CQ - when you travel to hotels, this article covers the basics on what to look for:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11877871...ur-hotel-room/
You can also check out
http://bedbugregistry.com/ to see if anyone has reported a bed bug issue (note that this is user supplied info, so it's not vetted by any sort of official authority). Also, basic hotel review websites will sometimes have someone complaining about bed bugs - but again, this is user supplied info - some people could be getting bites during their vacation, and think it's bed bugs.
For an in-home search (not sure if you're asking but I started to type this up so I'll finish): one of the most difficult things around the bed bug issue, is determining whether or not you actually have the damn things!
Hm - ok let me think how I would do this - well first, if you suspect you have bed bugs, you will very likely not see a bed bug at the beginning of an infestation (they are tiny, great hiders, and noctural, so by the time you get up they are hidden in your wall, your bed frame, whatever).
So, you must be bitten. If you are one of the 50% of the population that reacts, you will get a bite that closely resembles a flea bite (people of course have different reactions, some get huge welts, but I'm talking on average here). A tell-tale bed bug bite pattern is what is referred to as "Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner" - the bed bug takes one bite, sort of shuffles along in a straight line a bit takes another bite, then a third - so 3 raised welts in a row is a good indication.
If you notice bites - now personally, I wouldn't do a search myself as it wouldn't yield much. In fact, if you move alot of stuff around, the bed bug can get woken up and just hide somewhere even more remote (like move from your bedframe to the walls).
In fact - this is why bed bug experts will not recommend you do your own self-extermination - you will do a ****ty job, and the chemicals you spray around (like a bug bomb) will serve only to drive the bed bugs into deeper hiding places like your walls, making them more difficult to eventually eradicate.
I would call a NESDCA accredited bed bug dog and professional to verify the presence of bed bugs in my home.
http://www.nesdca.com/index.php?opti...eams&Itemid=19
If you don't have one in you're area, I don't know what I'd do. Probably search around for the best bed bug exterminator in my area, and have him at it.