“We have assembled the largest database of traveler reports of bed bugs in hotels globally,” claims hotel review site Raveable, based in Kirkland, WA. TechFlash picked up on their story that the bed bug report population is exploding, but I think it’s worth qualifying that Raveable seems to be making statements about their own statistics, not bed bug populations assessed by more official means.
For instance, their their press release lists the top ten cities with hotel bed bug reports. Raveable says, “Since 2010 the number of individual hotels with bedbugs has risen 250%,” but that’s not precisely accurate. I believe they mean, “the number of reports of individual hotels with bedbugs.” In short, since they are a start-up that began in 2009, I suspect them of measuring their increase in popularity with travelers in general, as well as their users’ encounters of the bed bug kind.
Their bed bug reports page offers a list of cities most recently infested, and the closest to us on that list is Portland, OR. That seems a little strange. Seattle’s page at the Bed Bug Registry has 100 entries, classified as “latest reports.” As some of those reports extend back to 2009, it is difficult to get a clear picture of whether things here are getting bed buggier or not. In any event, since 2009, 28 Seattle hotels have been flagged as having bed bugs at some point, which doesn’t rate on Raveable.
Raveable, commendably, says they do contact travelers to “confirm” the bed bug incident, and they also remove the reports after one year. That makes sense, as with bed bugs and hotels, what counts is either a steady stream of reports, indicating the problem has never been solved, or a fairly recent report, indicating the extent of the bed bug infestation may still be unknown.
Sadly, a review of the Bed Bug Registry’s reports gives you some inkling of the problem becoming intractable at some budget and residence hotels, where the rates don’t seem to justify cleanliness in general, let alone the expense of multiple pest removal treatments.
Bedbugger.com has news for itchy travelers who have thrown away one too many suitcases full of clothing: The Packtite Closet is coming soon. It’s a portable, blow-up bed bug roaster that allows you to treat all sorts of clothing on hangers, speeding the process: “We recently had 50 hung up items get to temp in right around 2 hours,” claims Packtite.
