I’m currently on the Camino Portuguese and had a close encounter with bed bugs while here.I typically wake up extra early, so had a private room and was laying in bed when I noticed that I had an unwelcome visitor crawling towards me. I quickly went to battle and squished him and it was obvious by the amount of blood he was well fed.eventually, another one meet a similar fate.
I’m a fairly experienced traveler so nothing goes on the bed. Backpack is kept on a chair or table, or ideally on a hook. zipped shut unless I am actively taking something out, or putting it back in. Clothes are hung up. What’s in the pack is in a.trash bag, and the pack is heavily treated with permethrin as a precaution. I did check the outside of the pack, ant no new friends were there. Will be especially careful to go through a re-entry procedure when I return.
I notified the responsible person at the lodging of the situation, including an open casket viewing of the remains to the two dead bugs. The place is well run and I trust he knows how to handle the situation and will do so promptly. My room was private, and I did not see any apparent signs of infestation when I checked on arrival. As other pilgrims were beginning to wake up, I asked if anyone had ever had problems with bed bugs, and all replies were negative. I did not announce my situation to anyone other than the person in charge.
My reasoning was that I took precaution to see the situation was being taken care of. I didn’t want the lodging to suffer because some pilgrim brought uninvited friends along for a ride. I’m am very well aware that even 4 star hotels have the M from time to time. I have heard people say they won’t stay at X place because they heard it had bed bugs, but the report was years ago. Unfortunately, long after the problem was dealt with, the stories remain out there hurting a business that has already eliminated the situation.
So my question is what would you have done in the situation? Any advice for the future?