Hoteliers may be unable to prevent guests bringing bed bugs into their establishments, but a trio of Canadian entomologists have come up with a chemical-free way of zapping the pests.
The Good Knight bed (which safely kills and traps the bugs) has been developed by Paul Maloney and his children Laurel and Tim, who recently lost their three-year-old bed-bug-detecting golden retriever to a nose tumour which was caused by sniffing pesticide-treated beds.
Patent-pending technology converts the self-cleansing beds into sterilising heat treatment chambers between room changes that destroy all stages of the bed bug life cycle. Hidden traps continue to protect the purified bed from re-infestation.
The system also eliminates dust mites, moulds, bacteria, allergens, odours and VOCs.
"The hotel industry is the cross roads for beg bugs. It is not a question of 'if' they will get bed bugs but 'when'," said Maloney.
He estimated that bed bugs cost New York hotels an average $7,700 per room per year in lost revenue and extermination costs, and said the Good Knight would pay for itself in less than a year, as well as boosting revenues and customer confidence.
The Maloneys' company, Eco Bug Doctor Inc, has developed a number of prototype beds and is now working with manufacturers and hotels to produce a range of attractively-designed models for hoteliers.
It is kicking off with a queen-size hotel bed, but Maloney said the beds would eventually be produced in all sizes.
