Mattress Encasements: Must Have Protection Against Bed Bugs

No one likes talking about bed bugs at hotels. (Okay, maybe pest management professionals do?) While the discussions around bed bugs have always been hush-hush, bed bugs are nothing new. In fact, it’s estimated that nearly 75% of pest professionals have treated hotels for them.

While COVID-19 is understandably front-of-mind today, the reality is that hotel beds still can harbor bed bugs, mold, bacteria, allergens, pet dander, and more. With the need to set guests’ minds at ease, mattress protection – and protection against bed bugs – is a must.

Protection Against Bed Bugs from the Start

The team at The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark in Monticello, New York had the foresight to include complete mattress protection as part of their room make up procedures from the start. From their initial opening in April 2019, The Kartrite included AllerEase^® mattress encasements to protect their mattress investment and offer an additional level of reassurance for their guests.

AllerEase^® Professional is a full line of products designed to improve your guest experience and is dedicated to protecting your valuable mattress and pillow investment. The Duraflex™ Base with Zip Off Top has a unique design to keep all four sides of the mattress encasement in place for easy care, while the zip-off top provides additional loft and comfort for guests.

Installing AllerEase^® encasements on their mattresses was a preventative measure at The Kartrite. According to Arvin Missick, Resort Manager, AllerEase^® mattress encasements “gives us a sense of security. The general idea was that they protect primarily for bedbugs, but also from other insects getting through to the mattress.”

As guests begin to travel again, improvements in health and cleaning now ranks as more important than price in determining where to stay, according to a recent report from the consultancy Oliver Wyman.

Mattress Encasements as Part of Room Make Up

As hotels scrutinize their cleaning and room make up procedures as a response to COVID-19, from upgrading cleaning cloths to incorporating new laundry procedures to providing protective apparel for staff, addressing long-standing concerns such as bed bugs, mold, and allergens should be addressed too.

Bed bugs are transient insects—they attach to luggage, clothing, or other items and enter rooms via guests. So, despite you and your staff’s best efforts to keep your guestrooms spotless and hygienically sound, these pesky stowaways can still find a way in and make a home in your property.

According to Missick, “Having a mattress encasement is something I think that should be a part of the normal make up of the guest’s room, because you want to make sure that the guests [beds] are protected.” And to those with concerns about install and changing the encasements out? Missick replied, “It was pretty seamless, and I would recommend these to fellow colleagues in the industry.”

Bed Bugs – An Expensive, Unwanted Guest

Keeping mattresses clean and protected – helping guests feel safe – is key as the hotel industry normalizes. There is, however, an even greater impact to mattress protection than guest satisfaction and reassurance. Consider the cost of NOT protecting your mattresses.

The National Pest Management Association estimates hotels spend an average of $6,383 on any given bed bug issue that arises. If litigation arises, it could rise to more than $23,000. By encasing your mattresses in AllerEase^® mattress encasements, your mattresses are protected. If your property experiences bed bugs, the insects cannot penetrate the encasement and damage your mattresses. Rather than an expensive mattress treatment, simply remove the encasement and zip-off the top and launder. With mattress encasements, you remove the risk of having to throw out your mattresses, which saves considerably in the long run.

Not only does the cost of remediation and replacement come up, hotels can experience a hit on bookings as well. Recent bed bug traveler reviews or getting listed on an online bed bug registry can lower the average per-night value of a hotel room.

Without mattress encasements, hoteliers run the risk of exposing mattresses to bed bugs, allergens, bacteria, viruses and more. AllerEase^® Professional offers the reassurance that the mattress, one of the most expensive assets in a hotel room, is protected.