Pest control for hotels and hospitality

A single bed bug complaint can cost a hotel a review, a refund and a lost repeat booking. This page is for hotel, motel and inn managers, and for hosts and managers of short-term rentals, in Ontario. Our commercial pest control for hospitality follows four steps: inspect, identify, treat and follow up.

Which pests matter most for hotels?

Bed bugs

Bed bugs travel on luggage, bags and clothing, so any property with guests can get them. They hide in mattress seams, bed frames, headboards, upholstered furniture and behind wall fixtures. They are not a sign of a dirty room. See our bed bug page and the guide to the signs of bed bugs.

Cockroaches

Kitchens, bars, laundry rooms and storage areas give cockroaches food, water and warmth. They also move through shared plumbing and walls between rooms. Our cockroach control page explains how we deal with them.

Ants

Sugar and grease in breakfast areas, vending rooms and kitchens draw ants indoors, mostly in warmer months. See ant control.

Mice

In autumn, mice look for warm buildings. Delivery doors, food storage and the mechanical areas of a hotel are the usual entry points. Our mice page has more detail.

How do you handle bed bug reports in guest rooms?

Speed and care both matter. A usual approach:

1. Take the room out of service. Keep it closed until it has been inspected, so bugs do not spread on luggage or housekeeping carts.
2. Inspect. We check the bed, frame, headboard, furniture and wall edges. We also inspect the rooms next door, above and below.
3. Identify. We confirm what is there. Many bites and marks are not from bed bugs.
4. Treat. We plan the treatment with you and tell you when the room can return to service.
5. Follow up. We recheck to make sure activity has stopped.

The bed bug treatment page covers methods. For prep steps your staff can take, see preparing for bed bug treatment.

What can housekeeping do to help?

Housekeepers are your best early warning. They see every room, so a quick routine matters:

• Look at the mattress seams and the headboard when stripping the bed.
• Report spots, dark specks or live insects straight away, and leave the room as found.
• Bag used linens in the room and carry them straight to the laundry, not along the corridor.
• Keep luggage racks clear of the wall and away from the bed.
• Keep a simple log of the room number and date for every report.

What about kitchens and laundry?

Hotel kitchens need the same care as any food premises. We inspect behind equipment, around drains and in dry storage, and we look at laundry and linen rooms, which can hold roaches and ants. Our commercial pest control page describes how we handle food and shared premises.

How do you protect guest privacy?

Guests come first. We plan visits with you around vacant rooms where possible, we do not discuss a property’s pest history with guests, and our technicians do not need guest names or booking details to do their work. Tell us your rules for room access and we will follow them.

When do visits happen?

We schedule visits within our working hours. We are not a 24-hour service, so tell us about check-out times and busy periods when you request a quote and we will plan around them.

Short-term rentals

If you manage rental units, the same steps apply. Bed bugs can turn up between guests, so inspect the unit after a complaint, before the next booking and after any long-term stay. Hosts often use the gap between bookings for a visit, so tell us your calendar.

Get a free quote

Tell us what type of property you run, how many rooms or units you have and what you have seen. You get price details or a call-back within 30 minutes. That is the quote time, not the visit time. Use the free quote form or call us, and we will plan the inspection with you.