USA road trip, Post 9: Bed bugs!

This is the story of one of my most unpleasant travel experiences to date. The trauma is long past now, but I'm still hoping to get a sympathetic comment or two... ;)

On our first night in LA, I fell victim to bed bugs. We had never encountered them before, so until this they had only crossed my mind in the context of a quaint bedtime rhyme ("goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"). I do, however, make a habit of reading a lot of online reviews before booking accommodation for any trip, and reviews about bed bugs are something I look out for. However, there isn't a single online review - on any website (I triple-checked!) - that mentions bed bugs at this hotel.

They found me, however. I awoke before Ben and Delle on Wednesday morning, and after a while I touched a line of pea-sized lumps on my neck. After eliminating neck tumours as a possibility, I discovered other strange things. The left side of my jaw was swollen up as if from a bee sting. What looked like mozzie bites were covering my arms. A hard, dollar-sized lump sat between two of the knuckles on my left hand. And my legs looked like they had a very bad rash.

I researched bed bugs online while I waited for the others to wake up, and discovered lots of photos that looked just like my symptoms. I also learnt a few things about bed bugs. They are 1/4 inch long, and impressively sneaky. They hide in the walls and furniture, and just crawl into beds at night. They thoughtfully inject their dinner with an anesthetic to prevent said dinner from waking up, and they complete their feeding in just a few minutes. Then they scurry back into hiding. All of this means they are very hard to catch in the act. We certainly didn't see one the entire time!

Click here if you would like to read more about these little critters.

Here are the bites on my neck (and you can sort of see my swollen jaw as well)...



My arm, covered in slimy anti-itch cream (oh yes, the bites were itchy, especially after a day or two)...



My hand - note the huge bite between my knuckles. For the next few days, the swelling from it covered the entire back of my hand...



And most disgusting of all, my legs...



Thanks to a combination of anti-itch cream and one-a-day anti-histamine tablets a pharmacist recommended, the bites were mostly gone after a few days.

I didn't get bitten again the second night, but apparently bed bugs go 5-10 days between feeds (and they'd had a very good one), and can actually live for a year without feeding if they have to. Anyway, I didn't spend much time in bed that second night - I was sitting up researching bed bugs again at 4am. For some reason I found it hard to relax and go to sleep...

And no, Ben and Delle didn't get a single bite. Or rather, apparently not everyone reacts to the bites... so perhaps they got bitten just as much as me! But I've been a magnet for biting insects as long as I can remember.

I'm sure you're wondering, so yes - we told the front desk what had happened, and the man there was very good about it. He said they had never had this problem before - and because of the lack of negative reviews, I believe him. He had the sheets changed, offered to give us a different room, refunded us the cost of one night's stay, and seemed very concerned about me. (He also whispered during all of these conversations because this is obviously not the type of thing they want other guests to overhear!!) A manager since emailed me to say they had the room exterminated the moment we checked out.

For these reasons I decided not to write an online review. If they have the problem again, someone else will write one... and if it really was just a one-off, they don't deserve to lose business because of it! Maybe these unwelcome guests arrived in a previous guest's luggage and I was their only meal at that hotel.

And hopefully that's the only time I ever feature on their menu, anywhere!