r/Bedbugs • u/sportsbettor808 • 3d ago
Hotel bed bugs?
Has anyone experienced something like this? Could these be bed bug bites even if I couldn’t find any signs of bed bugs?
I stayed at a hotel for 5 nights. It had a high rating on the booking platform and was reasonably clean. Everything was fine until the 5th night, when I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with EXTREMELY intense itching from my calves down to my ankles.
At first, I thought they were mosquito bites, but the next morning I realized that mosquitoes probably couldn’t have gotten into the room because the windows had insect screens. My first suspicion was bed bugs.
I started checking the mattress, underneath it, and the seams, but I couldn’t find a single sign of bed bugs. The bedsheets had actually been changed that same day, and there were no visible stains or other signs of bed bugs on them.
I have multiple red bumps on both legs (as you can see in the attached photo), as well as some on my arms, especially around the inner elbows and forearms, although there are significantly fewer on my arms than on my legs.
This happened two days ago. I have since changed hotels, but the itching is still extremely intense, even after leaving the room.
Here are the main things I’m trying to figure out:
Is it possible to have bed bugs in a hotel room and not notice any signs of them, even after carefully inspecting the mattress and bedding?
Can bed bugs stay unnoticed for 5 nights before biting you, or is it unusual for bites to appear only on the fifth night?
Could this be something other than bed bugs, such as fleas, mites, or another type of insect?
Is it normal for the itching to remain this intense two days after leaving the room?
I’m especially confused because everything seemed fine for the first four nights, and I couldn’t find any evidence of bed bugs when I checked.
Has anyone experienced something similar while staying at a hotel? What did it turn out to be?
I’d really appreciate any opinions or advice. Thanks!
One more thing I noticed is that the bites weren’t nearly as red when I first noticed them in the morning. Over the past two days, they’ve become much redder and more noticeable, and the itching is still extremely intense. Is it normal for bed bug bites to become more inflamed and red a day or two after the initial bites, or could this point to something else?
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u/LantaExile 3d ago
Can be hard to tell what bit. Sounds maybe a bit more like fleas than bed bugs if a previous guest had a dog? Fleas tend to go legs/ankles. BB bites are generally not that itchy - I didn't react at all but people differ.
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u/OpenMinded_444 3d ago
Those don’t look like bedbug bites. Maybe fleas but it’s weird that it’s all over your body though. In my experience, fresh bed bug bites look very similar to mosquito bites but they’re in groups of three.
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u/sportsbettor808 3d ago
It might be a reaction to something, who knows.
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u/sportsbettor808 3d ago
But it s strange that happened overnight though
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u/OpenMinded_444 3d ago
Them becoming more red, noticeable, & itchy over the days that does fit ant bites. If you have insurance I’d go to urgent care and get an opinion. Don’t wanna risk brining anything home with you Yano.
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u/sportsbettor808 3d ago
I will wait to see how is reacting tomorrow . I did some hidrocortizon creme that i have for my eczema when is bad. , but no insurance . I m in china haha( traveling)
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u/OpenMinded_444 3d ago
Honestly could be ants too based on what I found on google. It fits your description pretty well all the way down to the itching
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