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, restaurant, or bar - 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 are one of the most common bugs in hotels. They hitchhike on luggage, clothing, and furniture, then spread between adjacent rooms through wall voids and hallway traffic. They hide in seams of the mattress, headboards, baseboards, and furniture.
An effective bed bug prevention strategy requires a system of:
The best strategy is to implement suitable measures to prevent an infestation taking hold:
Our team can advise on the types of pest control in hotels suitable for bed bugs, including targeted heat applications that treat entire rooms without residual chemicals. Western Exterminator’s Entotherm 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 highly effective with one treatment.
Cockroaches thrive where food, moisture, and organic matter are available: kitchens, bars, storage rooms, and drains. They hide in cracks and crevices and come out at night. Because they can contaminate surfaces with microorganisms, they pose health risks to guests and staff.
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.
Our technicians can identify the species and recommend the targeted treatments tailored to your operation, from exclusion and sanitation upgrades to targeted treatments.
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.
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. Fleas hide in fibers and seams of carpets, bedding, and upholstered furniture, and develop through egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages, which makes control more complex.
Our technicians can inspect, target hotspots, and coordinate follow-ups that align with your cleaning schedules, helping protect guests, staff, and brand reputation.
House flies, fruit flies, and other fly species are frequent pest problems around kitchens, bars, loading docks, and compactors. These flies breed in garbage, drains, and spilled liquids, then move to food and prep areas. Flies can transfer microbes picked up from unsanitary sites, which is a concern for hospitality businesses.
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:
Our fly control focuses on the full life cycle of these pests and targets the root causes of infestations, and not just the symptoms.
Rats and mice are attracted to hotels by the food supplies in kitchens, restaurants and waste storage areas. Populations can quickly build up if there are poor food and waste handling practices.
It is not just guests’ reactions to rodents that can damage a hotel business; rodents can contaminate food and surfaces they run along with a range of diseases, including Salmonella, E. coli, and Leptospirosis. They can also cause damage to packaging and wiring, and alarm hotel guests.
Guests seeing rodents can cause significant reputational damage. Help protect your brand, customers, and staff with our expert pest control for hospitality.
If you suspect a pest issue, respond immediately to contain the infested area and prevent it from spreading. Next, contact your commercial pest control professionals right away.
What to do first:
Contact us for an inspection and professional treatment
A strong prevention plan helps minimize pest risks and supports health and safety standards. Prevention should be ongoing and built into daily operations.
Prevention checklist:
Our technicians can design a pest management plan that fits your property’s size, layout, and guest capacity.
Western Exterminator has supported hospitality businesses for decades with discreet pest control services. Whether you manage a single boutique location or multiple sites, we can help protect your guests and reputation with expert pest control.
Why choose us:
Get in touch to schedule an inspection or discuss a pest prevention program tailored to your needs. Together, we’ll help your property stay protected from the common bugs in hotels.
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