In Reply to: bed bugs - is this common? posted by ridingthewind on Friday, 28. August 2009 at 04:45 Bali Time:
to them and I wasn't.
One of the posters mentioned that you cant get rid of them just by changing the mattress and this is correct,people who have were lucky as they must have been a very recent import!
You cant spray house hold insecticides as they just don't kill them.
If you see the results of BB bites on a person that is allergic to them you will get a shock, And it can take weeks for the welts to go away.
The reason they are spreading in Bali is possibly due to its popularity at the moment.
Many travelers pick up BB as hitch hikers in places like Lombok.
They then spread because so many people are hotel hopping and BB get into luggage.
They can also be picked up from cane chairs at restaurants and bars,then taken back to hotel rooms on your clothing.
Strip your bed on arrival and look for tell tale signs as mentioned before.
Best indicator is small blood stains which show up on white pillows and sheets,easily mistaken for a squashed mozzie!
Any hotel room can get them as the room is only as good as its past guests who may have brought them in without knowing.
I dont think its worth canceling a hotel because a person has reported BB,s, In our hotel we were the only room that had them,in the end they were dealt with and we have since returned without a single BB bite.
Some really cheap places I could imagine dont care as everyone has left within a few days with new people arriving all the time.
Dont go near any place that puts matresses or beds out in the sun.