I have heard plenty of horror stories - PLEASE SPARE ME THE DETAILS OF YOUR BAD EXPERIENCES.
This thread is for COMFORT.
Anyone have COMFORTING info about bed bugs and what hotels do to combat them?
Tell me it’s not a big problem, overhyped, etc. Lie to me if you have to. I’m especially interested in Disney hotels, since they seem to be held to a higher standard.
Part of me likes to pretend bed bugs don’t exist so I don’t worry about them on vacation.
But I also inspect the mattress first thing when I check into a hotel.
I’ve never seen bed bugs at any hotel, no matter how cheap. So I have to believe the horror stories are not representative. Still, I’d like to keep it that way.
It’s not as widespread an issue as you may fear, that being said it can happen anywhere in any type of accommodation regardless of star rating or $. I don’t know what hotels do other than being vigilant while changing linens, using high heat and bleach on sand linens, and using mattress protectors.
I know Disney using trained dogs to sniff them out if there is a report of them. It’s pretty easy to contain if caught early enough and just requires some special treatment to kill them (and a new mattress or couch or whatever).
All I can say is that whenever I was tucked in at night with a “sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite” they didn’t. So just have someone tuck you in and say that and you’ll be fine.
In pre-covid times, when I had to do a lot of international travel for work, I bought a zappbug oven. I would just stick my bags in it when I got home for a cycle. For about a decade, I slept in hotels all over the world for at least 100 nights/ year, and I have never seen a bedbug(). Just keep checking your mattress seams (with flashlight, in the dark), and if you need 1 more measure for peace of mind, get an oven.
Also if you’re worried about bringing it home you can heat it or freeze it by leaving it in the trunk of your car (no issues reaching temps in AZ, or pack it in garbage bags and throw it in a deep freezer.
I always check religiously too. I think you’re more likely to run into dirty towels and bed linens than critters.
I have never seen at any hotel I’ve stayed in. DH is super vigilant though. Best places to check is mattress seams, outlet covers behind or close to behind the bed, wall near floor behind the bed. If you see specs that look like teeny, tiny splattered blood or any bugs, change hotels. Also, better to inspect BEFORE you bring any soft goods into the room (like suitcases).
They can be a pain to get rid of, depending on the length. And I will break the rule about comfort (because it should be noted) a bed bug can live in the wall dormant around 1 year before having to bite a host.
Having something to kill them on the spot only helps for the ones you can see. That being said, I think it is probably a very rare occurrence and probably more an ongoing, on and off issue for a select few particular establishments vs a going to happen at least once to many different establishments.
So, to conclude, better, more expensive or national hotels will probably have on going treatment and deterrents vs a smaller, cheaper hotel that might only treat once a problem arises.
My two cents… (have had 2 different rental units where tenants brought in bed bugs (scary, made DH strip in the yard while he was doing the cleaning/ treatments). With the right measures in place, you can, prevent an infestations or at the very least, contain and eventually eradicate the colony.
If you just happen to see them when you are staying somewhere, call a pest control company. Some can do a treatment to your car and suitcases. Hit up a laundry mat and wash everything on hot, hot water before you venture home.
Years ago, I stayed in a cheap hotel in Thailand. In the morning we found out we had bedbugs (tipped off by the spots of blood on the sheets when we woke up). We had a few bites too. We moved on to the next hotel.
The comforting part of my story is that absolutely nothing happened. We weren’t infested with bedbugs, our luggage was fine and we didn’t worry about it. Never encountered them again.
I had breakfast, lunch and dinner bites on my leg after a stay in New Jersey shore hotel. And then saw a baby bed bug on the bedspread a couple of nights later after a night out in NYC (Intercontinental in Times Square so they do not discriminate). We checked the mattress and didn’t see any more signs but Apparently benches and the Empire State Building have them so maybe we picked one up while out or brought it from the other hotel?. We never found any in our luggage or at home BUT I left my bags in the car for a month (in July in Texas) and then I washed everything on high heat including delicates and I left my luggage in the garage for a very very long time. I had literal phantom creepy crawly skin moments for about 6 months and I constantly checked our mattress and behind our headboard. I was a nervous wreck those 6 months or so. But it was all in my head. We did have friends who got them in Philly in their apartment. They had to seal their mattresses and heat their house. They said it was a nightmare.
*also you want a bright note. I was such a wreck and my DH is not really a cuddler but he held me all night that night because I was so worked up. So I knew he loved me (we were just living together at the time) LOL
I got one for you. On our last trip (not to WDW) we brought our bags back into our house after a long day of travel, only to find a big ol centipede on top of one of our bags. Whether we picked that sucker up from our shuttle van or (more likely) in the airport baggage area, I’ll take bed bags any day. Lol.
seriously though we’ve never had an issue. I do not allow suitcases to be on the bed at all. Probably not really necessary, but that’s my thing. We’ve stayed in some absolute dives over the years, too.
They can crawl like 20 feet from the bed or something. They say you shouldn’t put your bags on the floor even and you should check the mattress as soon as you get in the room. I read a lot about it during my 6 months of terror. Lol. They can live like 6 months or a year without feeding. Normal pesticides don’t kill them. They are like invincible beasts but at least they don’t carry disease.
I check every time the moment I get to the hotel. I have yet to see actual bed bud evidence. Sometimes I think I do, but then go to my phone and look again at pics of what to look for. And then realize what I see is just ick and not actual bug evidence. Most of the time the mattress / bedding is refreshingly clean.
Almost all hotels these days have mattress covers that get swapped out after guests check out…at least, that’s what I have noticed. No longer do you tend to see just sheets over the mattress directly. This is done specifically to control the spread of bed bugs, I believe.
We still inspect mattresses, to be sure…but never once have I found anything concerning.
Just so you know…they do not have to be in/on a bed. (Not sure where the “can’t be more than 20 feet from a bed” myth comes from, but it’s not true.)
Several high-name stores dealt with them a few years ago in NYC. I specifically remember one headline “Abercrombie and Itch” about the infestation in their 5th Ave flagship store.
). Just keep checking your mattress seams (with flashlight, in the dark), and if you need 1 more measure for peace of mind, get an oven.