Pray tell about all the press you're reading! Millions of hotel stays each year in the US - what % do you honestly believe results in a bed bug problem?

Thoughts? Yes, this is way over blown and there are better things to worry about.

I just read a trick that's probably just the latest urban myth: pull back the covers, set your laptop on the bed, turn off the lights, go out for dinner. While you're out, the warmth and vibes of the laptop will draw out any little roomies.

. . and, if your laptop has the cooling vents on the bottom as most do, you will return to a fried laptop . . .

I guess it would be safer to sit there and watch it? Ick.

Most of the press happened in 2006, when it was reported that bed bugs were making a comeback. A friend of my mom's got bit in an expensive New York hotel 2 summers ago. I've seen reports on shows like 20/20, read articles in my local newspaper, and doing a google search tonight came up with dozens of articles.
Here's one: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11915026/

But I agree, J62, that, while bed bugs are worth taking the time to look for, they are not worth worrying about.

anonymous, I bet that WOULD work from what I've read! But I don't like the thought of them crawling around my laptop!

In my google search, I also found a couple of nice "balanced" articles that say there are more articles about bed bugs than there are bed bug problems! Basically something to be aware of, but not something to worry about.

Can't you spray your bed with lysol or something if you think there is a problem?

I don't think a spray of Lysol will kill bed bugs! They are VERY hard to kill or get rid of.

A blow torch?

I'd say relax and don't worry about it. Truthfully, it can happen at the Ritz Carlton and the Super 8. And it rarely happens. It's not on the top 20 concerns I have about a hotel and a vacation.

I had read that lavender essence sprayed on the sheets will deter them.. I do that and I have never had a problem, could be that I am lucky or that it works, and I have stayed at Super 8's to Castles in Ireland... And I have bought it at Bath and Body works... a cheap piece of mind ( that is, if it does work !)..

http://bedbugger.com/2007/07/11/lavenderoil/

"don’t waste your time spraying lavender, thyme, tea tree, or eucalyptus in the sheets, or sprinkling sweet rice or boric acid around your bedroom."

I always wear a bulb of garlic on a string around my neck and have never had a problem with bedbugs.


Oh, wait a minute. That's vampires. Never mind.

Well, at least the lavender would help you relax, and worry less about bugs.

NeoPatrick, thanks for the laugh!! That was great. If it were true, we'd have no problems, as my husband eats enough garlic on his food to probably ward off vampires AND bedbugs!

go to one of the Bed, Bath and Beyond or Linens and Things, get yourself a travel sleeping bag....and regardless of what they may say about worrying, a friend is manager of upscale hotel, if you had a black light you would probably freak out at many things...not making light of your question, I too turn up the covers to check everything out....

It seems to me that some people have way too much time on their hands if they are worrying about bed bugs! How do you live in this "infested" world with bacteria, viruses, micro-organisms, parasites, germs, pollen, pollution, UV, ozone, not to mention the threat of asteroids, global warming, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes etc?

Relax, be prudent, worry about things you can really control, like if you have washed your hands.

A bulb of garlic a day will keep the hotties away!

I have to say we travel a lot and never worried about it, but recently stayed at a very nice hotel in Buffalo, NY and my daughter was eaten alive...bites all over her hand and face...it only has to happen once to make you squeamish. I was only happy we were not staying another night!

Putting your laptop out as bait sounds like a bad joke! I would not risk that my computer would be invaded by bugs under the keyboard, in the vents. A really bad idea I think.

I've traveled a lot in this country and have never had a problem with bed bugs. I know it happens, but I don't know anyone who has had a problem with them. I think it's more an urban myth than anything.

Well, you asked for a story -- I have one. This was on my honeymoon, in Mexico, 20 years ago, so not very relevant to today, but anyway: My new husband and I checked into our room in Ixtapa, only to discover that there were two twin beds, separated by a table that was built into the floor (hence no pushing of the beds together). After about the third night of our stay, we greeted each other in the morning with: "Do you feel itchy all over?" "Yeah, you, too?" Yep, bed bugs.

At this point our Apple Tour guide (what - it was the 80's!) offered to let us switch hotels, but we declined. Now, 20 years later, I would definitely take her up on it!

Mambo, I WISH it was an urban myth. Unfortunately bed bugs made a comeback in 2006, causing lots of problems. Just google it for news articles and videos galore.

And it is no longer just stories from 20 years ago in foreign countries, like SusanM had to endure! They are HERE, now, but with education and a quick look around, hopefully we can all avoid getting bitten!

And in 2007!

My best friend and her husband's dream holiday in Charleston/Savannah last fall was ruined when they were both bitten by bed bugs and he suffered a severe allergic reaction which required hospitalization, medication and then ongoing care at home in the Pacific Northwest. They had stayed at a very reputable hotel and the management was responsive but it spoiled their long planned southern holiday.

I gather there's resurgence because DDT or other pesticides that kept bedbugs in check have been banned due to environmental toxicity?

DDT was banned in 1972.

Thanks for info that DDT was banned so long ago.

My husband and I love to travel, stay in a wide range/type of accommmodations, do not generally buy into fears, urban myths but our friends' experience does make us more aware.

Because I use the lower end hotels I get to travel several times a year.And since I live near the west coast I often stay in hotels near the beach, San Diego, SF, LA etc...I've never had any problems with bed bugs in California. Never encountered any on excursions north to Oregon for that matter either. I think it's mostly the southern states that brings 'em out in herds. Not sure why. LOVE the garlic clove idea!LOL

Several hotels in New York City had bed bug issues a couple years ago and that's not a southern state. They can occur anywhere....it doesn't matter how clean the hotel is if a guest brings the little "visitors: with them. I now check the seams of the bare mattress carefully for tell tale signs. I encountered bed bugs years ago in Switzerland and don't want to experience them again!

Interesting to go back through this topic I started 4 years ago! We actually got the little critters about a year and a half ago, probably from a flight back from Orlando. Cost us $1000 to get rid of them, hours and hours and HOURS of time, many sleepless nights, and emotional stress like you wouldn't believe. They are real. They are to be feared. BUT they haven't stopped us from traveling. We've just gotten really, really smart about not bringing ANYTHING back into the house without heating or examining first. And we're smart about what we take in hotel rooms and where we put it.

In advance, I say that it is perfectly OK when the OP gives additional life to a years-old post - particularly when it is a post not centered around trip questions.

With that said, I've been to every state as well as much of Canada, and have never yet seen a bedbug in my life!!!

Not only that, but I've only laid eyes on three cockroaches in my life as well.

Though there was one eerie night when I thought I was experiencing bedbugs while at a hotel:

I'm in the center of Whitehorse, Yukon Territories... at a less-than-opulent hotel. Sitting in bed, watching TV, and I feel these 'bites' on my leg. I start to feel terrible about my decision to stay at this place, and the bites keep happening.

Finally, I decide to just accept my fate, and turn off the ratty-seeming TV along with the lights, and get back under the covers (still with a resigned, but eerie feeling).

It was only then that things became even more weird... and now each time there was a seeming bite it was accompanied by the craziest seeming lightning show (under the covers) that I'd ever witnessed!

Static was the entire cause of what I felt (and eventually saw in the form of light) and I'm sure the dry local air didn't help matters. I was still very relieved.

It was only each time I moved that I felt the little zap on my legs, usually.

The next morning, I turned on the ratty TV, and watched the Saddam statue being torn down in Baghdad.

That's cute but I'm unclear. Where there lightnin bugs in your bed?