meesa

What are your experiences with bed bugs? Can you see them with your eyes or you just feel like scratching the next morning and then you know you've been bitten? what do you do when you know they are there and they won't change rooms? Can you bring something from home just in case you are faced with that situation?

Kristina

Well, I've never experienced them in Europe, but did in Thailand. They tend to be in places that don't wash their linens with every change of guest (ie very, very cheap).
You'll know you've been bitten if the bites appear in straight lines. I got lucky as I had laid my sarong down on the bed to sleep on it. My husband wasn't so lucky as his ankles were exposed to sheets and he was bitten.
No, I don't belive you can see them.
If you're going to be staying in buget places, like a yough hostel, bring a sleep sack to sleep in.

cigalechanta

When I moved to Beacon Hill years ago, I had no furniture. A guy next door offered me his bed because he was buying a new one. The night I slept in that bed, I itched all night, turned the light on to look and noticed the bites but saw nothing. Went back to bed, , but the itch continued on other parts, I slipped out of bed in the dark, quickly turned on the lights and saw the bugs racing away. I got a bar of soap to kill as many as I could, dressed and threw the bed out on the sidewalk. Slept in the bathtub. The next morning called my landlord who called his exterminator and I went out to buy a bed. I was 118 years old.

bookchick

Mimi, I hope you were actually 18 years old; otherwise you hold your age DARNED well, if you don't mind my saying so.

BC

elle

>>I was 118 years old.

You look great for your age, cigalechanta!

elle

whoops--x-post w/bookchick.

Thanks for making us laugh, mimi.

Grasshopper

Mimi, You should write a book.

Mathieu

" Mimi, You should write a book. "

...but proof-read first.

bookchick

Oh, Mathieu, Grasshopper and I would take care of that quite willingly, believe me!

BC

cigalechanta

Why? You won't have me to pick on

bookchick

Mimi! We don't want to pick on you, cherie, we just want to read your memoirs!

Meesa, I am sorry if we hijacked your thread, but I would not spend the night in a bed with bedbugs if given the choice. And it's likely if they are in one room of a hotel, they're in all. A friend has told me that even some of the "better" (meaning pricier) hotels have had them. I'd simply leave the hotel, seek other lodging, and dispute any charge with my credit card company. I don't know if you can bring anything from home that will completely stop an infestation.

BC

jeffwill4you

I didn't know bed bugs were real! I always thought it was just a joke. Ok,
From now on I will always think about bugs in the hotel beds. Thanks! LOL

cigalechanta

meeza, everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask

http://www.pestproducts.com/bedbug.htm#description

gomiki

I had an experience with this last summer. The bugs prefer some people over others (skin chemeistry?)& women over men. If you look at the sheets you will see tiny blood spots. They travel well and are extremely difficult to eradicate. It's good to check your suitcases carefully on your return because you may not have been bitten but you can bring them home with you.

islandbeachangel

Over the past few months I've seen a bunch of articles about the increase in instances of bedbugs not just in low-budget places, but in high-budget places as well. I think the most recent one I read was from either the New York Times or New York magazine this past Fall. It seems the increase in occurance is due to the huge increase in travel over the past few years. There hasn't been infestations reported at these levels since early in the 1900s according to the article.

At any rate, it seems that these little critters are really difficult to lose, but are very easy to transport. Apparently, they can travel back home in your suitcase (I guess after they've attached themselves to pajamas, etc?) and can actually infest your home. The article completely gave me the heebee-jeebees (I love that word!) especially since I travel so much for work. I got a sleep sack after reading the article but the idea still creeps me out.

Of course, I can't remember what the article said about getting rid of them but I think I may search out the article on the NYT website.

Yech!

M&M

Walter_Walltotti

Look for tiny black spots on the edge of the mattress or on the side of the base unit. They can also sometimes be found in the furniture adjacent to the bed.

Travelnut

Reminds me of a whole 'nother discussion about whether one should unpack clothes into the hotel room's dresser drawers.

DiAblo

Some years back an employee and I were traveling through Missouri, I think it was. We stopped at a Hampton Inn or whatever they're called. It was nicely appointed and had only been open a few months.

We were virtually devoured overnight by bed bugs! I cautioned him, when we returned home, to do what I planned to do which was to leave my baggage in the car over night, to go to the entryway and disrobe and toss the clothes outside overnight as well, and then to head straight for the shower.

You really can bring them into your home via your luggage. Grisly but true.

In the late 90's we stayed in a cheap-o hotel in Earl's Court, London. Both my companionme and I awoke with the tell-tale bites and I raised bloody hell with management, insisting on a fresh room with freshly prepared bedding and towels. He complied but we left after only one more day anyhow. Who wants to share a room with such a nasty little bug?

In both cases it was dead of winter which of course rules out mosquito's and other "tropical" invaders. One can also rule out fleas as they are reasonably visable with a closer inspection of white or pastel bedding.

I've never heard of bed bugs transmitting diseases but since they bite hard enough to break the skin/draw blood, it might bear a bit of research.

Ugh...of all the things to have to put up with while traveling! And I'm only 117!

nbbrown

ewwwww... check this link out. It even has pictures! http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entom...ruct/ef636.htm

Too bad we even have to think about such things!

lindilindi

I once had a bunch of small red spots that didn't itch much. They only appeared on the top of my feet. This was in Costa Rica and I was sleeping in low-budget rooms. I thought the bites were from those tiny flies on the beach. But maybe they were from bedbugs????