Taking 5 minutes to perform a bed bug inspection when checking into a hotel can help avoid bringing home "uninvited guests.

" Step one: Do not place luggage directly on the bed or floor — first place luggage in the bathroom bathtub or on the hotel luggage rack (bed bugs have difficulty climbing smooth metal surfaces).

Step two: Pull back the top sheet and fitted sheet, and inspect the four corner seams, piping, and underneath the brand label of the mattress.

Use a cell phone flashlight to illuminate, looking for black ink-dot-like spots (bed bug feces), rust-colored bloodstains (crushed bed bugs), white rice-grain-sized eggs, and empty brown nymphal shed skins.

Step three: Inspect the joints and screw holes of the headboard and bed frame.

Step four: Inspect furniture around the bed — the bottom of nightstand drawers, behind picture frames, and the crevices of telephone keypads.

Step five: Inspect sofa armrests and cushion zipper areas.

If any signs of bed bugs are found — even just one or two small spots — immediately request the hotel to change rooms (not an adjacent room on the same floor; bed bugs can spread through wall cracks).