Bed Bugs

[Gluemanz28]

I checked into a Hotel in Matterson, IL and was sitting in the bed winding down using the iPad to check in on the INGO family, when I notice something moving. It was a little brown bug. I have some issues with lady bugs and stink bugs working their way into my house in Elkhart so I wasn't too cconcerned. I saw two more and then I did get worried. I had never seen the type of bugs before so I did a goggle search for bed bugs. It matched the three that I found.

I searched the bed extremely good looking in the pillow cases and between all layers of covers. I didn't see anymore so I thought I was in the clear. About five minutes later I see one on my shirt.

Thats it I'm done. I call the front desk and they tell me that if I will come down to the front desk they will move me. I told them to bring me the keys to my room and have someone check the other room before I move. It was two floors down and upgraded to a suite. If it wasn't so late I would have just left and went to another hotel.

I will see what the General Manager has to say in the morning when I check out. I would expect more from a Holiday INN.

If you don't hear from me by 9:00 AM Chicago time send an exterminator to rescue me.

 

[88GT]

Ew. *shivers* They give me the heebie jeebies.

 

[1861navy]

I just got done dealing with bedbugs, in my house. Not sure about how they got in either. Anyway, these bugs are very, VERY, tricky to get rid of. They pass through 5 different stages of life, each lasting about 1-3 weeks. The eggs take about 7-10 days to hatch, and when full grown they can live for up to a year without eating, err.. sucking, more appropriate? A female can only lay eggs after feeding, and can lay up to 300 eggs every few days in prime conditions. A few ways they can be killed, heat, 115 deg. F, so throw your clothes in the dryer on the hottest setting for 45 min. for a few days after you get home, and do the same with anything that can be put in the dryer. Diatomaceous earth, messy and annoying, but it works. Isopropyl kills them on contact from what I've read. Squish, old reliable method. And chemicals, sometimes useless, sometimes they add to the problem, and sometimes they work. Bedbugs can also, over time gain resistance to chems, so they are not the best method. Lastly, vacuum, in case there's too many to squish.
Some more important things to consider, if there is bedbugs in a hotel, there is usually an infestation somewhere in the building. These bugs love crevices, so much so that in most hemlines they can almost completely vanish. They are also notorious hitchikers, so when you change rooms, and get home check every crack of anything you took with you, or throw it all in the dryer, on high, for 45 min. and do so for the next couple of weeks. This will kill off any nymphs, just after they hatched. Hopefully you don't get them at home. Also I would leave the hotel completely, find a 24/7 laundromat, and heat all my items that could be in the dryer. But that's just me, I've dealt with 'em firsthand.....no fun!

 

[CountryBoy19]

I just got done dealing with bedbugs, in my house. Not sure about how they got in either. Anyway, these bugs are very, VERY, tricky to get rid of. They pass through 5 different stages of life, each lasting about 1-3 weeks. The eggs take about 7-10 days to hatch, and when full grown they can live for up to a year without eating, err.. sucking, more appropriate? A female can only lay eggs after feeding, and can lay up to 300 eggs every few days in prime conditions. A few ways they can be killed, heat, 115 deg. F, so throw your clothes in the dryer on the hottest setting for 45 min. for a few days after you get home, and do the same with anything that can be put in the dryer. Diatomaceous earth, messy and annoying, but it works. Isopropyl kills them on contact from what I've read. Squish, old reliable method. And chemicals, sometimes useless, sometimes they add to the problem, and sometimes they work. Bedbugs can also, over time gain resistance to chems, so they are not the best method. Lastly, vacuum, in case there's too many to squish.
Some more important things to consider, if there is bedbugs in a hotel, there is usually an infestation somewhere in the building. These bugs love crevices, so much so that in most hemlines they can almost completely vanish. They are also notorious hitchikers, so when you change rooms, and get home check every crack of anything you took with you, or throw it all in the dryer, on high, for 45 min. and do so for the next couple of weeks. This will kill off any nymphs, just after they hatched. Hopefully you don't get them at home. Also I would leave the hotel completely, find a 24/7 laundromat, and heat all my items that could be in the dryer. But that's just me, I've dealt with 'em firsthand.....no fun!

He pretty much nailed it... evac the area immediately, bedbugs are no joke. It takes a TON of work and money to get rid of an infestation because they can go a VERY long time without feeding and they hide in crevices.

We had a bedbug problem in college. Somehow got some in our Fraternity house. It was a nightmare. Many, many steps taken throughout the year to stop it but it just kept going and spreading. Chemicals (that were safe for human proximity) were no match for it. It eventually came down to the end of the school year, they forced everyone to move out of the house and nuked the whole house with some pretty serious stuff.

That being said, I want to put in perspective just how well these suckers can hide. During the year, while trying to mitigate the problem, many measures were taken. Including taking down bunk beds etc built of dimensional lumber (2X4's etc) because it was said they could shimmy right into the cracks between nailed/screwed joints. Sure enough, ever single crack, no matter how tight it was, had bugs in it. Nail 2 pieces of wood together tightly, look at how small the crack is between those pieces. Now imagine a bug that and squeeze right in there. Now imagine where that bug can hide in/on your luggage, clothes, shoes, etc.

 

[Hkindiana]

My nephew got a "deal" on some old baseball gloves on eBay. He put them under his bed for storage, and before we knew it, his room was infested with bedbugs. Now, months later, LOTS of time, and about $700 in chemicals, trash bags, diatomaceous earth, sprayers, etc, it doesn't appear that the gloves were such a good deal after all.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

My mom told me stories from back in the depression (1930s, yeah, she's old) where they'd dump boiling water on the bed frames and stuff, so yeah, heat. We have chemicals now that they didn't then, but with understanding of the life cycle and a systematic approach, it is possible to conquer them. They can be frustrating, heck, I've had a time of it with a couple of flea infestations over the years. I'm good at giving baths to cats now.

 

[Crbn79]

BBs are the worst! I worked for apartment communities and all of them had infestations on some level. Heat treating is one of the most effective ways, however I have been in one of the units where it was 130 degrees for a 4 hour treatment and still saw them moving around alive after the treatment. If you couple the heat with DE you can win against these. The only effective chemical for killing them is banned by the EPA, you will have to order it from outside of the Country and find someone willing to ship it to you.

Don't bother with the Bed Bug DE, just get a couple of old-school ketchup/mustard squeeze bottles and fill them with DE from a pool supply store. It's the same exact stuff except you can buy 25lbs of it for the price of a 6oz bottle of bed bug DE. And, believe me, you will need a whole lot more than 6 ounces. We regularly treated 2-3 bedroom apartments with 2-4 lbs of DE.

When you work with DE, use a breathing mask, DE can do nasty stuff to your lungs. If the infestation is really bad, pull back the edges of the carpet from the tack strips, dump liberal amounts of DE all along the walls , then powder the rugs heavily like you're using that carpet freshener powder. Allow it to sit several days before you vacuum.

If you live in a rental/apartment, Indianapolis tenant law requires the owner to provide the 1st bedbug treatment free of charge. *however* Follow this free treatment up with your own treatment because the owner can back charge you for all additional treatments.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Thanks for the information from everyone. It was Midnight and I was totally whipped and the thought of getting back in the car was not an option. They moved me two floors down and I was only in the room for about an hour before I was moved. The new room was clean and no bugs present. Even though that doesn't mean that it wasn't infested.

I will be headed to a Laundromat to put my stuff in the dryer for a melt down just in case.

I stopped at the front desk and they comped the room. That didn't do much fro me since the company pays for the room. They did say that they will give me a measly 5000 bonus points. I told the guy at the desk to have the GM call me. I have not as of yet spoken to her.

I will be contacting IHG corporate about this in hopes of helping the next guy.

If I had it to do all over again I would have left the hotel. I couldn't sleep very well and have been feeling that bugs are crawling on me ever since. What a mess!

 

[Bunnykid68]

Bag everything up before you head home even after your heat treatment

 

[Gluemanz28]

Bag everything up before you head home even after your heat treatment

That is my plan. Im thinking about putting everyting in a garbage bag including a towel saturated with a whole bottle of alcohol and closing it up tight until I have to leave again on Sunday for Birmingham, AL

 

[Leadeye]

Bugs of all types get permethryn here first, and the house gets a regular application.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Yep. Dont take ANYTHING with you right now back into your house. Little buggers are nasty.

Im sitting in a holiday inn right now and my skin is literally crawling...

 

[Htrailblazer]

I would also suggest reporting the hotel on the Bed bug websites such as Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

 

[Gluemanz28]

Still no call from the GM at the Hotel. I spoke with my Sales Mgr this morning and told him about what happened. He said that he stayed at the same hotel a few weeks back. He is going to start avoiding it just like I am.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I would also suggest reporting the hotel on the Bed bug websites such as Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

I just registered the Hotel on this and the Hotels website. Thanks for posting

 

[cosermann]

Makes me long fondly for the good olde days of DDT.

 

[Trigger Time]

Were you staying at the one next to the old abandoned post office and the Indian market next door?

bed bugs are some serious ****!! We travel so much I've gotten used to checking the room before anyone else comes in or even bringing our luggage in. I've never found any. If I did I would flip the **** out no joke.

 

[Trigger Time]

Nevermind I thought you were in Chicago

 

[1861navy]

That is my plan. Im thinking about putting everyting in a garbage bag including a towel saturated with a whole bottle of alcohol and closing it up tight until I have to leave again on Sunday for Birmingham, AL

With plastic bags and such, anything less than 3 mil. their proboscous(sp?) can puncture, so try to use as heavy duty bags as possible, or double bag. Also whatever you bag if you don't put anything in there that can kill them, must either have some form of treatment after removal, or be left bagged for at least a year.

I couldn't sleep very well and have been feeling that bugs are crawling on me ever since. What a mess!

That to me is one of the worst parts, the psychological factor of little sleep, combined with the crawly feeling. Just be strong.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

The Large Hotel chain I work for takes Bed bugs and any other bug a guest finds as serious. I currently have some wierd looking bug that even our 24/7 exterminator couldnt identify in a to go box. If a guest reports a bug we immediately move the guest. Seal off the room and call the 24/7 exterminator; but in a 24/7/365 Hotel crawly things are inevitable. You would be suprised at how many dirty people come through my high end hotel.

Any time I've stayed at a hotel I've always been extremely paranoid about bugs, body fluids, people being TOO comfortable in a hotel room...yeah...reading your post didn't help my paranoia