I have been bitten before so I know what it feels like.

I started a new job for a small hardware importer. i was paired up with a co worker to pitch a company in NYC. because we are small our budgets are small. we were booked into a mid level hotel in Brooklyn.

My co worker is a real mach kinda guy, beer and football, still whistles at women, very embarrassing to be around.
we shared a suite, he gave me the bed because of my age and bad back, he took the pull out. we arrived very late because of flight delays. after unpacking i start my bedbug routine, checking the mattress, headboard, laying down an allersac, spraying the perimeter of the bed area with eco bug spray , pulling the bed away from the headboard, and placing bedbug cups under the bed legs. i found a couple of spots on the mattress but no actual bedbugs so i figured the room had been treated and no bedbugs were present. he starts laughing, calling me “protectaboy”. ” are you afraid of a coupla bugs ” he taunts.

We try to get a some beer/ food but everything is closed so we raid the mini bar for a drink then hit the sack. at 4am i hear him swearing .

I get up and meet him in the bathroom, he’s scratching an wiping himself down with a towel and i can see bites all over his back and legs, even 2 bebugs still on his back, a couple on his cheek,they were small red marks. i couldn’t help but laugh, he was really freaking out, we both got dressed threw our stuff into our bags a went to the front desk. for the next hour he argued with the night manager who couldn’t place us in another room as the hotel was full.
The manager told us the whole hotel had been treated the previous month and there were no bedbugs there. “what do ya think these are” my partner is screaming and pointing to the ever growing welts on his cheek while threatening to undress to show her the rest of his bitten body.

By now it’s 6am, we have a meeting at 10am, we need to shower and shave so we leave most of our stuff at the front desk and go back to the room to shower.

By the time we leave the regular manager is on duty, he looks at my partner’s face and starts to apologize, credits my card for the night and tells us to contact the corporate office for further actions.

We make the meeting, make the sale ( even with my partner looking like he did ) and change our flight so we don’t have to stay another night
The whole way home i kept calling him “biteboy”, his face now had 3 large red marks which some kid on the plane kept staring at, hysterical really, as long as it wasn’t me.

Whether the allersac, bedbug cups, eco spray and pulling the bed away from the headboard worked, or they forgot to treat the pullout, i don’t know , but i won’t hesitate to do the same again.

You describe a way of “isolating” a hammock, much like other forms of bed isolation. (Techniques for “isolating” — or simply “protecting” — a regular bed can be found here.)

You may not realize this, but if bed bugs are deprived of the food source sleeping in a bed, they will move on to other areas of the home. You probably sit in a sofa, easy chair, or dining room or computer chair — bed bugs can crawl up on any of these surfaces and bite you. If you were to isolate every bed and chair in your home, bed bugs may attempt to crawl up your leg and bite you as you sit on the toilet, or stand in the kitchen. It would be hard to deprive them of all feeding opportunities.

The methods in this FAQ include ways to keep bed bugs from biting you while also catching samples of any that attempt to do so, with inexpensive ClimbUp Interceptor bed bug traps. This, along with bed bug treatment, will help you get rid of the problem and maintain your sanity.

BugZips may help protect your luggage in a hotel room.

However, I am not familiar with the allersac. I am not sure how this 100% cotton travel sheet “shields you from bed bugs” as the authors of this website claim: http://www.allersac.com/

I am not aware of any bedding which will prevent bed bugs from crawling inside and biting you. They can crawl inside a t-shirt, so why not inside a travel sheet-sac?

Also, food grade Diatomaceous Earth can be used to kill bed bugs. However, we’re told it takes them up to 10 days to die. It might be more useful to take precautions with your luggage and other items brought from your travels, and to carefully apply DE to crevices in your home, in case you ever bring one in (from anywhere — they can be found in your city or town too). If you do use DE, be sure and take the necessary safety precautions, and apply appropriately and sparingly for best results — our DE FAQ is a good place to start your research.

I also recommend everyone learns to search a hotel room for bed bugs, per the information in the post above. An ounce of inspection is worth a pound of cure!

Report back if any of you are successful with this method or not.

I really hope this response reaches you in time to help.

To be on the safe side, everything you brought with you to the rental home should be treated to ensure bed bugs are not brought into your home. You should also take precautions to avoid infesting your car!

You will see several relevant FAQs in our travel section about how to avoid taking bed bugs home with you.

The general advice would be this:

Anything you remove from the rental home should be sealed in clear bags. Thick contractor garbage bags tied in an airtight manner, or XL ZIplocs if you have access to them, can be used.

Take all washable items home in sealed bags and either wash and then dry on hot (until bone dry). OR simply dry dry items on hot. That takes much less time, if items do not need washing. However, give some thought to thick items. Comforters, pillows, stuffed animals and the like provide a lot of insulation for any bed bugs or eggs secreted within. It is hard to know how long to heat them in a dryer. If you travel with these items potentially infested, to wash/treat at home, then they are sealed to prevent bed bugs getting in the car. Some people might use a Packtite (see below) or even discard such items to be safe.

Non-washable items are tricky. You can carefully inspect them visually, if you spend some time learning about bed bugs and their signs, but keep in mind, bed bugs hide easily. They can hide in a seam or crack the width of a credit card — so hiding in the seam of a suitcase or duffel is not a problem. Visual inspections are more reliable for items you can inspect thoroughly. You might want to inspect and/or treat at the other end, preferably before you take items inside (if you have a yard or other space outside).

It may be possible to run cloth suitcases, duffels, and such through a dryer on hot, but they should travel bagged to avoid infesting the car.

Some people use a Packtite to decontaminate entire suitcases of washables and non-washables and/or to treat non-washables (in batches). It costs about $295 but can be used to decontaminate most items (if they fit) and can be be re-used as a preventive after future trips. You basically put items inside, plug it in, and heat it just hot enough to bake bed bugs, but not hot enough to damage most items. Again, take extra precautions when heating thick items, which will take a long time. Use the temperature censor to monitor internal temps, preferably inside the thick item. (You can learn more about Packtite here.)

People who are leaving the house to get in a car or other vehicle should be wearing freshly laundered clothing (don’t dress and sit down or stand around). Even shoes should be run through the dryer if possible. Purses and other items are suspect.

The size and location of the infestation may have an impact on whether or how many of your items were infested. Be especially suspect of items stored near or on beds or sofas/upholstered chairs/other seating. Bed bugs can infest dressers, or crawl into bags left on the floor.

All of this may sound drastic, but it is well worth the effort not to take bed bugs home. Please come to the forums if you have more questions or need support!

Thanks for your comments!

Your experience is similar to my own. I have stayed in many hotels and searched the room and taken some precautions, but I still enjoy travel.