies are attracted to almost any food, which they will contaminate on landing on it, with matter picked up on their body, from regurgitating digestive juices and from defecating on the food.  

Microorganisms that flies can carry include E. coli, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, fungi and parasitic worms.

  House flies can be a problem in restaurants, bars, kitchens, lobby areas, and food delivery areas. Also, where food waste is stored outside flies can become a nuisance and enter rooms nearby via open windows and doors.  

Fruit fly

  Fruit flies are attracted to fermenting and sugary liquids. Sources of these include food waste, overripe and damaged fruit and some types of vegetable, old drinks bottles, liquid spills, kitchen drains.  

Fruit flies can contaminate food because they will pick up microorganisms from wherever they feed, including feces, which contains both spoilage microorganisms and diseases.

  Fruit flies can be a pest in bars and restaurants, where many sweet and fermented drinks are served, kitchens and near food waste storage areas. The eggs are laid in semi-liquid material in rotting fruit and vegetables. The life cycle from egg to adult is completed in 14 days at 68°F or just 8 days at 86°F.

Fly prevention

The most important way to control flies is by using standard food hygiene practices to deny them access to food sources, including food waste. These include:

adequate cleaning in food preparation, storage, and serving areas
checking the state of food supplies as they are delivered and in storage
hygienic management of food waste, including the use of fly-proof containers
keep drains clean and free of organic matter
maintain barriers to flies, by using screens on windows and vents and keeping doors closed
apply appropriate pesticides using trained personnel — only use as a last resort

1 . 906 . 202 . 0812