If you own or manage a hotel, you know that maintaining your commercial property is a continual task. You need to provide a welcoming atmosphere, maintain the building, and address customer complaints. One of the worst complaints you can get from a customer is one about pests. Pests of any kind can drive your visitors away and ruin your hotel’s reputation.
If you hear any complaints about pests from your customers or employees, it’s best to investigate as soon as possible. But how can you tell if your hotel is suffering from pests? Here are nine common signs of pests.
1. Seeing the Pest Yourself
If you see a raccoon scurrying around the garbage cans or ants in one of the rooms, there’s no denying you have a pest problem. Although seeing the pest yourself can be alarming, you’ll be able to tell a pest control company exactly what type of service you need.
2. Rustling or Scratching Sounds
Hotels have a lot of noises, but scratching sounds stand out from the footsteps and closing doors. If pests are the cause, rustling sounds can come from the walls or ceiling. Many pests become more active at night, so you will likely only notice the sound later in the evening.
3. Shed Skin
Pests like cockroaches, spiders, and carpenter ants are known to molt. If you find their shed skins around your hotel, you can be confident that they are nearby. Multiple skins may indicate that you have a pest infestation on your hands.
4. Strange Smells
Strong odors will make your hotel unpleasant to stay or work in. If the smell is musty, there’s a high chance that it’s coming from a pest. Rodents, raccoons, and cockroaches will leave behind a rank odor.
5. Furniture Damage
Some pests will eat through wooden furniture. Pests will also damage woodwork, walls, and other parts of your hotel’s structure. If a particular room has internal furniture damage, you might also find structural damage within the walls.
6. Webs or Eggs
Areas with spiderwebs mean spiders have taken up residence in your hotel. You might also notice spider egg sacs or bug carcasses around the webs. If you find several dead bugs in the same spot, you’ve found a spider’s feeding ground.
7. Grease Marks
Rats and mice can squeeze through small spaces but doing so often leaves a grease mark. Their coats are full of dirt and oil, which rub off onto walls, floors, and pillars. The grease marks are especially noticeable in paths and places they revisit.
8. Droppings
When pests and rodents stay in one place for long, they’ll leave droppings behind. Rodents and cockroaches leave distinctive droppings that can help you identify the type of pest that you’re dealing with.
9. Food Storage Damage
Pests want a free meal where they can get one. Pay close attention to the food storage and food preparation areas. Finding holes, rips, tears, and other damage to food packaging likely means a pest has been snacking on them.
Protect Your Hotel from Pests
Pests will make their presence known in hotels. If you find any of these signs, you should call a professional pest control company like Nature’s Balance to inspect the property. Though one squirrel or spider doesn’t mean you have an infestation, you’ll want to stop the pests before they become a full-blown infestation. Contact Nature’s Balance Pest Control today to provide your hotel with eco-friendly pest control solutions.