There’s practically nothing you could do to salvage a booking if your Airbnb guests are getting bit by bed bugs. These tiny little begs can’t fly and prefer to stay put but have infested hotels and short term rental units all over the world by hitch hiking onto travelers.
But even worse than having to give a full refund to an unhappy guest is having to shut down your listing and cancel your upcoming bookings in order to rid your space of the infestation.
And while it’s practically impossible to completely prevent guests from bringing bed bugs to your listing, there are ways to minimize the potential for contamination and try to prevent bedbugs from entering your unit in the first place.
Here are the best tips on dealing with bed bugs according to our readers.
Prevent Bedbugs from Calling Your Airbnb Home in the First Place
Once bed bugs are in your house, getting rid of them can be a real pain. So the best solution is to prevent contamination in the first place.
So what are bed bugs attracted to most? Through repeat experiments, researchers in England found that bed bugs are far more attracted to dirty laundry than practically anything else.
What does that mean for you as a host?
Give your guests an EASY option to stash their dirty laundry away from the bedrooms using hampers with covers.
But NOT with an open hamper. Instead, we’d recommend getting hampers with lids and interior linings for easy transport and possible bedbug containment, if needed.
Host Recommended: We asked our hosts which hampers they’d recommend most and here are their top recommended (and affordable) options:
[su_list icon=”icon: thumbs-up”]
[/su_list]
PRO TIP: Placement is key to usefulness. Ideally, if the bathroom is connected to the guest room, place the hampers in the bathroom where it’s most convenient for the guest to place soiled clothing in the hampers. Guests are unlikely to remove their soiled clothing more than a few feet where they’re most likely removing clothing–bedrooms and bathrooms. Because preventing bed bugs is the last thing on their minds, it’s up to you to the hamper where they’ll actually use it. If you must place the hamper inside the room, place it on the opposite side of the bed or near the entrance. If you have a walk in closet with a changing area, place it there instead.
Protect Your Mattresses
As a Airbnb host, you quickly understand the relationship between good night sleep and a 5-star review. Having comfortable mattresses is often a necessary and pricey investment you make for your Airbnb listing. And to make sure you don’t inadvertently host unwanted guests in bed bugs, you will want to protect your investment with proper mattress covers.
Some covers are great for protecting against stains but not for preventing or kill bed bugs. Follow these tips for finding the right protective cover that can do both.
- Find bite proof fabric – Many mattress covers are not bite proof. They can help protect against liquid stains but bed bugs will be able to move freely through the fabric.
- Avoid vinyl covers – these covers will prevent bed bugs from entering OR leaving your mattress, meaning they can be great for prevention and for kill bed bugs. Although cost effective (often <$20), they tend to be noisy with a very plastic feel and can make guests feel hot and sweaty. Not recommended for delivering a great guest experience.
- Polyurethane-lined covers – has the same protective ability as vinyl covers but is often made alongside softer fabrics to create a quiet and softer feel. And because it’s breathable, it allows for a much cooler and more comfortable sleeping experience.
- Good, tight zippers – some covers will have large zipper teeth that fall short of the seams and a tiny space as little as 1mm wide allow bugs to get in. Find one with tight small zipper teeth that closes entirely or rub some candle wax over the opening to seal from bugs but still be able to unzip when you need to.
PRO TIP: Put one of these LinenSpa Polyurethane Mattress Covers on every mattress in your Airbnb listing. It is vinyl free, light and breathable, absolutely waterproof, bed bug proof, and dust mite proof, and comes with added zipper encasement for additional bed bug protection.
Use Metal Luggage Racks for Luggage Storage
Bed bugs do not like climbing on metal surfaces. As a good two way protection to minimize the transfer of bed bugs between dirty luggage to your space or existing bugs from getting into your guests’ luggage, utilizing simple luggage racks with metal legs are ideal.
PRO TIP: Place one in each bedroom in your Airbnb listing.
How to Tell if Your Airbnb is Already Infested with Bed Bugs
Besides getting bitten yourself or having guests complain to you of bed bugs, here are the steps to take for you to quickly determine if you’re already hosting bedbugs as unwanted guests.
- Where to look – bedsheets, seams of any and all linen or fabric based furniture, in drawer corners and joints, loose wall paper, essentially all cracks and crevices wider than the thickness of of a credit card.
- Spot the tell tale signs of bed bugs – rusty or reddish brown stains on bed sheets or mattresses left by squished bed bugs, dark dots that could be bug excrements, eggs or eggshells about 1mm in size, and of course, live bugs.
If you suspect a possible infestation, follow the steps in this detailed wikiHow guide on proper precautions to take as you check for bed bugs.
PRO TIP: If you do find an infestation, contact Airbnb Resolution Center and work with them to notify guests of upcoming bookings (within the next 7 days) to help them find alternative accommodations. Issue full refunds. Better to lose a few bookings than to permanently damage your listing risking nasty guest reviews citing bed bugs.
Have you had an unfortunate incident with bed bugs in your Airbnb?
What did you do to get rid of the infestation? Have you taken additional precautions to prevent future infestations? Post to the comments and let us know!
✔ How to avoid the BIG mistakes that most hosts make
✔ The secret weapon of all Top 1% Hosts
✔ The pricing strategy used by professionals
✔ How to consistently get gleaming 5-Star reviews
✔ How to free up your time without becoming a "robotic host"
This free training is brought to you by James Svetec an Airbnb Expert who has managed over $1M in bookings & Symon He, the founder of LearnBNB, the #1 Airbnb hosting education blog.
Learn about all of the secrets that professional hosts don't want you to know
Great post! Thanks for writing up. Never had bed bugs and don’t intend to start.
Yeah it’s not something hosts think about but it’s spreading. If you get an infestation and don’t catch it in time, it could cause a serious disruption to your listing and put you at risk of getting some very angry guests.
Definitely calculate in cleaner and bedlining fees!
Question I’m new to airbnb! But I want you guys opinion…I first found put about bedbugs in 2014 when on of my friends had it. I was bringing them into my home and didn’t even realize it. Long story short I got rid of all my furniture. Took my clothes to the laundry mat dried everything and washed everything and moved.whenever I get a bedbugs bite I get the worst allergic reaction ever! Since then I’ve gotten bitten around my ankles at work!! But anyways let me get to my point. So even though I want to host I’m so scared of these bugs is it wierd to get a pak-tite heater closet which basically if you place your suitcase in it ….it heats up for a hour and then it kills the bugs…I’m not calling nobody dirty becuase the bugs don’t discriminate. I’m just trying to protect the consumer and the place from a infestation? Like what do yall think.wpuld y’all feel uncomfortable staying at somewhere where the check in process was to heat up ur stuff just to be on the safe side. Becuase I’m not one of them people that take the bed bug thing lightly.
Sorry to hear about your experience! Yeah they are annoying. Your solution has the potential to come off as extreme and it’ll be tough to communicate to guests in your listing description. Could come off as paranoid host to some potential guests if not worded perfectly. Guest might worry about the heat damaging their goods. Plus it’s an extra step in the process that just sounds like extra work for the guest. Your best bet is to implement the less intrusive methods to minimize and contain any potential infestation.
As an allergy sufferer I understand, but as an AirBnB guest I wouldn’t book a place requiring that. It’s the one hour thing… I’m traveling for 8-18 hours or more by the time I walk in your door…spending an hour heating my luggage when all I want to do is shower and crash isn’t going to happen. Plus will it handle large duffles? When I’m doing a month long trip I carry multiple suitcases including a very large duffel. Would the guest have to wait an hour for each suitcase? I think you would just scare guests away.
Should you protect the box spring and mattress, or mattress only?
Both if you can swing it but at least the mattress. Box springs are much cheaper to replace.
Bedbugs are ever unwanted in households and commercial premises. Bedbugs will infest readily and if not controlled in enough time, will continue to wreck havoc reaching high level infestation which may be complex to eliminate completely….
Bedbugs! These insects invade homes and wreak havoc wherever they will intentionally attack. Effective bed bug control may seem impossible when it comes to a high level stubborn infestation, but there must be light at the end of the tunnel to eliminate these small, pesky pests.
Bed bugs are tricky bugs. When they get into a home or business, they can get into hard to reach locations, not just your beds. These insects can dwell in outlets, wall voids, electronics, behind baseboards and anywhere close to resting and sleeping human sites. They can also be deep inside upholstered furniture or under rugs unsparingly. The trick to beating these hitch hiking, tricky bugs is understanding their habits and habitats. Bedbugs are for sure are real nuisance. Bedbug infestations seem to be increasing around the world at an alarming rate not even being threatened by available control measures, possibly due to insecticide resistance. Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides is already widespread in the whole world. The bedbug infestation occurs in aggregations when conditions are favorable, but the arthropods disperse when conditions are unfavorable. Active female dispersal can potentially lead to treatment failures and should be taken into account when using control methods.
New tactics against these bugs are needed for this escalating public health concern in locations with high occupant turnover, such as hotels, hospitals, and nursing homes. Indeed, in the past decade bedbugs have become a worldwide urban pest, with the number of households affected markedly increased.
This week I found two dead adult well fed bugs. They were dead and absolutely no sign of red spots or excremental (Black dots). I found the first bug with one guest & then the other with the following guest. What do I do. I thought the first one was a flea. It may have been but the second one definitely not a flea. I’ve got a good friend who’s bed was infested by Airbnb guests. Will Airbnb PST for treatment as it’s their guests who have brought them in?
I and my host just went through bed bug hell. The hosts were relatively new, but excellent in anticipating every need and comfort of guests except bed bugs.
I initially found two adult bugs and reported them to the hosts. They tore the place apart cleaning and in hindsight I should have reported it immediately to Airbnb and left. But my stay was for two weeks, and no way would I have found something at a good cost last minute.
Instead I went back to the unprotected bed and a week later, I was awakened by tiny babies and tons of bites.
I reported it again to the hosts, telling them I was now leaving to go to a hotel as I could not in good concious take the bugs to another hosts. I called airbnb to ask for help to defray the cost of the hotel.
My hosts were not happy. Understandably. All of their furniture was new. They were OCD clean.
There had not been complaints before.
Except there had been. One prior guest complained of a cockroach bite.
For the hosts, they called exterminator, I imagine they had to shut down hosting for a while, and it is time consuming and exhausting.
On the side of the guest.
Every Airbnb rep does not know the policy.
I was first told to leave and find another host. I said I could not possibly risk infecting another host I was placed on hold and later told that I would receive a full refund for days I had not stayed and 50 percent refund for the days I did stay after reporting the bugs.
Later they told me I HAD to cancel my complete reservation for my next host. This was a new host with an intro price of 14 bucks per night. No way was I gonna find a hotel to match that.
Airbnb does not find accomadations for you. They give you either a per diem or a set price. For me it was 266 of a reimbursement pot spread over four nights in a metropolitan city over Pride weekend. I also had about 200 of refund money from the previous host. But that still left me paying 100 bucks out of my pocket after booking a Red roof inn.
So for hosts, don’t even think about hosting without protection
Travellers, we don’t anticipate having to find a new place but if you have a problem ( I travel a lot and this is the third time in five years that I needed help after a faulty lodging) think about how you will solve it on your own. You will need money upfront and even with reimbursement it might not cover everything.
Consider amenities, a hosts that has a washer and dryer only helps themselves when helping you with cleanliness.
Ask host ahead of time if they have bed bug protection.
If taking public transit, take care not to sit on soft surfaces if possible and keep your bags on ypur person and not on the seat.
If you have to call airbnb there may be a concept (not language) barrier. The rep I talked to insisted I dry clean my clothing but she really meant put in dryer. This could have been costly for reimbursement had I not asked for clarification.
Also it helps to record conversations ( if legal in your state) as you may talk to several reps and each one may say a different thing.
Finally, make sure you have an emergency stash of money, or even trip protection if possible. Your lodging might be included.
Bed bugs are not something you want to pass along as a souvenir from your trip.
Keep your hosts/guests clean and free from these vermin if possible, and if not act quickly to get rid of.
Thank you so much for sharing your story Clover! So sorry you had to deal with this unfortunate incident. Yeah, bed bugs are just so nasty for both guests and hosts. And it was very considerate and thoughtful of you to think of the next host–many guests in your situation would not have done the same.
I recently stayed at an Airbnb. When I woke up my second (and last) morning I found myself covered in bed bug bites. I was not able to message the host about it until later in the day I checked out. She did not believe me and told me that she looked and could not find any. A few days later I sent her photos of some of my bites and told her that I was 100% sure I got them at her place since the previous 26 nights I had slept at home and did not have any bites until I spent 2 nights at her place. I told her if it was my place I would get a professional service as bed bugs are notoriously difficult to see and get rid of. She came back with an offer that she would get a professional service if I paid for it if there were no bed bugs and she would pay if there were. Um, no, I said the cabin was her responsibility. I live a 2 1/2 hour drive away from there and no matter what she did, and no matter if she believed me or not, the outcome was the same for me. I have not posted a public review as I thought it was in her best interest to take responsibility. Given the busy summer season, her place is booked every night for the next month.
You’ve give her every courtesy and opportunity to take you seriously and fix the issue. You should consider writing a public review to warn other guests and ensure that she publicly address it. Bed bugs are nasty. From what you’re saying, she’s not taking it seriously enough.
I just started hosting 7/9/19. I’ve had 5 bookings and the last one got a bunch of bites all over. She went to the Dr and they said looks like bedbugs. I am literally freaking out right now. I called a bedbug exterminator and they are coming tomorrow to see if we have them. What if I do and the guest brought them with her? How can I know? What should I do as far as any litigation? I haven’t contacted airbnb yet.
Sorry you have to deal with this. It’s really tough to know whether it was that guest or a previous guest so it won’t be easy to go after the guest anyway. Just fix the problem if you have it, take precautions to minimize future incidents, and move on. Very little to gain here. Focus on future guests and bookings instead.
One of the things I am aware of about bed bugs is that they are not restricted to beds, anything made of wood can make a handy home for them from cracks in bed frames, picture frames to shelves and so on. They are thin little blighters and can hide anywhere and come out at night. They are generally easy to get rid of but whatever you do has to be comprehensive, becuase if you miss one they will breed up again!
I work assembling furniture in peoples homes and came across this once, when removing an old bed frame, it was horrible to point out. Equally I just wanted to leave ASAP I didn’t want my tools getting tainted! I read up on it that evening just to be sure and left my tools in the car outside overnight. Whilst the overnight cold would ave dne the trick it damaged my drill driver batteries!