Guests seek wellness options in their hospitality accommodations that go well beyond workouts and swimming pool facilities. They are demanding comfort, cleanliness and peace of mind that come with a healthy living environment. There are a few quick, low-impact choices you can make as a hotelier to provide a healthier hotel room. Choose cleaning products that are made from natural ingredients, as these are less likely to contain harsh chemicals that can impact indoor air quality and cause potential skin contact irritation. Using air purifiers in common areas can also help remove airborne pollutants and improve overall indoor air quality. Another low-impact change you can make is to provide hypoallergenic bedding, such as pillowcases and mattress covers, to reduce the risk of allergic reactions and improve overall comfort.
For a more drastic and impactful strategy to create a healthier room, consider removing carpets and replacing them with hard or laminate flooring. Carpets can trap dust, pollen and other allergens, so removing them and replacing them with hard flooring can help improve indoor air quality and make the room feel healthier. If you want to retain the comfort that a carpet can provide within a room, consider replacing your carpets in shared common areas such as lobbies and corridors. Replacing draperies that can also trap dust and pollen with more streamlined shades is a modern and sleek option; blackout versions are available to secure a peaceful night’s sleep.
Surprisingly, a recent study reported September 2022 from the Journal of Medical Entomology found that a single bed bug can produce more than 50 micrograms of histamine in one week. Left unaddressed, a bed bug infestation will produce enough histamine in a room to irritate guests, which can cause allergic reactions that include inflammation, rashes and potential respiratory problems—not to mention the potential severe consequences to an asthmatic guest residing within your hotel. While creating a healthy environment within your hotel, now more than ever, your bed bug strategy MUST be taken into consideration.
The first steps you should take involve your maintenance and housekeeping staff. Educate your staff on the signs of bed bugs and on how they should report any potential bed bug activity to their supervisors. Formal documentation does not mean difficult, but there needs to be the proper forms in place that your staff is familiar and comfortable using. Your staff should be regularly looking for signs of bed bugs during room turnover, such as small reddish-brown stains on sheets and mattresses, or small, dark spots on walls and furniture. If you do suspect that you have a bed bug infestation, it is important to immediately seek a professional pest control service. Unless you have someone on your maintenance staff who is trained and licensed, treating the infestation yourself can often make the problem worse.
Without question, the best strategy to keep your rooms healthy and safe from bed bug infestations is through prevention. A central step in prevention is to install an active mattress liner on your box spring or mattress that stops introduced bed bugs from laying their eggs. The unrivaled leader in this product field is ActiveGuard®. These liners are the only field-proven way to prevent hitchhiking bed bugs from multiplying quickly in a short window of time. It works continuously 24/7 for two years, with no maintenance required, and it can be installed by your own housekeeping staff as easily as a fitted sheet.
Your guests want healthy, comfortable rooms. Implement prevention and stop bed bugs infestations with ActiveGuard!!
Click here to learn how Bed Bug Prevention Starts with ActiveGuard