lily_1

Hi everyone! I just read about this horrible experience with bed bugs that someone had when they went to Australia. Is bed bugs a really, really HUGE problem there? Now, I'm a little nervous to go.

FamilyTravels

Quite frankly, before the previous post, I had never heard of it in Australia before. So the answer would be a big no. Or at least they are no more prevelant than in any other hotels in the Western world.

KayF

I've never heard of bed bugs here in Australia before and certainly never experienced them and we go away all the time. It sounds like a rare and unusual occurrence.
Kay

Neil_Oz

Hmm - just a wee bit alarmist there, lily_1. Somebody reported them in a suburban Sydney apartment hotel, and I think I read some time ago that they'd been found in a low-rent backpacker place, also in Sydney. To be put off staying at a 5* resort 1,000 km away on this basis is a little like avoiding Miami because bedbugs had been found in a low-rent hotel in NYC.

myaustralia

Don't worry about that. The Sheraton Mirage is a great place to stay and they definitely don't have bed bugs. But always remember that insects are part of our environment and they will always be around, you cannot avoid them. I have lived in Australia for 5 years, in all kind of places and under the beautiful summer skies - never had a bed bug. Go and enjoy the most beautiful country on this planet!!!!

pat_woolford

Don't know why the bedbug thing keeps cropping up on Australian forum, when in recent years they've become a world wide problem. They travel, often in outside seams of soft luggage, and are not necessarily only found in the dingier backpackers and guesthouses of the world. http://www.medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/bedbugs.html

OzMike

Not just in Australia.
It's strange, but just today I have read the following in an US Seniors Forum:

Qoute: " Bed bugs put bite on US hotel industry

Reuters 13may05

ATLANTA: The quaint bedtime saying "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" has become a grim mission statement for even the finest hotels in the United States amid a resurgence of the tiny bloodsucking pests.

Rising complaints about these unwelcome guests that bite in the night are leading to red faces at reception desks and an increase in the number of help calls, according to pest control firms and entomologists. Hotels battling infestations typically request discreet and immediate service, and for good reason. Even though they don't pose a health threat, bed bugs, which live off human blood, can take a nasty bite out of a hotel's reputation and business."
End Quote.

Jed

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story....p;nav=168XZ9tQ

Neil_Oz

Now it's me that's nervous about crossing the Pacific - but in the other direction! At least they're big enough to see easily (it seems). I wonder if they're susceptible to a good dose of bug spray?

pat_woolford

Neil - have a stepson in pest control business, bug spray doesn't work! As the articles mentioned point out, ridding a room of bedbugs is a costly business, professional help is vital. Apart from thorough fumigation of room and bedding all furniture should be removed, wrapped and sealed in heavy black plastic and left in sun for a week to "cook" the eggs. I don't know how this is achieved in cool and wet climates, though.

LoveItaly

Hi Neil, LOL, I don't blame you. I read the article about the hotel in Atlanta (where I had just been) and thought "eeeek"! It is OK, we Fodorites will make sure that you are safe and sound when you arrive in the US. Just "don't let the bedbugs bite" good heavens, my dear Dad told me that everynight.

ted_m

Re pat_woodford.
Pat you listen to too many old wives tales. Having owned many Accommodation Houses since 1980 if you look up internet under BED Bugs it will explain what to use and from experience I can tell you they (the chemicals) work and are freely available in most Hardware stores. Sure it take a several days to be completly free of the blighters but patience pays off.

pat_woolford

ted m - not old wives stories only quoting info from pest control people endorsed by Health Departments of various city councils. The best thing about the pest control companies is that that will give a positive identification of problem, tourists will often blame bedbugs and therefore the proprietor on every conceivable bite they may suffer, often just sandflies. However, I bow to your superior knowledge, and experience in eliminating bedbugs. My answer to Neil was meant to be flippant, as was his comment, as was I love Italy's, as I took it, can hardly see Neil marching around the USA with a can of Mortein or Baygon. Of course the pest control companies are going to milk this relatively new horror to the max. - unfortunately it strikes a chord with many a tourist to Australia who already has a view of unbridled bugdom, which is pretty well unjustified.

BeanMan

We didn't see, or feel, any signs of bedbugs in our month long trip to Australia this January. I would have loved to add a Cimicid to my collection though, they're kind of hard to come by. Being an entomologist gives you a different kind of perspective.

BeanMan