As I continue to struggle with tech support on this site, which makes uploading images a pain, I’ll just point out an interesting podcast from the Naked Scientists that deals with bedbugs among other things.

Apparently even five star hotels can be infested with those critters. But there are things you can do:

So the good news is that there are things that you can do to minimise the risk of bringing home bed bugs. So the first thing I would do is I would check the reviews before you go or before you book a hotel, check the reviews and just check that there aren’t reports of bed bugs being there. And if there are reports the hotel may have got rid of the bed bugs and they should say that if they have. Once you’re there, and if you think there are bed bugs because you see them or you feel you’re being bitten a lot in the room, then ask to move rooms. Or if it’s really bad, move hotels. The telltale signs of bed bugs are a) the bites b) looking out for little brown spots on the bed sheets, which are little droplets of poo from the bed bugs. That can be a telltale sign or if indeed you see them. Now if there are bed bugs there, and in fact even if there aren’t bed bugs wherever you are, whether it’s a five star hotel or it’s a youth hostel, it doesn’t matter. Keep your luggage off the floor. So use the luggage racks, keep your luggage zipped up. Any clothes that you unpack. Make sure you hang them up in the wardrobe. I wouldn’t put them in drawers just in case because that’s a likely place with bed bugs possibly to be hiding. Hang them up, don’t leave them on the floor. When you then go home, before you go, check your clothes along the seams, just make sure there are no bed bugs hiding in there. Check inside your luggage. When you get back, if you know you’ve stayed somewhere where there were bed bugs or likely to be bed bugs, unpack your bag in the garden. Bed bugs won’t survive outside. So that’s a good place to do that. And then if you’re really worried, what you can do is you can bag up your clothing and stick it in the freezer for a couple of days, which should kill anything that’s there. The other thing you can do is wash your clothing at 60 degrees [°C.] and that would kill any bug that is there as well.