bed bugs and toronto hotels

[Miss Maya Blue]

has anyone read reports or heard of bed bugs in any of our hotels?

i just finished reading about the westin harbour castle. someone reported having bugs in their room....
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-376476-the_westin_harbour_castle_toronto-i

having had friends whose homes became infested, i want to try to avoid bringing them home. i take measures as is....i try to keep my belongings off the floor for instance, but i am considering more drastic measures like bringing along garbage bags to bag up my luggage while in the room.

considering i stay hotel rooms often, id like to keep protected.

 

[Miss Maya Blue]

yet another review claiming bed bugs on the 15th floor of the sheraton
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...ton_Centre_Toronto_Hotel-Toronto_Ontario.html

 

[fuji]

I would be cautious because, as you probably know, once you have an infestation there is very little you can do about it. You can reduce their numbers via spraying, but you can't ever truly be rid of them.

I'd also add that you can kill bed bugs with heat, specifically, put everything you bring back through a long, hot cycle in the dryer, hot enough that it comes out so hot it's painful to the touch.

That will kill any bugs or eggs.

If you bring things that cannot be run through the dryer I'd advise extra caution with those items.

I would note that bed bugs can only climb pourous surfaces like walls, sheets, and so on on--they cannot climb up smooth slippery surfaces like glass. As a result you can buy yourself a measure of safety by dropping anything you bring home in the bathtub until you get a chance to clean it properly--any bugs present presumably will not be able to climb the side of the tub.

Beware that they are known to hook rides on coats, purses, and other personal effects--don't assume it's just the stuff you toss on the floor. Bed bugs, if they're infesting a room, have also likely found their way into the night stand.

 

[Rockslinger]

Beware that they are known to hook rides on coats, purses, and other personal effects--don't assume it's just the stuff you toss on the floor.

Do they hook rides on human bodies? I would think that the human host would be aware that there are bugs on his/her body unless he or she is stoned.

 

[Gentle Ben]

Do they hook rides on human bodies? I would think that the human host would be aware that there are bugs on his/her body unless he or she is stoned.

They sure do hitch rides, infact, they are very easily spread.You sit in a chair aywhere that has previously had a person with bedbugs, one could latch onto you, you take it/them home with you...guess what? you gottem!

 

[Rockslinger]

You sit in a chair aywhere that has previously had a person with bedbugs, one could latch onto you, you take it/them home

I think I'm ok. The SC's I go to are so nasty that I think they are unfit for bedbugs. Seriously, this is worrisome.

 

[Aardvark154]

They are no good. Unfortunately the only pesticides that are truely effective against them are the really nasty banned ones.

 

[Gentle Ben]

....... Seriously, this is worrisome.

It is, just a matter of time before everyone is infested with them. They are much more aggressive than cockroaches are, and much more diificult to get rid of, treatment is more expensive, and often you have to toss out furniture (mattresses, upholstered chairs etc).

 

[toughb]

 

[Aardvark154]

Don't ask me what their spray is (they don't say) but their other product is Diatomaceous earth (like having the little buggers walk through razor wire).

 

[Damondean]

by Professor Stuart B. Hill
Department of Entomology and
Ecological Agriculture Projects

For centuries stored grain has been protected from insect attack in much of the less developed world by adding some form of powder or dust to it. Common materials include plant ash. lime. dolomite. certain types of soil, and diatomaceous earth (DE) or Kieselguhr.

With the introduction of synthetic pesticides in the 1940s, and modern fumigants some time later, it was felt that a scientific solution to pest problems had been found. Although tnese materials provided enormous local benefits. a number of problems are beginning to be recognized. These include the development of resistance by insects. pollution of the environment. contamination of foodstuffs with residues, and exposure of users to toxic chemicals. This has led a small group of researchers and developers .to look again at the different powders to see which are most effective and how they can be improved.

Probably the most effective naturally occurring protective powder is diatomaceous earth.

Full story:

http://eap.mcgill.ca/publications/eap4.htm

 

[TeflonJohn]

Could this lead to a lawsuit?

 

[Hard Idle]

.You sit in a chair aywhere that has previously had a person with bedbugs, one could latch onto you, you take it/them home with you...guess what? you gottem!

Seriously, this is worrisome.

Yeah well, welcome to the paradise of lice, crabs ticks, skunks, weeds and other blights brought to you by Diltbag McShitty, his squinty-eyed pig buddy at City Hall and their nasty but well organized hoard of old hippies, young echonazis, scavangers, squatters and off-the-gridder mental cases.

We'll just have to hit the underground in search of some exterminator who still has stockpiles of banned chemicals or can get them smuggled in from another country in case we ever need them.

 

[DGrohl]

Bedbugs are serious sobs. They were brought over to Toronto from Europe and I know that hotels in Toronto have been quietly dealing with the problem for about a year now.

Don't worry, the health inspectors are involved.

It's really not the fault of the hotels either - it's just the nature of the business.

If you're worried about bringing these pests home with you after staying at a hotel, make sure you isolate and wash the clothes you were wearing right away.

 

[OddSox]

http://bedbugregistry.com/

Not an isolated problem at all...

 

[great bear]

Now, this thread has some bite to it.

 

[T-boy]

I work in the industry so can definitely shed some information on this.

Bedbugs have been a massive problem for a while now (we are talking 4 or 5 years) - and not just over the last year or so. Many Toronto hotels have been sweeping their bedbug problems under the carpet and won't admit they ever have bedbug issues. I know of one of the most famous Toronto hotels (probably the most famous, but obviously I can't say the name) throwing out all the furniture from one suite as they couldn't stop the bedbug problems.

Bedbugs aren't picky to where they stay, they cling on to your luggage and go with you to your next hotel, or your private house or residence. I would say nearly every hotel in Toronto, irrespective of star rating or qulity, has had bedbugs at one point in time over the last few years.

Over the last year the City of Toronto has taken more notice of bedbugs as they started to be a real big problem in the city's social housing shelters and hostels. However, bedbugs are NOT viewed as a health problem. They are a nuisance, but they don't carry deseases, so public health are NOT interested in helping with bedbug problems.

If you work in hotels, or stay in hotels often, personally I wouldn't worry about bedbugs. Bedbugs are now part of the hospitality territory - if you are THAT worried about getting them, never stay in a hotel. It's as simple as that. However...most of us do want to travel and stay in hotels, so really, just don't think about it, you will only end up being totally paranoid. I would say that every hotel in Toronto has maybe one room with bedbugs at any point in time. Really the chances of you being in that one room is fairly slim....but there is always a chance you will check into that one room, of course!

If you want to be careful, always check behind your headboard when you check into a hotel room, as you will often see bedbugs there first. Generally they only come out at night so normally you shouldn't be worried during daylight hours.

Lastly....I know of one movie theatre in Toronto that got bedbugs...so its not just confined to hotel rooms. Don't be worried or paranoid about getting bedbugs. ANYbody who travels puts themselves at risk from getting them, and its not worth stressing out in my opinion. (mind you, if you are that unlucky SOB that does pick them up in a hotel room, THEN its worth worrying about!).

 

[T-boy]

Oh, and here are some links that might be useful:

A good video including where you should check in your hotel room for bedbugs:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11916682//

City of Toronto website about bedbugs:

http://www.toronto.ca/health/bedbugs/index.htm

 

[fuji]

T-boy have you ever personally experienced bedbugs? I stayed in a place that had them once, with my wife. We were to be there for a couple of weeks. We noticed the bites but didn't understand what they were--we thought mosquitoes, but we couldn't find any mosquitos.

Then one evening, about 2am, we were sitting up chatting and saw a strange looking bug. I searched google images for "bedbug" and up popped a picture of exactly, and I mean, exactly what I was looking at. Flipped over the mattress and OH MY GOD. Loads of them.

We discussed what to do, and I say "discussed" only to be polite--by 3am my wife had an ultimatum for me: Get her the fuck out of there and to some place where there was no bed bugs, or she would get the fuck out of my life for good. By 4am we had a reservation elsewhere, but we spent until 6am going through all our posessions with a fine toothed comb to make sure we didn't bring any with us--boiling clothes, picking through the luggage.

They may not be a health risk, and they may be only an annoyance, but they are fucking disgusting and they will absolutely ruin your quality of living if you have them.

I think everyone's concern is not so much getting bitten at a hotel--I think the concern is bringing them home and infesting your own property.

Once you have them you can NEVER be rid of them, even with banned chemicals, you just can't get rid of them. They are human predators and they have evolved defenses against everything we can throw their way.

One of their evolved tricks is that while 90% of the bugs will be within a meter of your bed, feasting on you, 10% of them will wander off up to 100 meters away to some little crack in the far corner of your attic or basement. There they will hibernate for three to six months, then return to your bed and start a new colony.

You just can't be rid of these fuckers once you've got them, and I think everyone is rightly worried about bringing them home from a hotel.

 

[T-boy]

No Fuji, fortunately I've never had bedbugs personally. The apartment where I live has had them, and the place I work as had them, but not in my own apartment.

What I mean by my post is....bedbugs are merely part of the hazard of travelling and staying in hotels' these days, just like the possibility of getting robbed or losing your passport, or a housekeeper steeling your money out of your hotel room. *If* you are going to stay in a hotel room, you probably shouldn't get all obssessed with the "possibility" of getting bedbugs - otherwise you will never sleep soundly in a hotel room again.

For Miss Maya Blue, the original poster - you shouldn't worry. If you are that worried about getting bedbugs, then just never stay in a hotel room again, as that is the "only" chance you have of not ever getting bedbugs. However, as staying in hotel rooms is your employment, then you have no choice, so you shouldn't worry about it.

Most hotel have a good and pro-active bedbug policy, and will at least move you to another room and clean your clothes (including drying) so you don't take any bugs with you. (the hotel I work at even dry-cleans your delicates, it has a VERY good bedbug policy). If you get bedbugs and the hotel brushes you off, and doesn't offer at least to move you room and clean your clothes, then I wouldn't stay in that hotel ever again.

P.S most hotel's don't know they have bedbugs until somebody gets bitten by one or finds one on them in the middle of the night, so never be surprised that *if* you get bedbugs and you come to the front desk, they don't know what you are talking about and don't seem to know what to do about it!