Holiday cottage- possible flea infestation

[SatsumaDog]

Second night in a holiday cottage. Woken in the night by insane itching on tops of feet,
ankles and lower legs. Had to take an oral antihistamine to sleep a few hours. This morning I had multiple bites to both legs/ankes/feet and a few on one arm. Probably around 20-25 in total. I have noticed very small jumpy insects landing on me and other family members since in multiple rooms. No one else has been bitten as badly as me.

Facts:—

• Cottage allows dogs, although asks they are not allowed in bedrooms.
• Rural location near the sea
• House has many housemartins nesting in the eaves
• Since arriving have done a couple of walks down to the sea via a short woodland path
• We are here for 2 weeks
• We have stayed in a this and other cottages owned by the same family over the years with no similar issues
• We love this area and will be very likely to return
• We do not intend to ask for money back or any kind of compensation
• Googling photos of bites, mine could be fleas but it’s hard to tell.

AIBU to inform the owner? Is this likely fleas or similar and if so, what could reasonably be done? Do fleas just go eventually (if indeed this is what they are) or does something have to be done about them? Will my life be a misery for 2 weeks if this is fleas? Could it just be sand flies or similar? Never had this issue before but the weather has been exceptionally warm.

I won’t be mentioning the area or the owner.
I have no desire to damage their business.

Sorry, just to mention, we don’t have a dog.

Inform owner. If this was your own house I would say get your hands on some Indorex with all possible haste, but the misery is likely to continue until all the eggs have hatched (you can kill adult fleas and larvae but not eggs and this might take a chunk or all of your holiday. Is there anywhere else you could stay?

It’s possible there’s another cottage we could
move to, but we chose this one specifically for the location. I don’t want to report it if there’s any doubt it could be something else. Do you think it definitely sounds like fleas?

Yeah small jumping things is fleas. Another marker is that they tend to bite in a line say from the ankle going up the leg with each bite getting smaller as they get more full.

Indorex is the thing you need to treat the house. Every room will need doing and then it needs vacuuming regularly to get the eggs - concentrating on the edges other nooks they get into. It's not fun when it's your own house but I wouldn't want to be doing it on holiday.

It's not the owner's fault - someone has probably has a dog in the house with fleas and lots of people don't react to the bites. But you're going to have an itchy holiday if you stay.

jumpy black insects definitely sounds like fleas. You can buy flea treatment to kill them, and bomb the house, hoover lots. The owner should know and have the opportunity to fix this for you

Thanks for the feedback. We will let the owner know and see what they say. I don’t blame them at all. These things happen and I’m absolutely sure they will do what they can. The main thing is that I don’t want the next people to have the same problem and maybe give a bad review and damage the business. This is a very special place and the owner is a very lovely chap.

Update is that pest control people coming tomorrow. Unfortunately some bites have become infected and now on antibiotics. No one else in the family has been as badly affected. Very grateful to the lovely pharmacist who saw me in less than 10 minutes at the end of their working day. We have seen a few fleas of various sizes (we assume that’s what they are), so fingers crossed pest control can deal with them before I lose the plot with the itching.

We had this in a cottage where the owner had a golden retriever. After a hasty dash to a hardware shop we treated all the rooms with carpet. Bit awkward as we'd been lent the cottage by a friend but we did have to tell them after so they could carry on the treatment.

Hope your antibiotics kick in soon.

Thanks! It’s my birthday tomorrow and we have a nice meal planned. Can’t wear the dress I intended with all these bites, so will have to find something with full coverage otherwise I’ll frighten the other customers!

Honestly OP i can't believe how incredibly laid back you are being. You have paid goid money to stay in flea infested accommodation. You now have infected bites needing antibiotics but still don't blame anyone!

This is so wet, it's painful! Be careful no fleas get in your possessions because if you take them home you will have a flea infestation in your house too

The OP is not being wet. She just knows that it's not the cottage owners fault as they've stayed in ones before. That said OP, I would expect the owner to be giving you a discount (even though they've acted quickly). And I would be very careful in making sure you don't transfer any of them back to your own place. Hope the antibiotics make you feel better soon and you have a lovely birthday tomorrow.

Fleas need a live host to travel and dont live on humans, (unlike head lice) they just jump on and feed then jump off. So you won’t take them home.

Fleas are attracted to heat, if you put a bowl of hot water on the carpet they will sometimes jump in and you can then see them clearly. Obvs this isn’t needed as the pest control are on their way.

I hope it is fleas and sounds like it is from your description. Bed bugs are much worse!

You should get pretty immediate relief if insect control people are coming in. They'll have to repeat it again in about 10-14 days. You'll need to leave the house locked up for a few hours if they are using effective stuff though so it is worth making sure that you understand the instructions. If you have small children I'd put things like soft toys and blankets in the car and away from the fumes and sprays. Anything belonging from you that you can get off the floor is a good idea as the more area that can be treated the more effective it will be.

You are being very stoic and chilled. I would expect some sort of gesture to be made under the circumstances as that's pretty unpleasant and you could ask to be relocated. The fact that you are willing to grin and bear it, should perhaps go to a discounted stay in the future if you are a repeat customer.

Make sure you put all your clothes and bags etc in bin bags sealed up when you go home and put everything straight into the washing machine on a very hot wash and everything else in the freezer to kill off anything else as you don’t want anything else going home with you!!

I know, I’m deliberately trying to be laid back. We’re supposed to be here for 2 weeks (at a fairly substantial cost) and we have stayed in these cottages (including this one) on multiple occasions with no issues. It’s been a very stressful year and this is a long awaited holiday. It’s very far from ideal and I agree, I am being a bit wet about the whole thing. The bottom line is I could go full on tantrum and possibly spoil everyone else’s holiday or I could hold it in, understand what’s possible under the circumstances and make the best of some very bad luck. Believe you me, I want to burst into tears, say my holiday is ruined and go home. I have been itching incessantly for 3 days, can’t wear any of my nice clothes because I’m covered in bites and haven’t slept properly since I got here. Fortunately the rest of the family haven’t suffered as I have.

We are due to see the owner tomorrow. None of his other cottages are free this week so there’s nowhere else to move to. There may be options next week so if things don’t improve I will suggest a discount/move. I just don’t want to ruin the whole holiday by throwing a wobbly when there’s not really much else we can do about it.

I’ll do some research about whether there’s a risk of bringing these bloody things home. Any danger of that and our luggage is getting incinerated!

Thanks! I really appreciate the advice. Hopefully the pest control people are coming tomorrow.

Ok, thank you! I’ll certainly be doing as you advise.

Are you fucking serious? So you pay good money to stay in accommodation that is flea infested, causing bites requiring antibiotics with the risk of transferring said flea infestation home and you say, "ah, no it's nobodies fault" ?

Thank you! My birthday will forever be known as ‘The one with the fleas’! However there will be champagne and hopefully cake which will go a long way to making up for it.

I totally get where you’re coming from.

The problem is that when you allow dogs, you are really at the mercy of their owners. Clearly someone has brought an infested pet to the premises (or as DH would put it, a flea ridden cur). Technically they aren’t allowed upstairs, but let’s face it, people won’t stick to that rule
and even if they did, the fleas wouldn’t. First thing the owner hears about it is us saying there are fleas and I have been bitten. Owner arranges a pest control and has no other cottages to move us to this week. His back is likely against the wall financially as we all are and could do without discounting our stay unless he absolutely has to.

Ask the owner for a refund. Tough if it's not their fault, you've paid for a flea free holiday.
An infestation that bad is not normal. And infected bites too, that's not run of the mill fleas is it? You're entitled to a tantrum, but shouldn't your family be outraged on your behalf? I would be if it was my mum!

You’re more than due a refund, plus compensation for impact on your personal health, and enjoyment of holiday. You can ask for that - indeed expect it - and it doesn’t mean you’re being confrontational or blaming anyone or being a meany.

Assertiveness isn’t aggression.

Youre dealing with a business - it’s a financial transaction. You can claim your money back and it won’t cause ‘a scene’ or mean you’re being ‘difficult’. It’s just a straightforward, normal, business conversation between provider and consumer / service and customer.

@Rachelshair @AnNonnyMouse3 I appreciate your feedback, I really do. I feel
pretty close to the edge right now. Lack
of sleep etc catching up to me I think. I will reconsider my options tomorrow.

This is an example of the top of one of my feet. There are more at the back of my ankle and the other foot is the same.

I’d be moving out pronto and requesting a full refund. Really the owner should have offered this with profuse apologies.

Just seen your photo, that’s awful and looks painful. Please leave that accommodation asap.