I haven't had the misfortune (yet) to stay in a hotel with bedbugs, but it seems like it's only a matter of time before we come across them.

Here is a helpful website that have hotels listed which have had bedbug problems, go ahead and list your own bedbug encounters on there.

http://bedbugregistry.com/

And the all important guide on checking your hotel room for bedbugs before you get cosied in for the night:

[url]http://membracid.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/how-to-inspect-your-hotel-room-for-bed-bugs/[/url

I've not come across any yet either, despite being told they are everywhere, but this will be useful when booking the next break!
Apparently they are also a problem in apartments in Minneapolis. I only have read about them to start itching all over

The problem with the website is that anyone can claim there are bed bugs in any location.

True, but it's better than nothing.

So glad to see this area was in the clear considering we were at a hotel last weekend.

Saving that site in my bookmarks. Thank you!

Thanks for the info, I will definitely check it out next time we're off travelling.

My take, though, is that this whole bedbug thing is a media storm in a teacup; a handful of incidents from friends of journalists becomes a national epidemic. I honestly can't believe there are bedbugs in any but the very cheapest, badly-run hotels these days

I received the latest Bed Bath and Beyond flyer in the mail the other day. They included bed bug spray in it, what a sad sign of the times.

I think it's more than a handful of places, they've also closed down Niketown, Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch in NYC for several days after bugs were found there.

The problem seems to be that since DDT was banned back in the day they no longer have an easy way to exterminate them and they are hard to get rid of once an infestation is found.

Bedbugs got into one of my college apartments once. It was awful. One of the more creepy parts was lying there with the lights out knowing that there were probably still bugs there, and turning on the light to find a few on the edges of nearby furniture...watching you. They come out when the lights turn off, you see.

*shudder*

These days I always lift up the sheets and mattress cover on hotels beds to see if there's any evidence of bugs, if they came home with us that would be an nightmare.

I saw that.. it's got to be a scam, yeah? The bug doctor was on the teevee saying how hard they are to eradicate.. how can a 10 buck spray keell them all?

Supposed to be 117 degrees (thereabouts) to kill them. It takes a professional to do it, not some store at the mall.

We did it ourselves but it took some really specialised stuff to do it, I forget what the stuff was but we couldn't stay in the apartment for a couple of days if I recall correctly.

Several months (at least) later I packed up some of my stuff for storage in a friend's basement, and some of it was in plastic boxes with clear lids. A few years later I came back for it and upon opening one of the boxes found a dead bedbug inside on the top layer of stuff, right in the center. I think he'd followed the meager light from the lid to try to find a way out.

Thank God somebody took the initiative to do something about this influx of undocumented bedbugs. Once they are all identified, they'll be much easier to keep track of. I'm still on the fence when it comes to an amnesty though. It just doesn't seem right.

I hear Houston has bedbugs...