Many people lift up the sheets and check under the covers for signs of the creepy crawlies. But hotel owners can prevent their guests from having to do so in the first place. Here’s what can, and needs to, be done.

If one or a few of your guests complain that their room has been infested, don’t take it lightly. Bed bugs are serious as they can do harm to your guests. In fact, bed bugs feed on the blood of humans (though some species have a taste for other mammals and birds, too) by inserting a sharp proboscis, or beak, into the victim’s skin. The critters become engorged with blood in about 10 minutes, which fills them up for days. When you hear of a bed bug complaint, address the situation immediately and be prepared to check every other room in your hotel. When the pests are in one room, chances are their friends have traveled to others down the hall.

If you think that taking a room out of operation for a few weeks is going to get rid of the bed bugs naturally, you’re wrong. To fully get rid of them you need to work with a team of exterminators that know how to get rid of pests. They will only take the room out of operation for a few days, which is also good news for you as a business. You also won’t have to worry about the issue occurring as the pest control services will use tools to prevent the bugs from coming back.

While the bugs themselves may be hard to stop, the traces of them are pretty identifiable. Train your cleaning and management staff to look for brown or red streaks on the bedding, skin sheddings, and marks on their own bodies. While the streaks could have been from a scratched mosquito bite, a lot of marks typically mean the bed bugs pooped or burst and left their remains.

Even if you’re not having an issue with bed bugs currently, have a team of professionals come in on a regular basis just to check. They can prevent any problems from happening in the future and catch things you may have missed. It’s always a good idea to have a second opinion every once in a while.

As a hotel owner, you should make it a priority to get rid of pests in your guest rooms. Bring someone in regularly to check for pests, train your staff to look for bugs, and pay attention to all incoming guest comments.