this conversation is making my skin crawl! ick ick ick!

"Do they wash the duvet cover
between guests?"

Of course they do! That is why it is so much nicer than a sheet. With just a sheet you will still get in touch with the blanket, and the blanket is not washed between guests.

I think people are mixing two things here: the actual bed bugs (that exist only in real filth, I have never come across them, not even in so called developing countries) and the tinier ones that are impossible to see. And those exist in every single bed, pillow and sofa, even your own. No vacuuming or airing or washing removes all of them. The only two ways to get rid of them are extreme heat and extreme cold. That is why I drag my bedstuff into a sauna that has been heated to 100°C, or take them out to the balcony when it is -25°C. Then I leave them there for a few hours and dust afterwards.

And because I think people should know who they are sleeping with, go and see your next night´s partners here:

http://images.google.fi/images?q=dus...amp;oi=imagest

... Are you already emptying your deep freeze to make place for your pillows? ,o)

Bedbugs are different than dustmites, and it is indeed bedbugs that are making a huge comeback, at all levels of accommodation throughout the world, from the classiest 5* hotels on down. One reason is that DDT is no longer used. Read the link I posted above.

I've only had bedbugs in a hotel room once, and it wasn't in Europe. It was in a FOUR SEASONS HOTEL in the good old USA. I ended up sleeping on the loveseat, which was tough because I am really tall. I was on an IPO roadshow and we checked in at 1 a.m. after being in 3 cities in one day, 6 flights...I was exhausted and just slept on the loveseat rather than bother with changing rooms or calling the concierge. I didn't want to wait another 30 min to find a clean bed. It was revolting.

But I've never had that problem in Europe and I have been dozens of times!

I've known people who have had a bedbug problem, even though they weren't filthy - were in fact pretty clean. They did all live in New York City. I live in a very dry climate, and we don't get dustmites; do bedbugs likewise prefer a more humid environment?

If your friends were in NYC, they probably lived in an apartment, so they might have gotten the bedbugs from a neighbor. Or they might have gotten them from a hotel, with the bedbugs hitching a ride on their coats or luggage.

Normal cleaning is not going to get rid of bedbugs, once you've gotten them, and from what I've read a dry vs. humid climate doesn't matter either.