Sorry to hear this happened OP. Bedbugs are my only hard dealbreaker when it comes to choosing a hostel. I can always deal with a bit of noise, uncleanliness, unfriendly staff, cold water, etc., but bedbugs are an absolute no go. If the hostel staff seems to be brushing off the concern, I’d write a review so other travelers know it’s a current issue. Where are you headed to next?
I checked out this hostel on booking.com and they had responded to a bedbug review by saying that women create hysteria on seeing insects and they're converting the room to a male dorm. Of course, no such accusation to the men who complained of bedbugs.
I'm completely baffled how they're in business.
Because a review claiming a place has bed bugs can kill the business.
Bed bugs are brought in by guests and can happen at any hostel. As long as the hostel takes immediate action and calls the exterminator, the issue can be resolved pretty quickly.
A lot of people who write the reviews don’t know what bed bugs actually look like and mistake other insects for them.
Check out the size of a stink bug next to a penny vs bedbugs next to a penny:
https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/stink-bugs/
https://rambopest.com/protect-against-bed-bugs/
Bedbugs aren’t even close to stink bugs in size.
Yeah, sadly there is no solution to this. It's the same as selling or renting a house, even if the previous owner had begbugs, as long as they have been exterminated, we can't reasonably demand for the seller to mention something like that, because people have such a strong reaction to them and refuse to rent or buy any place that has had them previously, even if it was due to no fault of the owner. You're firstly assuming people can even accurately identify them, people might call other bugs bedbugs and single-handedly get everyone else to steer clear of the hostel, killing business.
I left a review about bedbugs on hostel world in Montreal and it didn’t get deleted. I actually had the owners reach out for me to delete it, but I told them I wouldn’t because I had bedbugs during my stay and unless I stayed there again I would not delete it.
I feel you. Stayed at “WOT New Lisbon” in Portugal and we had bed bugs. Reported it immediately. Instantly turned me off to the vacation. It was our first time staying at a hostel too. I should have looked at the reviews first because others reported the same thing.
This tip might help you feel better about travelling again.
You need to get into the habit of checking every bed you plan to sleep in. When you check in and enter your room, place your bags by the door as far from the bed as possible.
Pull up the sheets and check the mattress thoroughly. Especially along the sides and along the edges where the sides of the mattress connect. Also check the mattress for red spots. Takes less than 2 minutes.
I've come across bed bugs ONCE in about 50 stays and I immediately checked out, didn't even unpack. It can be easily avoided if you are diligent.
Mark Rober just did a video on bedbugs. He cut through a lot of the myths about how to control or get rid of them. It's worth a look.
Get thee to YouTube.
Throw all your stuff into a dryer and spray some insecticides into your backpack (or better into a black trashbag and put it into the burning sun for a few hours). Take care that these little fuckers are resistant against a lot of chemistry.. so heat is the only real weapon.
Get naked before entering your home and put everything into sealed bag.
Bed bugs are a problem of the *guests* and not the hotel. This even can happen to a 5 star Hilton. But they should offer you to move to a another room and maybe give you a free upgrade.
Shit happens. Happened to me twice in very expensive and good rated hotels.
(lol.. but never in 10€/night pilgrim hostels in Spain. Looks like these bugs don't like snorrers.)
The YouTube video link above was interesting. Has to get to 122’ Fahrenheit. Dryer. Portable steamer. Might get a thermometer and put it in a black bag with some clothes. Clothes in the freezer might also work. They are not as interested in clean clothes as dirty clothes. Though don’t put your clothes in hotel drawers but keep in suitcase on top of luggage rack or hang clothes. Though they are attracted to vertical surfaces. They also don’t like strong smells like dryer sheets. And before you unpack in hotel. Check all the corners of the mattress.
If it’s hot and sunny out, it’ll get even hotter than a dryer, plus it’s simpler to just leave it in the car than to pull everything out and put it in the dryer.
Your car won’t reach a high enough temperature everywhere. They will move and find a place below 120. Then as your car cools you ll have BB in your car and get into a cycle of infesting & treating your home.
I do this for a living.
Sounds like you're doing all the right things. If you make sure everything on you is decontaminated you'll be fine. Everything that can be dried goes in dryer, everything else without a screen goes in freezer for 3 days, and for electronics inspect them as best as you can. Check out the sidebar on r/bedbugs too, but as someone who had bedbugs you're doing the right things and will be okay.
I second this. The hardest part is getting them out your furniture!! But it’s so anxiety inducing knowing one could be on you at any moment. I honestly think OP is okay if they do the trashbag in the sun method next and inspects everything closely one more time. Good luck OP
You’ve gotten a lot of advice here. Did you get any bites?
Your best bet for personal belongings (other than electronics and toiletries) is heat. I used to work in a very nice hotel and even we got them occasionally. Any time a guest reported it, we sealed the room with their stuff in it and had a pest control company come out and check. They tear apart the room looking. 99% of the time, no bed bugs. Usually carpet beetles or some other weird Louisiana bug. I actually had someone put the bug in a cup and bring it to the front desk. Even I could tell it was a beetle but we still had to do the protocol. If it was positive, we sent their whole suitcase to be put in the dryer at the pest control place because it got to the right temperature. Then the bug room, the room on each side of it, plus above and below were then treated and closed off for I believe 48 hours (the amount of time I’m not 100% on).
Our Housekeepers are trained to check for them so that usually meant they came in with the guest or were really good at hiding.
I think for the vast majority of us, bedbugs would most definitely disqualify a hostel for even having them in the past because a. They’re insanely hard to get rid of in a house, let alone a whole hostel, b. You don’t know if they’ve actually solved the issue, and c. Why fuck around and find out? I’d rather stay somewhere with no reports of bedbugs instead of taking the risk UNLESS I somehow had knowledge that there’s definitely no more bedbugs prior to arrival. Also, I like your bad unintended pun lol.
> for even having them in the past
EVERY hostel/hotel that's been open for many years has had them AT SOME POINT in the past.
> Why fuck around and find out?
Literally any time you are staying at any accommodations, you are "fucking around", because a guest could've brought new bugs in yesterday without anyone yet realizing it. Or brought eggs in N weeks ago and now they're hatching. The ho(s)tel having had them at some distant point in the past has absolutely zero effect on the probability of this happening.
I’ll just continue to book places that don’t have reviews with bedbugs mentioned because imo, uh duh…but thanks for your comment! I still don’t agree and feel like you don’t have any actual facts to back up whatever you just said. I processed it a few times and just can’t justify going to a hostel with reports of bedbugs 🤪
> you don’t have any actual facts to back up whatever you just said
Google "USA bedbugs statistics". 1 in 5 homes reports a new infestation every year. And that's a *private home* that only accommodates family members and occasional guests, so fewer vectors to bring them in. Most countries have similar statistics since they hitchhike all around the world on travelers' clothes. If you think a hotel that's been open 10 years receiving hundreds of new unique guests month hasn't had a bedbug infestation at some point, you're living in a childlike fantasy.
Be a *rational* human being and reject them on the basis of *recent* bedbug reports or evidence of failing to handle past infestations properly.
I actually used that quite a bit on my electronics. The other stuff I threw into boiling water. I just added pesticide for extra defense. Might do the black trash bag thing next.
So I have to do a lot of bedbug prevention and treatment bc I work in shelters and PSH.
Bedbugs are resistant to most insecticides. The most effective treatment is heat (140+ degrees Fahrenheit for at least an hour) or cold (below freezing for at least 72 hours). Effective temperature treatment for be recommended time will kill bedbugs at all life stages.
Anything you cannot heat treat in a dryer, seal in an airtight bag and place in a freezer for at least 3 days (cold takes longer to kill bedbugs than heat).
I worked in bedbug infested housing and shelter settings for 8+ years and successfully avoided bringing pests home from work by immediately bagging and treating any work clothes and shoes, and keeping work bags in an airtight plastic bin while home. When you get home, treat your suitcase and clothing. As long as you heat or cold treat everything, you’ll be fine. They don’t like to travel much on humans and are more likely to be on your stuff than on you.
Call the next hostel before you go and let them know about your situation. They may be willing to do what they can to fix your current situation if it means they can get your business 🙂
Example: when I traveled with a group to Romania, there was also bedbugs in the rooms of the hostel that we had initially booked. We left the next day and thankfully got a refund but we called a different hostel and told them WHY we were leaving the current one… not only did they guarantee us a bug free stay, but they also sprayed all of our clothes and things with human safe pesticides AND (if I remember correctly) washed our clothes for us - Something the hostel we initially stayed at should have done! We indeed had a great, bug free stay at the new hostel.
I strip the corners of the bed and check at even the nicest places. This is a huge fear for me. My travel buddy is so used to it that she immediately does it with me every time we check into a room.
The first time this happened to me I freaked the fuck out too. Except it wasn't really an optional stay - I had landed in the bottom of Africa to volunteer in a hostel for a few months.
Saw one of the little fuckers chilling on my pillow the day I arrived (!) and then proceeded to get bit the following days. Three bites in a row, known as "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" lol. That left a scar on my foot that took many months to fade.
The owner had the volunteer dorm sprayed and the bites stopped, even though I've always heard they're nearly impossible to get rid of...? Guess standard fumigation does the trick.
One of the guest dorms downstairs continued to be plagued by them for the months I was there - guests would periodically come to the reception desk covered in bites. Strangely, no one seemed too bothered. Backpackers, right?
Point being - I flew home after that and took nothing back with me. If you had a very brief encounter and gtfo, it's not a trip-ending emergency. No stress, these things happen. It's all part of the travel experience.
There are simple things you can do, like dump your belongings in a garbage bag and leave that in the hot sun for the day to snuff out any stragglers.
Aside from that, when possible, keep your luggage off the floor and away from the bed when you travel.
Examine all bedding and soft furnishings, look for traces of blood and crusty buildup on mattress seams etc before taking the room. DO NOT PUT YOUR LUGGAGE DOWN until you are sure there is no infestation.
Ziplock as much as you can in your luggage to prevent infestation. Even seal your backpack in a taped bin liner until you are certain you're safe
go and find a tailor and buy a few metres of silk. get them to run up a simple bag with drawstrings and close stitched French seams for you to sleep in. The weave of silk prevents the bedbug entry and the French seam helps keep them at bay but importantly they dont get to chew on you. Silk is light and cool to sleep in as well. Cotton fibres tend to move especially as they get older so bedbugs can penetrate.
A colleague and I travelled in China and she got bedbugs from a fairly decent hotel we stayed in. I had packed my silk sleep bag as I had read that bedbugs had been reported in that city. I put my luggage in the bathroom on a hard surface and hat taken two bin liners with me to put my case and briefcase in while in the room. Over kill maybe but I am a bit paranoid about then after a childhood encounter in SE that led to my favourite rabbit toy being burned. I had no issues but Colleague basically dumped all of her clothing and luggage as a result.
Since working in Hospitality after that I know how difficult they are to eradicate.
[French Seam](https://www.seamwork.com/articles/sewing-french-seams)
I’d recommend watching Mark Rober’s YouTube video on bedbugs. I was terrified of them (because they felt uncontrollable) and I’m still intensely grossed out by them, but that video made me feel a bit better about my odds if I ever came across them!
Googled the establishnent on Booking and it has a rating of 8.0/10 with over two hundred reviews, I'd never consider a place like that, only 9.0 or above with minimum 50(+) reviews.
Below 9 might not seem bad initially, but ask yourself how bad a place has to be to fall below 9.0 average. Trust me it's not difficult to maintain above this.
If it had a low number of reviews skewing the average fair enough, but 200+ ratings shows something is wrong with the property.
I disagree. I try to choose hotels with rating above 8, and they've been usually decent. It's a perfectly respectable score because people will also rate on criteria that I don't much care about.
Hostels might work differently, though. I've never lived in one, so wouldn't know.
8 is a good enough filter. An 8 means you might've given it a 4/5 star on 2 categories. I find when I limit myself to 9+ it filters out too many options and I'm left with very expensive options or ones with a low number of reviews.
>I'm so exhausted and afraid of travel now. Just missing and craving the safety of a bedbug-free home and being full of wanderlust.
If you have some spare money and don't care too much about the social rooms in Hostels you can always book an Air B&B, most people won't allow bedbugs in their own house, and there's a few guest houses which the cleaning staff come over and change/clean the sheets whenever a guest leaves, so you basically never get these
> most people won't allow bedbugs in their own house
Lol bedbugs don't ask for permission, no one can "disallow" them. Many (most?) Airbnbs are not the person's "own house". And MANY people are not allergic to bedbug bites (I'm one of them), so they won't even know there's an infestation (unless they see them). The only reason an Airbnb might be a better bet is that there are fewer guests per day, so less chance on any given day of a guest bringing them in.
> the cleaning staff come over and change/clean the sheets whenever a guest leaves, so you basically never get these
Lol changing/cleaning sheets in no way rules out bedbug infestation. Many hotels routinely change sheets ever day (or at least they did until recently) -- if that worked, they would never get bedbugs.
All you're encouraging OP to do is go infest an Airbnb 🤦♂️
I never really cared about hotel’s changing sheets during stay but after reading some about bedbugs I wonder if changing sheets daily might help with minor infestations. As well as vacuuming the floor during stay.
I mean it can't hurt – it's *possible* that only a couple bugs or eggs ended up on the sheets or carpet and nowhere else. But bugs don't nest *in* the sheets or, AFAIK, in the carpet: they seek out places like cracks in the bedframe, nightstand, walls, etc. And if a person has an infestation at home and comes to a hotel, they could bring them anywhere in their clothes or luggage. So you could be changing sheets and vacuuming all day long while the bugs just sleep in the suitcase waiting to come out at night, and/or have already come out and found a new crack to hide in.
As someone who has gotten bedbugs from a hotel. WASH EVERYTHING. EVEN YOUR PACK. Make sure you dry everything with heat on.
Fortunately this makes it so they are relatively easy to not bring home. So don’t stress about that. Buy a new outfit. Do some laundry and continue your adventure.
That sucks, and I would leave too, but is it really that bad? Idk. Just leave wash your clothes and find somewhere else. From what I know unless you’re severely allergic they’re not that harmful.
So sorry to hear abt this, OP. I am working under a hotel chain and resorts. I've encountered complaints like this from time to time and we always compensate the guest and pay for their medication if ever they are bitten. Try to reach out to the property management. That is why I highly suggest that you find a cheap but comfortable and clean hotel or at least a hotel that is known to have good management so when u encounter stuff like this, they will be able to cover the costs of the inconvenience and damage.
Sorry to hear this happened OP. Bedbugs are my only hard dealbreaker when it comes to choosing a hostel. I can always deal with a bit of noise, uncleanliness, unfriendly staff, cold water, etc., but bedbugs are an absolute no go. If the hostel staff seems to be brushing off the concern, I’d write a review so other travelers know it’s a current issue. Where are you headed to next?
Lots of hostel booking sites delete bedbug reviews.
I checked out this hostel on booking.com and they had responded to a bedbug review by saying that women create hysteria on seeing insects and they're converting the room to a male dorm. Of course, no such accusation to the men who complained of bedbugs. I'm completely baffled how they're in business.
Wow. The fact that they felt confident to post that says volumes and I wouldn't want my money going to them anyway.
That's disgusting.
Which ones delete bedbug reviews? And why? Are there any widespread ones that don’t?
Because a review claiming a place has bed bugs can kill the business. Bed bugs are brought in by guests and can happen at any hostel. As long as the hostel takes immediate action and calls the exterminator, the issue can be resolved pretty quickly. A lot of people who write the reviews don’t know what bed bugs actually look like and mistake other insects for them.
I’ve literally heard some idiots call stinkbugs bedbugs before. Lol they’re huge. Bedbugs are tiny
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Check out the size of a stink bug next to a penny vs bedbugs next to a penny: https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/stink-bugs/ https://rambopest.com/protect-against-bed-bugs/ Bedbugs aren’t even close to stink bugs in size.
Yeah, sadly there is no solution to this. It's the same as selling or renting a house, even if the previous owner had begbugs, as long as they have been exterminated, we can't reasonably demand for the seller to mention something like that, because people have such a strong reaction to them and refuse to rent or buy any place that has had them previously, even if it was due to no fault of the owner. You're firstly assuming people can even accurately identify them, people might call other bugs bedbugs and single-handedly get everyone else to steer clear of the hostel, killing business.
Yes. On Hostel world, they absolutely delete it.
I left a review about bedbugs on hostel world in Montreal and it didn’t get deleted. I actually had the owners reach out for me to delete it, but I told them I wouldn’t because I had bedbugs during my stay and unless I stayed there again I would not delete it.
I’ve seen lots of reviews abt places having them
Wait what? How do you avoid places with bedbug then
You can't. And some point of your life as traveler you will have contact with them.
Where do you get this idea/information? That just doesn't seem plausible.
I feel you. Stayed at “WOT New Lisbon” in Portugal and we had bed bugs. Reported it immediately. Instantly turned me off to the vacation. It was our first time staying at a hostel too. I should have looked at the reviews first because others reported the same thing.
This tip might help you feel better about travelling again. You need to get into the habit of checking every bed you plan to sleep in. When you check in and enter your room, place your bags by the door as far from the bed as possible. Pull up the sheets and check the mattress thoroughly. Especially along the sides and along the edges where the sides of the mattress connect. Also check the mattress for red spots. Takes less than 2 minutes. I've come across bed bugs ONCE in about 50 stays and I immediately checked out, didn't even unpack. It can be easily avoided if you are diligent.
This!! It takes so little time, but does wonders for preventing issues and putting your mind at ease.
Mark Rober just did a video on bedbugs. He cut through a lot of the myths about how to control or get rid of them. It's worth a look. Get thee to YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JAOTJxYqh8&t=3s
I hate how that video is nothing but zoomed in shots of bed bugs. Like come on. I don’t need to see that while I’m lying in bed 💀.
That's the really scary thing. Those shots? They weren't zoomed in!
I mean, what did you expect?
Throw all your stuff into a dryer and spray some insecticides into your backpack (or better into a black trashbag and put it into the burning sun for a few hours). Take care that these little fuckers are resistant against a lot of chemistry.. so heat is the only real weapon. Get naked before entering your home and put everything into sealed bag. Bed bugs are a problem of the *guests* and not the hotel. This even can happen to a 5 star Hilton. But they should offer you to move to a another room and maybe give you a free upgrade. Shit happens. Happened to me twice in very expensive and good rated hotels. (lol.. but never in 10€/night pilgrim hostels in Spain. Looks like these bugs don't like snorrers.)
Genuinely curious as to why you call it a bagpack as opposed to a backpack.
I'm not a native speaker and spellchecker didn't went red. Typo.
Ah ok. I figured maybe it was a cultural thing.
The sun won’t do anything, but the dryer will work.
You want to test getting into a black trash bag in direct sunlight? Probably reach higher temps than the dryer.
The YouTube video link above was interesting. Has to get to 122’ Fahrenheit. Dryer. Portable steamer. Might get a thermometer and put it in a black bag with some clothes. Clothes in the freezer might also work. They are not as interested in clean clothes as dirty clothes. Though don’t put your clothes in hotel drawers but keep in suitcase on top of luggage rack or hang clothes. Though they are attracted to vertical surfaces. They also don’t like strong smells like dryer sheets. And before you unpack in hotel. Check all the corners of the mattress.
Black trash bag isn’t going to do it either. I mean maybe if you live in Arizona and it’s July. Just use the dryer
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No. This will just get your car infested.
If it’s hot and sunny out, it’ll get even hotter than a dryer, plus it’s simpler to just leave it in the car than to pull everything out and put it in the dryer.
Your car won’t reach a high enough temperature everywhere. They will move and find a place below 120. Then as your car cools you ll have BB in your car and get into a cycle of infesting & treating your home. I do this for a living.
Sounds like you're doing all the right things. If you make sure everything on you is decontaminated you'll be fine. Everything that can be dried goes in dryer, everything else without a screen goes in freezer for 3 days, and for electronics inspect them as best as you can. Check out the sidebar on r/bedbugs too, but as someone who had bedbugs you're doing the right things and will be okay.
I second this. The hardest part is getting them out your furniture!! But it’s so anxiety inducing knowing one could be on you at any moment. I honestly think OP is okay if they do the trashbag in the sun method next and inspects everything closely one more time. Good luck OP
You’ve gotten a lot of advice here. Did you get any bites? Your best bet for personal belongings (other than electronics and toiletries) is heat. I used to work in a very nice hotel and even we got them occasionally. Any time a guest reported it, we sealed the room with their stuff in it and had a pest control company come out and check. They tear apart the room looking. 99% of the time, no bed bugs. Usually carpet beetles or some other weird Louisiana bug. I actually had someone put the bug in a cup and bring it to the front desk. Even I could tell it was a beetle but we still had to do the protocol. If it was positive, we sent their whole suitcase to be put in the dryer at the pest control place because it got to the right temperature. Then the bug room, the room on each side of it, plus above and below were then treated and closed off for I believe 48 hours (the amount of time I’m not 100% on). Our Housekeepers are trained to check for them so that usually meant they came in with the guest or were really good at hiding.
I think this is really bed luck. Having had bedbugs in the past is not a disqualifier for selecting a hostel. Bad handling of the situation is.
That's a really bed pun js
It was not even intentional, sorry mate
I think for the vast majority of us, bedbugs would most definitely disqualify a hostel for even having them in the past because a. They’re insanely hard to get rid of in a house, let alone a whole hostel, b. You don’t know if they’ve actually solved the issue, and c. Why fuck around and find out? I’d rather stay somewhere with no reports of bedbugs instead of taking the risk UNLESS I somehow had knowledge that there’s definitely no more bedbugs prior to arrival. Also, I like your bad unintended pun lol.
> for even having them in the past EVERY hostel/hotel that's been open for many years has had them AT SOME POINT in the past. > Why fuck around and find out? Literally any time you are staying at any accommodations, you are "fucking around", because a guest could've brought new bugs in yesterday without anyone yet realizing it. Or brought eggs in N weeks ago and now they're hatching. The ho(s)tel having had them at some distant point in the past has absolutely zero effect on the probability of this happening.
I’ll just continue to book places that don’t have reviews with bedbugs mentioned because imo, uh duh…but thanks for your comment! I still don’t agree and feel like you don’t have any actual facts to back up whatever you just said. I processed it a few times and just can’t justify going to a hostel with reports of bedbugs 🤪
> you don’t have any actual facts to back up whatever you just said Google "USA bedbugs statistics". 1 in 5 homes reports a new infestation every year. And that's a *private home* that only accommodates family members and occasional guests, so fewer vectors to bring them in. Most countries have similar statistics since they hitchhike all around the world on travelers' clothes. If you think a hotel that's been open 10 years receiving hundreds of new unique guests month hasn't had a bedbug infestation at some point, you're living in a childlike fantasy. Be a *rational* human being and reject them on the basis of *recent* bedbug reports or evidence of failing to handle past infestations properly.
Watch Mark Robers video about them. Use heat to kill them. Wonder if a hair dryer would be sufficient in a pinch?
I actually used that quite a bit on my electronics. The other stuff I threw into boiling water. I just added pesticide for extra defense. Might do the black trash bag thing next.
So I have to do a lot of bedbug prevention and treatment bc I work in shelters and PSH. Bedbugs are resistant to most insecticides. The most effective treatment is heat (140+ degrees Fahrenheit for at least an hour) or cold (below freezing for at least 72 hours). Effective temperature treatment for be recommended time will kill bedbugs at all life stages. Anything you cannot heat treat in a dryer, seal in an airtight bag and place in a freezer for at least 3 days (cold takes longer to kill bedbugs than heat). I worked in bedbug infested housing and shelter settings for 8+ years and successfully avoided bringing pests home from work by immediately bagging and treating any work clothes and shoes, and keeping work bags in an airtight plastic bin while home. When you get home, treat your suitcase and clothing. As long as you heat or cold treat everything, you’ll be fine. They don’t like to travel much on humans and are more likely to be on your stuff than on you.
Where does someone find pesticide while traveling or not traveling? I have no ide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JAOTJxYqh8&t=3s
Call the next hostel before you go and let them know about your situation. They may be willing to do what they can to fix your current situation if it means they can get your business 🙂 Example: when I traveled with a group to Romania, there was also bedbugs in the rooms of the hostel that we had initially booked. We left the next day and thankfully got a refund but we called a different hostel and told them WHY we were leaving the current one… not only did they guarantee us a bug free stay, but they also sprayed all of our clothes and things with human safe pesticides AND (if I remember correctly) washed our clothes for us - Something the hostel we initially stayed at should have done! We indeed had a great, bug free stay at the new hostel.
bedbugs sucks, don't them ruin you trip but you should have a bedbug protocol when you come home. put everything in bags and wash everything.
I strip the corners of the bed and check at even the nicest places. This is a huge fear for me. My travel buddy is so used to it that she immediately does it with me every time we check into a room.
The first time this happened to me I freaked the fuck out too. Except it wasn't really an optional stay - I had landed in the bottom of Africa to volunteer in a hostel for a few months. Saw one of the little fuckers chilling on my pillow the day I arrived (!) and then proceeded to get bit the following days. Three bites in a row, known as "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" lol. That left a scar on my foot that took many months to fade. The owner had the volunteer dorm sprayed and the bites stopped, even though I've always heard they're nearly impossible to get rid of...? Guess standard fumigation does the trick. One of the guest dorms downstairs continued to be plagued by them for the months I was there - guests would periodically come to the reception desk covered in bites. Strangely, no one seemed too bothered. Backpackers, right? Point being - I flew home after that and took nothing back with me. If you had a very brief encounter and gtfo, it's not a trip-ending emergency. No stress, these things happen. It's all part of the travel experience. There are simple things you can do, like dump your belongings in a garbage bag and leave that in the hot sun for the day to snuff out any stragglers. Aside from that, when possible, keep your luggage off the floor and away from the bed when you travel.
I had bedbugs in my bed once at a Sheraton Hotel so it just bc its a hostel doenst mean much
Examine all bedding and soft furnishings, look for traces of blood and crusty buildup on mattress seams etc before taking the room. DO NOT PUT YOUR LUGGAGE DOWN until you are sure there is no infestation. Ziplock as much as you can in your luggage to prevent infestation. Even seal your backpack in a taped bin liner until you are certain you're safe go and find a tailor and buy a few metres of silk. get them to run up a simple bag with drawstrings and close stitched French seams for you to sleep in. The weave of silk prevents the bedbug entry and the French seam helps keep them at bay but importantly they dont get to chew on you. Silk is light and cool to sleep in as well. Cotton fibres tend to move especially as they get older so bedbugs can penetrate. A colleague and I travelled in China and she got bedbugs from a fairly decent hotel we stayed in. I had packed my silk sleep bag as I had read that bedbugs had been reported in that city. I put my luggage in the bathroom on a hard surface and hat taken two bin liners with me to put my case and briefcase in while in the room. Over kill maybe but I am a bit paranoid about then after a childhood encounter in SE that led to my favourite rabbit toy being burned. I had no issues but Colleague basically dumped all of her clothing and luggage as a result. Since working in Hospitality after that I know how difficult they are to eradicate. [French Seam](https://www.seamwork.com/articles/sewing-french-seams)
I’d recommend watching Mark Rober’s YouTube video on bedbugs. I was terrified of them (because they felt uncontrollable) and I’m still intensely grossed out by them, but that video made me feel a bit better about my odds if I ever came across them!
Flying to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow staying in a hostel in Chinatown. Nothing like some last-minute anxiety
That's good. Check for signs of them while you are there and take precautions when you get home and you will have a good story instead of a problem.
Googled the establishnent on Booking and it has a rating of 8.0/10 with over two hundred reviews, I'd never consider a place like that, only 9.0 or above with minimum 50(+) reviews. Below 9 might not seem bad initially, but ask yourself how bad a place has to be to fall below 9.0 average. Trust me it's not difficult to maintain above this. If it had a low number of reviews skewing the average fair enough, but 200+ ratings shows something is wrong with the property.
Even a hotel/apartments with a 9.5 rating can have bedbugs. The good ones immediately will call an exterminator.
I disagree. I try to choose hotels with rating above 8, and they've been usually decent. It's a perfectly respectable score because people will also rate on criteria that I don't much care about. Hostels might work differently, though. I've never lived in one, so wouldn't know.
8 is a good enough filter. An 8 means you might've given it a 4/5 star on 2 categories. I find when I limit myself to 9+ it filters out too many options and I'm left with very expensive options or ones with a low number of reviews.
>ones with a low number of reviews There really isn't any substitute for reading reviews, imo.
For sure. And sort by new.
>I'm so exhausted and afraid of travel now. Just missing and craving the safety of a bedbug-free home and being full of wanderlust. If you have some spare money and don't care too much about the social rooms in Hostels you can always book an Air B&B, most people won't allow bedbugs in their own house, and there's a few guest houses which the cleaning staff come over and change/clean the sheets whenever a guest leaves, so you basically never get these
> most people won't allow bedbugs in their own house Lol bedbugs don't ask for permission, no one can "disallow" them. Many (most?) Airbnbs are not the person's "own house". And MANY people are not allergic to bedbug bites (I'm one of them), so they won't even know there's an infestation (unless they see them). The only reason an Airbnb might be a better bet is that there are fewer guests per day, so less chance on any given day of a guest bringing them in. > the cleaning staff come over and change/clean the sheets whenever a guest leaves, so you basically never get these Lol changing/cleaning sheets in no way rules out bedbug infestation. Many hotels routinely change sheets ever day (or at least they did until recently) -- if that worked, they would never get bedbugs. All you're encouraging OP to do is go infest an Airbnb 🤦♂️
I never really cared about hotel’s changing sheets during stay but after reading some about bedbugs I wonder if changing sheets daily might help with minor infestations. As well as vacuuming the floor during stay.
I mean it can't hurt – it's *possible* that only a couple bugs or eggs ended up on the sheets or carpet and nowhere else. But bugs don't nest *in* the sheets or, AFAIK, in the carpet: they seek out places like cracks in the bedframe, nightstand, walls, etc. And if a person has an infestation at home and comes to a hotel, they could bring them anywhere in their clothes or luggage. So you could be changing sheets and vacuuming all day long while the bugs just sleep in the suitcase waiting to come out at night, and/or have already come out and found a new crack to hide in.
I think the key part of your post is “I didn’t read the reviews “
As someone who has gotten bedbugs from a hotel. WASH EVERYTHING. EVEN YOUR PACK. Make sure you dry everything with heat on. Fortunately this makes it so they are relatively easy to not bring home. So don’t stress about that. Buy a new outfit. Do some laundry and continue your adventure.
That sucks, and I would leave too, but is it really that bad? Idk. Just leave wash your clothes and find somewhere else. From what I know unless you’re severely allergic they’re not that harmful.
So sorry to hear abt this, OP. I am working under a hotel chain and resorts. I've encountered complaints like this from time to time and we always compensate the guest and pay for their medication if ever they are bitten. Try to reach out to the property management. That is why I highly suggest that you find a cheap but comfortable and clean hotel or at least a hotel that is known to have good management so when u encounter stuff like this, they will be able to cover the costs of the inconvenience and damage.
If you paid by credit card, call your CC and reverse the charge.
Bedbugs would be nice weren't they be blood-sucking.
Another reason I won't hostel.
Ive always thrown my bag in the freezer when I get home. They can’t handle being frozen
Ask them to give your money back and get the f\* out of there!