Bedbug encounter at SVV

[okwiater]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. My family travels frequently and had not previously encountered bedbugs, but this week we are staying at SVV (St. Augustine, 3 bedroom lockoff) and on our third morning as we were getting ready to head out to the parks, I noticed a male bedbug crawling across the comforter in the master bedroom.

We notified the front desk immediately but decided to head out anyway rather than let it ruin the day. About 20 minutes later, I got a call on my cell phone from a Security rep, who asked for permission to bring in Orkin to inspect the room. They found 2 additional bedbugs in the master bedroom but no other signs of infestation. But, they are good at hiding so it's hard to know whether they were just a few stray bugs from a prior guest or part of a major population.

In any case, they directed us to put all of our clothes into the dryer for several minutes and then load them into plastic bags. Then they took possession of our luggage and shoes for steam treatment. We loaded other items into plastic bags and transported them to a new lockoff in the Amelia phase, where they met us with our cleaned luggage and shoes.

We're going to take some additional precautions to prevent infestation when we return home, but overall we were pretty impressed with the rapid escalation and handling of the incident. Not a pleasant way to spend a vacation, though!

 

[vacationhopeful]

They also could have been transported into your unit by the turnover cleaning staff ... you saw them as they were "hunting" for food ... human blood ... attracted by body warmth and bed movement... takes TIME more than if a person sat on your bed or if you putting infested luggage on your bed...20 minutes earlier.

Visional inspection is more 'how lucky' than skillful. Best inspection is using a trained dog detection method. If you go by that unit, check to see if they are treating it with HEAT for 48 hours ... best way but bloody expensive. And really good treatment (at least dog inspection) would also be the connecting units .. also get treated at the same time.

20 minutes or more in dryer at HIGH HEAT is recommended. I am impressed that they had a steam treatment machine ... might be part of their general dry cleaning equipment for bed spreads and drapes in the units.

Bedbugs can LIVE for 6 months without being feed ... human blood is their only food source.

Everybody scratching behind their ears YET? Found little red bumps on your head (as your head is your warmest body part)?

 

[vistana101]

Sorry to hear about that...not a fun situation!! Glad the property handled it well.

 

[okwiater]

Having learned that bedbug mortality is 100% when exposed to 13 degrees F or less for several days, we are also deep freezing our luggage and other belongings prior to bringing them back into our house. Hopeful never to encounter these little buggers again...

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Having learned that bedbug mortality is 100% when exposed to 13 degrees F or less for several days, we are also deep freezing our luggage and other belongings prior to bringing them back into our house. Hopeful never to encounter these little buggers again...

How would you deep freeze your luggage?

 

[pedro47]

How would you deep freeze your luggage?

I read somewhere that the best place to keep your luggage in a hotel; is in the bathroom on the cold tile floor or in the shower. .

 

[okwiater]

How would you deep freeze your luggage?

We have a large freezer in the garage and placed our luggage into it. We're going to leave it in there for 4 days.