Bed bugs are not limited to budget motels or poorly maintained properties. They appear in four-star hotels, boutique properties, resorts, and short-term rentals around the world. A 2024 study by pest control company Orkin found that cities like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia consistently rank among the most bed-bug-infested urban areas in the United States. And a survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association found that a striking 68 percent of respondents who had been treated for bed bugs had stayed in a hotel or motel near or around the time they contracted them. The bugs travel just as much as their human hosts do.
Where Bed Bugs Hide in Hotel Rooms
Understanding where bed bugs prefer to live is key to understanding why the bathtub strategy works so effectively. These insects are attracted to warm, dark, flat hiding spots in areas where human beings spend prolonged periods of time — particularly lying down. In a hotel room, their preferred habitats are highly predictable:
The mattress itself — particularly along the seams, in the folds, and at the corners
Inside the box spring
Behind and underneath the headboard — one of the most common hiding spots
Behind artwork or pictures hanging on the wall near the bed
Within the crevices and joints of the bed frame
Inside the folds and creases of upholstered furniture — couches, accent chairs, and ottomans
Along the edges of carpeting near the bed
Inside drawers and closets — particularly if a previous guest’s infested clothing was stored there
Even inside luggage racks — specifically within the hollow legs where the bugs can nest completely out of sight
Notice what is conspicuously absent from that list: the bathroom. Bathrooms are hard-surfaced environments — tile, porcelain, ceramic, chrome — with very few of the dark, flat, fabric-adjacent hiding places that bed bugs require. The bugs genuinely prefer more natural, textured surfaces, and smooth, hard bathroom surfaces simply do not provide them. Additionally, hotel bathrooms are among the most frequently and thoroughly cleaned areas in any room, and towels, bath mats, and linens are replaced for every new guest. All of these factors combine to make the bathroom — and specifically the bathtub — a significantly safer zone than the main room for storing your luggage.
The Full Bathtub Strategy — How to Do It Right
Step 1: Bathtub First, Everything Else After
The moment you enter your hotel room — before you sit on the bed, before you open your suitcase, before you even take off your jacket — walk directly to the bathroom and place your luggage inside the bathtub. This single action protects your belongings from any bed bugs that may be present in the room while you conduct your inspection. For added protection, you can wrap your luggage in large plastic garbage bags before placing them in the tub — this keeps any bathroom moisture away from your bags and keeps any outside dirt from contaminating the tub surface.
Step 2: Thoroughly Inspect the Room Before Unpacking
With your luggage safely stored in the bathtub, you can now inspect the room methodically without worrying about your belongings. Pull back the bedding and carefully examine the mattress, focusing on the seams, corners, and folds. Check the box spring if accessible. Look behind the headboard. Run a flashlight along the joints of the bed frame. Check inside any drawers and along the back of the closet. Look at the luggage rack carefully — inspect the legs, which can harbor bugs in their hollow centers. You are looking for the bugs themselves (small, flat, reddish-brown), their shed skins, dark droppings that look like tiny ink spots, or small blood stains on light-colored surfaces.
Step 3: Decide Where to Keep Your Luggage for the Rest of Your Stay
If your inspection finds no signs of bed bugs, you have more options for where to keep your luggage during the rest of your stay. The bathtub remains the safest option throughout the entire trip. However, if the room appears clear, you can use the luggage rack — with the important caveat that you should choose racks with solid legs rather than hollow ones, and inspect it carefully first. What you should never do under any circumstances: place your open suitcase on the bed, leave it on the floor near upholstered furniture, or lay clothing directly on the bedding or mattress. Even after a clean inspection, keeping your bags away from fabric surfaces is simply good travel practice.
Why the Bathtub Works So Well — The Science Behind It
The effectiveness of the bathtub strategy is backed by what entomologists know about bed bug behavior and environmental preferences. Bed bugs rely on fabric surfaces, dark crevices, and proximity to human sleeping areas to survive and reproduce. A bathtub offers none of these things. Its smooth porcelain or acrylic surface gives the insects almost nothing to grip or cling to. Its open, well-lit, and frequently cleaned nature provides none of the dark, undisturbed hiding spots they require. And its location in the bathroom — physically separated from the main sleeping area where bugs concentrate their activity — adds an additional barrier of distance.
