Gone are the days when a hotel’s primary safety concern was ensuring that their beds complied with CRIB 5 Fire Retardancy standards. Though that is still a prime concern, now there are also bed bugs to consider.Bed bug infestations are a growing problem worldwide and a surge of visitors to the UK this summer will bring with it a surge of bed bugs carried in people’s luggage and clothing.
Bed bugs are not just an inconvenience; they will feed on your guests causing nasty reactions and painful rashes, and mattresses are a classic breeding ground for them.
Not only can bed bugs cause an uncomfortable night’s sleep for guests, their presence can fuel serious complaints, bad reviews, compensation claims and costly pest control. As guests spend most of their hotel stay in their beds, they are at a high risk of contact with bed bugs, so it is imperative that hoteliers do not ignore this issue and take the necessary steps to prevent infestation.
Hypnos, the UK’s leading hotel bed maker and proud holder of a HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Warrant, has partnered with HHL Technology to launch Vital Protection™ – a revolutionary new bed treatment to help eliminate bed bugs.
The fabric impregnation treatment is designed to provide long lasting protection against bed bugs for hotel guests. What’s more – it has been independently scientifically proven to effectively repel and instantly kill bed bugs, as well as dust mites and other bacteria.
The treatment can be added to any of Hypnos’ new mattresses ensuring protection before they arrive at the hotel. However, for those hotel owners not wishing to buys new beds, Vital Protection™ can also be used on existing beds, by applying a zipped mattress renovator which encases the whole of the mattress. Vital Protection™ cannot be washed off and is completely invisible and odourless, having no negative impact on the fabric’s fire retardancy properties.
It cannot be stressed enough how important protection against bed bugs will be for hotel owners – particularly this summer – in preserving a brand’s reputation. Recently, a high profile hotel chain in the USA was successfully sued for $382,000 by guests who had been bitten; and entomology studies suggest that Australian tourism has lost $108million a year due to bed bug infestations.
The time for hoteliers to complete their summer checklists is now, in order to avoid any complaints or bad publicity and most importantly – to ensure that your guests have a night’s sleep to remember, for all the right reasons.
Hypnos also offers a bed disposal service, where the company will remove old beds and recycle all the materials. For more information on this service or Vital ProtectionTM, please visit www.hypnoscontractbeds.com or call 0115 973 2180.
