You've worked long and hard to save up the time and money to take a vacation this summer. The last thing you need is for your big trip to be disrupted by little, creepy crawlers. Bed bugs are back, and according to the National Pest Management Association, reports of bed bug incidents shot up 71% between 2000 and 2005.

So how do you know if that hotel you've booked has had bed bug issues in the past? you go online of course!

The Bed Bug Registry is a free, public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada. Since it launched, first as a website in 2006, and now as a phone app, the site has collected about 20,000 reports covering 12,000 locations.

You want to check a certain city's list of incidents? It can do that.

You want to narrow your search to a specific property? It can do that.

You want to set up an alert notifying you if there is a report filed at a place where you're planning a stay? It can do that too.

Just keep in mind there is no way to confirm that these reports are 100% legitimate, so use the information at your own discretion. Case in point: I like to travel to Las Vegas, and when I searched for bed bug reports in Sin City, I discovered a list of hits at nearly hotel, from basic two-star establishments to deluxe five-star resorts. Translation: just about every hotel out there has had a bug bed incident at some point. My best advice is to see how recent the reports are. In some instances the actual room numbers are listed.

So, sleep tight, and...(you know the rest!)

More From KXRB