Hello, Everyone!

We are preparing to go to Europe for a two-month tour this summer.

Can anyone fill us in on the actual risk of bed bugs and scabies, etc. while we are staying in hostels?

What can we do to protect ourselves?

Thanks for your help!

KL_and_TT

Most Hostels will not allow you to use your own bedding for fear you will bring in fleas, etc... So, you have to use the bedding provided. If a place Looks dirty I would not stay - leave.

Some are immaculate and some are filthy dumps - get some reccomendations before you leave.

Other than that I do not know how to protect yourself. Lysol and other repellants do not work!

Have fun!!!

Hi K,

A. Small.

B. Nothing

I encountered truly abominable bedbugs in a perfectly nice B&B in Jersey. Since this was my one and only encounter in hundreds of trips to more than 60 countries, it is not something I worry about, but now at least I will recognize the feeling immediately and jump out of bed much faster than I did the last time.

From what I've read:
- don't put luggage on the floor
- check the wallpaper behind the bed
- lift the mattress and look under
(you're looking for tiny brown spots)
- take note if there is a sweetish smell (like crushed ants, sort of)

And if by chance you wake in the night and you realise that you have them- What do you do?

Wash in hot water and soap immediately. Sleep on top of the bed if that is your only option, without exposing your skin. Go to a pharmacy the next morning and ask for an appropriate lotion.

yasron, in the words of ever-wise old Mother Goose:

Good night
sleep tight
don't let the bedbugs bite.
But if they do,
<b>take a shoe,
and hit them til they're black and blue.</b>

only stay in the hostels that are part of the &quot;international hostel&quot; chain....
you need to make reservations ahead of time in many of them, but it's well worth it. When my friends and I traveled through Europe staying in hostels, the difference in cleanliness betweeen these and the &quot;other&quot; hostels is unreal - make your reservations!!!

You must be staying in the wrong hostels, &quot;international hostel&quot; (DYM Hostelling International BTW?) or not.

For hostels it's best to do a Google for &quot;hostel reviews&quot; followed by name of town/city