Bed Bugs In Motels

[JandC]

The only thing I knew about bed bugs before this week was hearing my grandmother tell me when I was 4 years old "say your prayers and don't let the bed bugs bite" before she tucked me in for the night.

Our friends stayed in several motels in northern Florida last month. The motels were name brand and averaged over $100 per night. For the past three weeks my buddy thought he had hives or something. Itching all night and having red marks on his arms and legs in the morning. Turns out their home is infested with bed bugs.

Exterminator company is basically building a "tent" enclosure around their entire 2,000 square foot home and pumping chemicals into it for 3 days to get rid of them. Cost will be around $1,900. Needless to say they are upset, but on the other hand they are lucky because they can pull their SOB fiver in behind the house, plug into their 50amp and at least have a nice place to stay until things are back to normal.

The exterminator claimed that there are tons of motels with bed bug infestations throughout the US and it is getting worse because they don't want to spend the money to properly get rid of them.

So any MOCers out there that are required to stay in a motel should use a flashlight and check under the covers and around the mattress before staying in the room. The bed bugs, along with their eggs, are small but visible with a bright light.

We will be traveling north for a visit (SUV pulling a motorcycle trailer) in a couple weeks. We will be catching some sleep in a couple rest areas and skipping a motel stay on this trip.

[kdeiss]

If you ever observe someone walking a Dog through the Halls of a Hotel beware it very well could be a Bed Bug Sniffing Dog.I am not kidding!

[mlh]

I have a simple solution, if you can't stay in your camper don't go. Works for me.
Lynwood

[mhs4771]

Yep, we take our bed with us, along with the kitchen sink and everything else.

[DQDick]

It is scary. Once in a while we do have to use a motel.

[K0LCB]

When I deploy for disaster aid, I usually stay in hotels. I always check the room when I check in. I leave my suitcase and dirty clothes outside and spray with Bengal Gold when I get home

[BB_TX]

Don't use them very often. But the first thing I do is pull back the sheets and look around mattress seams. Haven't found any yet.

[richfaa]

We do not use Hotels or Motels very much anymore since we travel in the Montana. We did use them a lot in years past and have been fortunate to have never had a bed bug problem.

Helen got a lot of chigger bits in Nebraska and I got wasp stung at a C.G in Kansas City, Mo. We were infested with those little red fire ants in Alabama but no bed bugs.

[TLightning]

What's a "motel?"

[richfaa]

Is the word Motel used anymore? It is a old word that meant Mobile hotel.

[old turbo]

For some fun on your computer go to BedBugs.com and do a search by state.

[Art-n-Marge]

I hear they are also very resilient and therefore difficult to exterminate. I have heard awful stories even after extermination, but in your case, it seems like they are going full guns for them and I hope their problems will be behind them.

[Overlord]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

Is the word Motel used anymore? It is a old word that meant Mobile hotel.

.....ummmm, Motor-Hotel > Motel.

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by Overlord

.....ummmm, Motor-Hotel > Motel.

And before that it was Motor Court when they often had individual little cabins.

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by BB_TX

And before that it was Motor Court when they often had individual little cabins.

MOTEL: a roadside hotel designed primarily for motorists, typically having the rooms arranged in a low building with parking directly outside.

HOTEL: an establishment providing accommodations, meals, and other services for travelers and tourists.

I have never spent that much time in Tennessee or southern Ohio so maybe some of these terms are not interchangeable.

The point is, just beware if you pay someone to sleep in their bed.....heck, I probably really just confused a couple of you now!

[richfaa]

I have seen them called all of the above in different parts of the country.

[mlh]

Down here we have breakfast , lunch or dinner and supper. When I first started dealing with people from all over the country I would have them call back after dinner. They waited until after 5 o'clock. My wife finally told me so I started having them call after lunch.
Lynwood

[Artemus Gordon]

NYC had major outbreak. Problem is the also get into luggage and that is why my wife made our son leave his luggage outside under the carport. Lol. Everything got washed and luggage sprayed. They are only killed by high heat and or dangerous chemicals used when they tent houses. Love having no guest policy in Montana. Lol

[JandC]

Our friends are bed bug free! Their home was tented and they went to a local motel. We tried to talk them into staying with us but they were sooo worried about bringing a bug into our home they wouldn't do it. The first morning the tent went up and the gas went in a storm blew part of the tent off. Company had to re-tent and pump more poison into home. Two days later they removed everything and had the home aired out and bug free.

Just prior to this they had plugged their 42' toy hauler in to start loading it up and some wiring burned up. Local CW has ran up about $4,000 and not finished with repairs yet. The evening their home was finished we met them for dinner and on their way home the brakes in their Chevy 1-ton failed across the street from a Chevy dealer. When they got that fixed the next day for just under $1,500 the IRS sent them a letter for a mistake on their taxes in which they owed another $2,000 or so (you can't make this stuff up it is so bad). Looks like the month of August will cost them close to $10,000 and it isn't half over!

Ain't retirement grand!

[Artemus Gordon]

Joe that is a terrible story! Lol.