Apologies if this has been covered - I can find plenty of bed bug threads but none about this aspect. Like many people, I spend a lot of time in different hotel rooms in different locations and am increasingly worried about the risk of bringing unwanted visitors home with me. There is an article in the Sunday Times Travel section today about the bed bug epidemic hitting London and how the hotels should avail themselves of self-adhesive detection devices costing "�0.03 per room per day". This made me think that presumably there would be portable devices available that I could bring with me when travelling? A quick search reveals some product which seems to be simply a piece of cardboard in a box at �8, which doesn't work according to the Amazon reviews, and another one at �30, which is electricity-operated and thus no good for travelling to different continents. I presume some sort of cheap and cheerful disposable glue trap would do the job? Anybody know of any such device that is both affordable, portable and not dependent on availability of a particular voltage, and works?

A good topic for the Travel Technology Forum.
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Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Is it? I've never seen anything discussed in this forum that doesn't have a plug, and on/off switch, and an Intel processor.... but OK, any glue trap experts here?

I'm going to take a shot at this. I believe that when you see the word "glue" in connection with "bedbugs" the subject is "insect monitors" which are glue strips similar to glue mouse traps. The purpose of them is for exterminators to get an idea how many bugs are crossing a specific location within a specific amount of time.

In my humble opinion, this is of no value to the traveler who wants to know "Does my room have bedbugs?"

I have not heard of any reliable bedbug detection systems that are based on anything other than specially trained dogs, but that's just me.

one of the simplest tips involves keeping your luggage on a metal luggage holders. Bed bugs can't go up the chrome legs. They also suggest untucking the sheets and look at the corner of the mattress.

Doubt there is a machine that detects bed bugs. If the machine made CO2 (to attract them) and had sticky tape (to trap them), that would prob work.

My best guess is its double-sided tape on the bottom/side of the bed that traps the bugs.

One tell-tale sign is the presence of small rust colored spots on the mattress which is usually dried blood.

having said that, I only know of one person who has had potential bed bug bites from staying in a hotel (and it was a cheap hotel I would never have booked), so the occurrences might be VERY rare.

You can use a bowl and dry ice to attract them (put some dry ice in a thermos, put that in a big bowl sprinkled with baby power, they climb into the bowl to get the co2, and can't climb back out), but that's a bit over the top for a hotel room visit.

I wouldn't be so sure, given the demographics of the FT board.

Respectfully, I think everybody is responding with posts that do not answer the OP's question that I interpret as

Is there any device that will enable me to detect the presence of hidden bedbugs in a hotel room?

As far as I know, from attending a seminar last year for real estate lawyers on the issue of bedbugs, the only way to detect hidden bedbugs is with specially-trained dogs.

If anyone knows of an electronic device that is as reliable as the dogs, I'll be very interested in hearing about it.

There are devices that attract them, both traps that use bone meal something or other as a bait, and electric devices like the Nightwatch system which has a timer, releases CO2 to lure them and all that. But that's not meant to be used in an occupied place, but an empty office building at night (as it beeps every few seconds).

A trained dog is a much better way to be sure if you have them or not, but there are other methods.

The notion that bed bugs can only show up at cheap/grungy hotels is a bad notion to have. In NYC they have hit 2* and 5* properties alike. I think that nicer hotels are now more aware of the situation and more rigorous in taking care of and checking for the problem though you should still be cautious as you don't want to take the creatures home with you and have to get your own exterminator.

An electronic device would be nice, so long as it's bisexual (110 and 220/240V) - otherwise it wouldn't work for my travel patterns. I don't think I would get away with travelling with either dry ice or a dog.

I wonder how long these detection machines take to work -- it might have to run overnight, which doesn't help you when staying at a hotel.

Best method I know of is the visual check -- lift up the mattress and look for blood or droppings, especially in the seams and around the tags. Check the headboard and the carpet right around the base of the nightstand.

Here's a link to a site that markets a bed bug detector.

http://www.termitedetector.com/tdsforbedbugs.cfm

It may not detect all bed bugs, but this is what I use:
http://www.usbedbugs.com/BB-Alert-Pa...itor_p_45.html