To bin all of my clothes? (Bedbugs in hotel)

[SleeplessNight26]

I am currently away in London for the weekend and last night at about midnight I discovered bedbugs in my bed. I leapt out of bed, called family also staying in the hotel to come and check I wasn't mad and then went to reception. They apologised and found me a new room which I then spent about two hours checking (even had my hairdryer on the mattress to try to bring any to the surface).

Before getting into bed I had another shower and was kindly lent some pyjamas. By this point it was 2am and I didn't manage to get to sleep until about 3.30am as every little thing made me flinch and get up the check the mattress with my torch.

Some of the bugs in the first bed were tiny and clearish so I've bagged up the pyjamas and socks I was wearing for the bin. I put my bags on the fabric armchair at the bottom of the bed, so now I'm considered whether just to cut my loses and bin everything fabric of mine to avoid taking the buggers home with me. Any thoughts, tips etc would be welcome. I can't believe this and was in quite a state last night as this has been a concern of mine for a long time!

I checked the mattress seams and all layers of bedding with a UV torch as soon as I arrived (as I said this is one of my greatest anxieties when staying in the hotel) and all looked fine so it's not even as if I didn't take any precautions.

I will of course be requesting a refund but from frantic Google searches last night it looks unlikely that they would pay to replace your clothes. I thought about my home insurance which may cover it but at this point I'd be happy to take the hit on two days worth of clothes (I'd have to go out today and buy some more) and not have to fumigate my home!

Everything (shoes, bags, clothes etc) is currently sat in the bath while I figure out what to do. Thanks in advance for any advice.

YABU: No need to bin everything just bag it up and wash on 60° when home on Sunday.

YANBU: Bin the lot.

Stand bags in Bath and literally boil warm wash everything if any crawl out they will be in bath rinse away and hot shower self on return not much else u can do

Yes you are being unreasonable, just wash them. Ive been exposed to bedbugs twice and both times i just washed evetyhign on a hot wash and it was all fine.

Nah, just tie them up in binbags and freeze for a few days - kills everything. Do the same with the bag if you can find a big enough freezer (do you know anyone with one of those giant chest ones?).

I'm sorry this has happened OP. I experienced bed bugs many years ago when I moved into a flatshare in London and the owner (who lived there) didn't tell me that was the reason the previous occupant had moved out. 😡 He refused to get proper treatment and just did it himself and insisted I needed to stay there as bait.

Needless to say I moved out immediately! It was a horrible experience and it took a lot of work to make sure everything was bed bug free. Obviously I couldn't just ditch all of my possessions. I put anything I could in the freezer for a few weeks, and washed everything possible on 90 degrees. This did work and I've never had a recurrence.

I still dream about it sometimes!

Please name and shame the hotel. I’m currently on my way to London to stay in a chain hotel and I’ll cancel it if I have too. It’s disgusting and I hope the hotel will reimburse you for everything.

I would walk naked in to my house rather than risk bringing them in.

Boil wash and tumble dry if you have one - heat should kill them

This happened to me (seaside hotel).

I put everything that had been in the hotel in bin bags. Knotted. As soon as we got in the house we took off our clothes and knotted them into bin bags.

Then worked through everything. Hot wash, microwave or else in the freezer for 48 hours. Bags: thorough vacuum with nozzle, and sprayed with strong suitable insecticide. Vacuum filter removed and washed!

We were fine, no infestation brought home.

It was horrible though.

Unfortunately any hotel can become infested in a very short time and it isn’t a cleanliness issue. Or a London issue.

Personally I would bin the lot. My mum has had bed bugs for the last 7 months, she is elderly, frail and has dementia. I've been trying to help her with the infestation and it's been hell on earth. Six professional treatments later and we're still at square one. The trouble is they are so hard to see and can get into the tiniest of spaces and reproduce at an alarming rate. Many of them also have pesticide resistance.
I have an ongoing fear of bringing them home to me every time I visit her and I keep freaking out every time I have an itch or I see a little speck of fluff on my mattress.
Seriously, prioritise your mental health. It's a lot more valuable than a bag of clothes.

Obviously but if there’s an outbreak and I’m potentially going to that hotel I’d rather know like anyone would .

I agree, they say they have fumigators in every 2 weeks so it's clearly a problem, they should completely shut, fumigate and get rid of the beds, fabric chairs, linen. Obviously someone has bought tgd bugs in but that's not up to guests to sort. I wouldn't want to use their washing machine or dryer either.

youre right to not name the hotel op. you could be sued. although some people might appreciate the room number??? that way if their hotel allocates room number 1234 then they could say no thanks lol. even though it could be a totally different hotel. or am i being daft!!

I had bedbugs after a stay in an air b&b. It took months, steaming everything and binning the mattress and ottoman bed, plus sealing up every crack in my bedroom and using diotomaceaous earth in the carpet to finally get rid of them. I steamed the suitcases several times - but found a bug a year later (!) when I used the suitcase. So, I’d bin everything fabric - it’s just not worth it. The first thing I do now in a hotel is check under the seams of mattresses for specs of bed bug faeces… I very much feel your pain. Speaking to the pest control company we had to try (unsuccessfully) to get rid of them via fumigation, they really are endemic and so difficult to treat. I also make sure I have a bed bug proof mattress protector on my bed and pillows now. Give thanks that you found them before you came back home.

Looking online you could be compensated for clothes so keep receipts if you buy anything and report to the environment health for that area.

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. Sounds incredibly tough on top of your mum's health issues ❤️

You've convinced me to bin everything. Nothing is as precious as being able to sleep at night for the next six months!

Heading out to M&S in my pyjamas and a borrowed rain coat to buy new underwear and something to wear tonight. Also going to buy a steam cleaner, I've wanted one for my bathroom for a while anyway and buying one today will mean I can blast my shoes, everyone's suitcases, the car, and anything non-fabric before taking it into my home.

Not the Saturday I had planned but am trying to laugh rather than cry (any more than I already have!)

Thank you all for the moral support. For those who have defeated bugs well done, and to those still battling them my heart is with you as this has been an anxiety fuelled day, let alone weeks/months.

Really don't want to name the hotel but I have been advised that they've closed off the room and the whole section around it, so for those heading to hotels this weekend just check your mattress seams before you go to bed and maybe try the iron trick someone suggested to bring any lurkers to the surface.

I would bin them. Thankfully haven’t had this problem but a friend brought bedbugs back from Paris and getting rid was an expensive nightmare that spanned months.
If there is anything that you can’t bear binning, I believe a few days bagged up in a freezer works. The suitcase if you keep it will also need treated.

I’ve been in your position (beautiful newly renovated palazzo in Siena) and I hot washed (washing machine) what I could. i threw everything else including my suitcase
as they’re hardy buggers apparently, and hard to get rid of once you’ve an infestation.

in my case I assumed my bites were mozzie bites u til 3 days in I saw the bedbugs at night. Was horrific. Spawning out of bed frame, holes in the stone walls. Still makes me itch thinking about it nearly 10 yrs on. I now always take spray with me and inspect mattresses rooms when going away!

Bin it!!! Then burn the bin!!!!

what reason do you think the OP could be sued for?

I picked up bed bugs while back packing- the hostel were great, shut the room, stripped it and fumigated it. Took all of my clothes and tumble dried them. I had to throw a few non tumble-dry-able things away. No more bed bugs. I was left with itchy bites for a few days. Still a bit traumatised years later. But, tumble drying was the bomb. I reckon your steam cleaner will be good too, if you have any delicate things you want to save, freeze them, then get them dry cleaned.

My son came off a ship he worked on in Africa. He was reassigned so his stuff was packed and went into a warehouse to be shipped back to the UK. Six months later it turned up. Son said unpack tip out on the patio, wear garden gloves, hot wash, pray it survives. Shoes and everything else burn on the bonfire.

There's nastier things than bed bugs out there he warned me.

Gave me nightmares.

I was once told by someone who worked in pest control that during the day, the best place to check for bed bugs is around the frame underneath the bed. Apparently that is where they go to sleep. I realise that information is no use to you now, but I've mentioned it because it made me think that if any had found their way to the bags at the foot of your bed, they may be sleeping in the crevices in your bags. So you might need to heat treat or freeze the bags too.

You have my sympathies. They make me shudder just thinking about them.

you think someone saying “Joe Bloggs And Co Hotel, 1 Sloan Squate, London had bedbugs dont go there” would NOT affect the business?

Of course it would, in a negative way. Do you not agree!?

Before you know it people would post it in other social media to make sure Jane’s cousin Jim’s dog walkers best pals mum thats going to london next month knows not to books with Bloggs. And word would spread.

Meanwhile Bloggs finds out and legal action is started.

Dont think youre safe on here as we can all be tracked by various means…..

Buy a handheld steamer and steam the shit out of all of your clothes and your bag. I wouldn’t bin any of it. The handheld clothes steamers are pretty cheap - got one from Argos for £30.

Steam them once before you leave and steam them all again when you unpack and then put them through the washing machine.