But experienced travelers and hotel housekeeping professionals often recommend a surprisingly different habit: place your suitcase in the bathtub when you first enter your hotel room.
At first, this might sound strange. Why would anyone put expensive luggage inside a bathtub instead of using the luggage rack, a desk, or an empty corner of the room?
The reason has little to do with keeping your suitcase dry or protecting it from bathroom moisture. It is primarily about reducing the risk of bringing bed bugs home with you.
Bed bugs are small insects that can hide in surprisingly narrow spaces, travel unnoticed in luggage, and become a serious nuisance once they enter a home. Although they are commonly associated with beds, mattresses, and upholstered furniture, they can also hide in cracks, furniture joints, luggage racks, and other places where people keep their belongings.
Placing your suitcase in the bathtub is a simple precaution that can help limit its exposure while you inspect the room.
However, this trick is not a guarantee against bed bugs. Understanding why it works, what to look for, and how to protect your belongings can make hotel stays considerably less stressful.
Why the Bathtub Is a Surprisingly Good Place for Your Suitcase
The main advantage of a bathtub is that it is generally a hard, smooth, isolated surface.
Unlike carpets, upholstered chairs, beds, and fabric-covered furniture, a bathtub has very few places where bed bugs can easily hide. Its smooth surface also makes it easier to notice small insects crawling across it.
Bed bugs do not fly or jump. They move by crawling, and they typically seek narrow, protected spaces close to places where people sleep. They may hide in mattress seams, bed frames, headboards, bedside furniture, and cracks around the bed.
A bathtub is usually separated from these common hiding places by a considerable distance and lacks the fabric seams and crevices found in much of the bedroom furniture.
That makes it a useful temporary location for luggage while you inspect the room.
The bathtub is not necessarily the only suitable option. A clean, hard-surfaced area away from the bed may also work. However, the bathtub offers a convenient combination of smooth surfaces, limited hiding places, and physical separation from sleeping areas.
The important point is not that bed bugs are unable to enter bathrooms. They can crawl into bathrooms, and infestations can occur in different parts of a property. Rather, the bathtub provides a temporary location that reduces the chance of placing luggage directly beside a potential hiding spot.
The Hidden Problem With Bed Bugs in Hotels
Bed bugs are among the most frustrating pests travelers can encounter.
The common bed bug, scientifically known as Cimex lectularius, is a small, flat, reddish-brown insect that feeds on human blood. Adult bed bugs are approximately the size of an apple seed, although their appearance changes after feeding.
Because they are relatively small and tend to hide during the day, they can be difficult to notice.
A hotel room may appear perfectly clean while still having a bed bug problem. This is because bed bugs are not attracted to dirt, poor housekeeping, or unpleasant odors in the way many people assume.
They are primarily attracted to the warmth, carbon dioxide, and blood associated with human hosts.
A spotless hotel room can therefore still experience an infestation if bed bugs are introduced through luggage, clothing, furniture, or other belongings.
These insects can also survive for extended periods without feeding under suitable conditions. This makes them particularly difficult to eliminate once they become established.
For travelers, the biggest concern is not necessarily being bitten during the night. It is accidentally transporting a few insects or their eggs back home.
A single unnoticed introduction can potentially lead to a much larger problem if the insects establish themselves and reproduce.
Why You Should Never Put Your Suitcase Directly on the Bed
The hotel bed is probably the first place many travelers think of when they want to put down their luggage.
It is convenient, spacious, and usually positioned near the center of the room.
Unfortunately, it is also one of the locations where bed bugs are most likely to hide.
Bed bugs prefer to remain close to their food source, which means the area surrounding a sleeping person can provide ideal hiding places.