Even before I open my bag, I rip open the bed down to the mattress.

I’m looking for signs of bedbugs: small brown spots on the sheets and the mattress. Don’t know what to look for?

Check it out HERE. Yuck.

Bedbugs are notoriously hard to kill (I have had them twice, so I am a reluctant pro). Known as great travelers they don’t care if it’s a crappy run-down meth-lab motel or a luxury la-di-da fancy destination hotel.

Where ever humans are, it’s a bedbug slumber party!

Most important: keep your bag(s) off the floor and use that luggage rack stashed in the closet. Ask for one more, two more, if you need.

Tips from NYT Wirecutter of how to avoid these nasty critters.

Next, I wipe down my entire hotel room with anti-bacterial wipes. Every surface I know I will touch: door handles/knobs, remotes, light switches, outlets, workspace, faucet, toilet flusher, hooks, coffee maker.

You see it – you wipe it.

I also wipe down my seat and surrounding area when I fly.

I close down shop by hanging up the “do not disturb” sign – and leave it there during my entire stay. The last thing I want is someone to come into my clean room and use their bacteria-laden rags. However, I ask housekeeping to provide new towels if I need some, but I’m totally good with using the same towel during my entire stay. After all, I don’t change my towels every day when I’m home …

Here are some awesome hotel hacks I’ve picked up during my travels:

♦ Grab a six-pack or a bottle of your fave wine (with screw top, unless you clever soul packed a wine-opener), fill up your sink with ice from the ice machine and you got an awesome DIY cooler.

♦ Don’t have a drain-stopper? Use the ice-bucket bag to cover the drain hole, put some coins on top and you got yourself a drain plug.

♦ Light getting in through that oddly mysterious gap between the curtains? Do they purposefully make curtains too narrow? Asking for a friend …
Grab those pant hangers with clamps in the closet and shut that gap up!

♦ Even though you wiped down the entire room, you still don’t want to put your toothbrush on that counter, right?
Grab a paper cup, flip it upside down, make a hole in the bottom and you got yourself a DIY toothbrush stand.

♦ The ironing board is the most under-utilized item in your room.
Know how to iron?
Know anyone who irons?! Meh.
Throw a towel over it and use as a side table, make-up table, or bar for those cold drinks you have in the sink.

♦ The oldest trick in the hotel world: look up hotels on one of the big hotel search sites, then contact the hotel directly to book. Most likely you will get a better rate and a better room as the hotel doesn’t have to pay that 15% commission to that big website you just used …