Bed Bugs

Yikes, so happy I've not encountered bed bugs. I hope my travel luck continues to focus in this area! Pam

There's no evidence that the sprays that Magellan's offers any protection against bed bugs. Seems like a scam to me. Scaring folks into buying useless products. Check the mattress in your room (bring a small flashlight.) Look for small blood stains on mattress. Check crevices for detritus. I never place my luggage on the bed or floor.

Suitcase liners, clothing bags, and sleep sacks won't protect you against bedbugs, either. What is to stop bedbugs from infesting your sleep sack, and then getting in your clothes when you repack your bag? All you can do is inspect and hope for the best. In all the years I have traveled, all over the world, I have never encountered them, and I just can't worry too much about them.

I am with Diane on this one. One room being infested rarely means other rooms are unless the hotel is a horribly maintained (e.g. cheapie "flee bag") hotel. You have just as much of a chance of encountering them in the another room in a different hotel than in another room in that hotel.

I have never encountered them on my travels and I have stayed in some seriously budget places! I think I would rather risk the bugs than have to take suitcase liners, covers, rubber gloves, torches and tweezers in my carry-on bag and THEN have to spend ages inspecting the room. I'm all for looking after yourself when travelling, but if you followed all of the personal safety/food hygiene/health/whatever instructions that the experts come up with you wouldn't actually have any time for enjoying yourself!

Do you do this kind of inspection every time you stay in a hotel in the United States? I think I would have to stay home. I have traveled extensively and seen evidence of bed bugs twice.... Once in Cape Cod in Hyannis Port and once in a cheap ($10) a nite hotel in Guatemala because everything else was booked. Friends at a convention had them in San Antonio Tx. at a Ramada Inn... Don't know if Europe has any more than anyplace else....

I always check on entering because these days, they're everywhere. New York is particularly bad. I check the mattress, especially the seams and crevices. Only found them once--in an airport hotel in Philadelphia. All of the sprays and liners are useless. The thing that kills them (without killing you) is heat. If you think there's any chance that your clothing got infested, a nice long ride in a dryer is as effective as anything in dealing with them. (So I was told by a major San Francisco hotel manager, whose hotel I will not mention so that folks won't avoid the hotel. He claimed that, when a room gets infested, they seal it off and bring in heaters to crank up the temperature. He also said that every hotel in the city that he knew of had had problems with them. In a global world, today's bedbugs in New York are in London or Bangkok or Seattle by tomorrow...) If you want to creep yourself out properly, there are websites that track infestations. Betcha every hotel chain you know is listed!

I can honestly say that I am (almost) speechless! This overreaction to a bug that the human race has shared the planet with since the beginning of time, comes up so often on this site. They have not been found to transmit any human disease known so far. The worst case scenario appears to be some 'discomfort'. Perhaps the damage is more psychological, in which case the money might be better spent seeking professional psychiatric help than buying sprays and potions. The dust mite is far more scary looking under a microscope than the rather cute looking bedbug and there is no way we will ever eliminate those.

Shoni, bedbugs may be cute in your opinion, but they are a major nuisance that most people prefer to avoid. They cause red, angry, very itchy welts that are like particularly bad mosquito bites on the face, hands, and other parts of the body left unclothed. Worse yet, they can easily hitch a ride on clothing, bedding, and luggage so that the victim brings them home and gets to experience these 'cute' pests and the itchy welts over and over and over again indefinitely. Not to mention the expense and hassle of having to get professional help to try to eradicate them at home. Seems to me that it's quite normal to want to avoid them. Maybe it's those that can't understand that ought to think about getting psychiatric help?

When researching hotels in Paris, I found that many had been reported (in big bold letters) as having bedbugs via TripAdvisor.com. That was enough to creep me out, so I decided to rent an apartment instead (less turnover). I agree with placing your luggage in a shower or bathtub to keep it safe from the little monsters and/or leaving your bag in a hot garage for a while before bringing it inside your home.

I would agree that it is normal to want to avoid them, it's just the panic that seems to set in that I find odd. It has never occurred to me to check for bugs. From the OP it seems that half of the holiday is taken up with inspecting the bedding, rugs, seating whilst dressed in a body bag with a torch and tweezers. The mind just boggles that's all. I've stayed in hotels all over Europe and never met a bedbug. From what you read here it would seem there is a pandemic and that their bite is fatal. This topic comes up every few weeks. There's two doing the rounds on the General Europe page as we speak.

I agree that the first poster seems a bit over the top, but it only takes a minute or so to inspect the mattress seams and covering. I don't bother with inspecting furniture myself since I generally don't use it, and carpets are only an issue if you choose to leave your clothes on the floor or leave your luggage there. ( I leave my bag in the bathroom or on a luggage rack, so no worries there.) A little common sense and a quick peek can save the annoyance of an itchy experience, and of all the souvenirs to bring home, bedbugs seem like the least appreciated. YMMV of course.

Some of the reports that I have read on TA (especially for Venice) sound like mosquitos rather than bedbugs ie bites limited to the arms and face. Touchwood (and thank goodness) have yet to meet the little critters.

Any number of reports from reliable sources indicate an increase in finding bed bugs in tourist lodgings. In line with that, I sent my posting to share information gathered from several sources and reports. Some are more authoritative than others, for example, CDC. The posting was made as information only, not as persuasion. If someone finds it helpful, then fine. If not, then fine. However, I find Shoni"s remarks about psychiatric help as nasty and mean spirited. Hardly the thing that one would expect on this site. As a practicing psychologist, I would suggest that you try to relax, calm down, pay attention to something else and forget about fears that your body will be invaded. Probably won't. Good luck to you and God bless.

Well there you go Ross, that's exactly what I meant. Don't let the fear of bugs get out of hand. Get things into perspective.