Albergue pillows

[eccydee]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size? Thinking of bringing our own lightweight pillow slips that have been treated with permethrin and wondering if the usual pillow slip size will suit.

First Camino starting late April - Porto to Santiago.

 

[donalomahony]

Yes, most Albergues provide pillows...

I always bring a pillowcase...

Spain uses a longer size of pillow (and therefore case) than we use in Ireland.

Kind of works...

Have never used permethrin...

 

[David Tallan]

I think I've been to only one albergue (Grañon) that did not provide a pillow.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Stuff your pillowcase with clothes or other non-noisy items from your pack to create your own pillow.

Personally, I wouldn't choose to rest my head and face on a pillowcase treated with a powerful insecticide every night. But you are, of course, free to choose your own path in life.

 

[Lexicos]

99% of the time you’ll get a pillow. A good idea to bring a pillow case.

 

[CarolamS]

Spanish pillows are long and thin. As wide as the mattress but much thinner than UK pillows. You might be able to get the right size pillow case using Amazon. Most albergues have pillows that have a thin plastic cover that's sealed, as are their mattresses. It does stop bed bug infestation in any pillows or mattresses. Frequently you will be given, or can buy, a disposable paper sheet and pillowcase. I try and use the first one twice so I can carry a set with me in case I stay somewhere without linen available. My quick-dry towel is usually dry by bedtime so I drape that over my pillow, purely for comfort.

I have been bitten by bed bugs, more than once (not just on Camino either), but I very much doubt the pillows are where they hide in albergues, these days. Permethrin doesn't prevent you getting bitten as it takes several hours to kill the bed bugs. There are lots of threads about this! I spray the inside of my pack and the dry bags I use within my pack. I hope that if I pick up a hitch hiker it will die before my next destination.

 

[J Willhaus]

I use a scarf as a pillowcase. Usually you will get a pillowcase and a bottom sheet for your bunk although not always. Having a dual purpose item like a scarf is a good alternative.

 

[Gobsmacked by the World]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size? Thinking of bringing our own lightweight pillow slips that have been treated with permethrin and wondering if the usual pillow slip size will suit.

First Camino starting late April - Porto to Santiago.

I’m not keen on the idea of putting my face right against a permethrin treated pillow myself. We each have our own comfort levels though.
I’ve not done it, but have considered, bringing my own bedbug proof pillow case. They’re cheap light and you could stuff whatever you want in.

I bring an inflatable pillow. Decathlon has a good one for only 20 bucks and 135 grams. Having a good sleep is important and I’m a creature of habit. I really like knowing what my pillow is going to be like from one night to the next.
I believe Sea to Summit has a pillow (Eros? No that’s not right, Aeros?) that is half that weight…but at four times the price, so a cost/weight calculation makes it an iffy choice.

Camping Inflatable Pillow - MT 500 Grey - Forclaz - Decathlon

If you want to sleep more comfortably in your tent, this pillow is the perfect solution!

www.decathlon.ca

 

[Gringazolana]

I brought a scarf and tied it around the pillows at night.

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

For our first and second Camino Frances, we purchased inflatable / blow up pillows from Sea to Summit, which we kept in a pillow case. Easy to use and very light. For our 3rd and 4th CF, we didn't bring pillows, sleep sacks or sleeping bags, since we reserved private rooms the entire camino and these were provided.
Bob

 

[J Willhaus]

Treating your gear is no guarantee against bedbugs. They are tenacious. Many places have pillows encased in plastic covers and mattresses with the same. This discourages bedbugs from hiding there. They are more likely to hide in some dark place in the daytime (like a seam in a wall, behind a wall hanging, a crevice in the bunkbed frame, in a pile of bedding, back or bottomside of a mattress, etc.) and come out at night. You rarely see one crawling around on a pillow or mattress in the daytime.

Although as hospitaleros, we do surveillance for bedbugs every morning during our routine bunk room cleaning using a strong headlamp, I have only encountered them them once as a pilgrim and so far never as a hospitalera in seven trips to the Camino Some people encounter them on every Camino and others not.

 

[Bumpa]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size? Thinking of bringing our own lightweight pillow slips that have been treated with permethrin and wondering if the usual pillow slip size will suit.

First Camino starting late April - Porto to Santiago.

I have never encountered any albergues without a pillow. As mentioned above they are longer than you might be used to. I always bring my own pillow case, so I can wash it whenever. You will need a pillow case from a King or Queen size sheet set.

 

[trecile]

I’m not keen on the idea of putting my face right against a permethrin treated pillow myself. We each have our own comfort levels though.
I’ve not done it, but have considered, bringing my own bedbug proof pillow case.

You might want to check what the company has done to make it bed bug proof.

Treating with permethrin will not deter bed bugs nor kill bed bugs on contact. They can get into your sleeping bag or liner, have a quick snack, and then skedaddle. However, prolonged contact with permethrin can kill them. For that reason I treat my silk sleep sack, the interior of my backpack and all my cloth stuff sacks. If any of the little pests gets inside my bag I don't want them coming out alive. I don't want to be the pilgrim who is transporting them from place to place - or into my home!

 

[RangerRick]

I am a physician who has worked many years in the tropics. Permethrin is a safe and effective preventive measure for bedbugs (and other insects). I am on the Camino right now and my sleeping bag liner is impregnated with permethrin.

 

[pkonopka]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size? Thinking of bringing our own lightweight pillow slips that have been treated with permethrin and wondering if the usual pillow slip size will suit.

First Camino starting late April - Porto to Santiago.

I brought a hiking/ camping pillow (lightweight and packable) on the Frances but stopped using it after a while. Most (all?) albergues provide a pillow. I carried a super lightweight sleeping bag that had the outside treated with permethrin, so I just pulled the bag up on top of the albergue pillow (the hood area of the bag) so I got the benefit of the albergue pillow but my skin never touched the actual pillow or pillowcase. Worked for me. Buen Camino!

 

[Ihor]

Good point by Trecile. You could be taking home bedbugs from the Camino, the airport, the airplane.

When I get home I always put everything, including the clothes I'm wearing into a large garbage bag and put it into a freezer, or outside in the sun for a few days, anywhere there is prolonged heat or freezing for several days.

 

[C clearly]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size?

I have in front of me now, one of the disposable pillow cases that was provided by an albergue. It measures 40 cm x 90 cm, and is tubular - open at both ends.

Even if you bring a wider (than 40 cm) pillowcase, having it open at both ends is a good idea, so you can center it on the pillow no matter what the length.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I use thick pillows or double them up. When using a long Spanish pillow I folded it over to double the thickness and used a shirt as the pillowcase because the thick folded pillow wouldn't fit the supplied case.

 

[J Willhaus]

I think I have mentioned this before, but some hotels that have double beds with what Phil and I call the "unipillow". It is one long pillow that stretches across the top of the whole mattress and it is in the shape of a long thick sausage roll. It isn't all that comfortable as a head rest and to make it even less appealing just about the time you get to sleep, your partner grabs it in his sleep and jerks it out from under your head.

I do have a couple of inflatable camp pillows that I have employed in the past against this threat to my beauty sleep. I haven't brought one for a couple of years now. It's easy enough now to make a reservation if needed at a place that doesn't use these sleep robbing pillows. I always check the photos of the rooms in advance and avoid the "unipillow" places.

The pillows at albergues are often a half version of the "unipillow" and again not all that comfortable (at least no one is jerking it out from under your head). If you are pillow particular consider a stuff sack full of clothes or an inflatable pillow.

 

[makingtrax]

I use a scarf as a pillowcase. Usually you will get a pillowcase and a bottom sheet for your bunk although not always. Having a dual purpose item like a scarf is a good alternative.

Or use a sarong which can be used to block out light, sit on at lunch, use as towel if yr towel is still damp and many other uses for the strong. Ie scarf etc

 

[CA_Pilgrim]

Do the albergues provide pillows and if so what size? Thinking of bringing our own lightweight pillow slips that have been treated with permethrin and wondering if the usual pillow slip size will suit.

First Camino starting late April - Porto to Santiago.

I did this. I bought a large silk pillow case that was very lightweight and treated it with permethrin. Also brought a lightweight sleeping bag liner treated with permethrin. Glad I did. Most of the albergues provide disposable sheets and pillow cases that are scratchy and uncomfortable. I could never get the bed sheets to fit the mattress either. The sheets were always way too small.