Bed bugs in Samos Convento do tras!

[VintageCowgirl]

I booked a room in Samos at Convento do tras. Based on comments left on Wise Pilgrim. After I checked in I looked st comments again and sometime between the first and second time someone posted about bed bugs! I’m aline in a twin bed room so I checked the bed i wss sleeping in. Spare not too well. I didn’t fully pull off the covers. Just checked the mattress area. Also the heat is on. I can’t control it. Radiator ay head of bed. Figured that heat would deter bed bugs.

I woke up with a sore wrist from my bracelet pushing into my cell phone beneath my pillow. I got up and switched the light on and with the covers thrown back i see dried blood on the top sheet. I can’t day for absolute positive that it wasn’t like that when i got into bed but further inspection shows what looks might be a deed bed bug. And then zi saw something crawling on the wall so I smushed it. I don’t appear to be bleeding anywhere. Tried to take a couple of selfies of my back. Don’t see any bites or bleeding.

Backpack is in closet. I moved over to the other bed. Just sitting here with the light on at 3 am.

This place is a restaurant downstairs. Not sure if the owner is the bar tender who checked me in and speaks some English. My knees are sore today so I booked a backpack transfer. That’s the other thing. Someone left a comment that they had to hang around until 9am until they opened to leave the pack. Just as I’m writing this I spotted 2 smaller insects on far wsll and smushed them. My window is open with the light on. Could have attracted something in from outside.

 

[VintageCowgirl]

Managed to take a selfie just below my neck and appears to be red so might have been bitten there but no pain or itching.

 

[Vacajoe]

It may take days for the bites to really show up

 

[good_old_shoes]

That thing in the photo definitely looks like a big fat bed bug.

I'd heat-treat all my gear (put everything including backpack and sleeping bag in the drier on "hot" setting for at least 1/2 hour, has to be over 60°C) and then would check into different accommodation.

Please show the photo to the hosts and let them know there is a problem so they can do something to get it under control.

Bedbugs only die at very high temperatures. In colder temperatures they are less active or even hibernate.

A heated bedroom is a perfect breeding ground for them.

Before checking into another accommodation the responsible thing to do is to de-contaminate your gear so that you don't carry bugs to the next place accidentally. So if you haven't done that yet, I'd recommend to do that.

Sorry you have to deal with that problem. It can be very annoying. Hopefully it's solved quickly. Buen Camino!

 

[AJS49]

We were there mid September...after being disappointed with the cleanliness of the place, and after reading some very recent , and grim reviews, checked around the room, and found an insect trap under our bunk bed, containing a big fat bed bug, waving it's legs around. Informed the (very pleasant it must be said) young lass who booked us in, and got a refund, just before she happily booked another couple into the same room (3).

 

[VintageCowgirl]

I’ve never seen a bed bug before this morning. Now I’ve seen about a dozen before killing them. Hopefully the cleaning person will get a clue by the blood smears on the walls where they were smushed.

I also emailed them. Doesn’t sound like they care. Is there a health authority that takes reports?

Much activity from people in the other rooms all night including leaving early. Which is what I did. Carried my backpack with me - knees didn’t protest too much - and canceled the transport service. Nowhere to leave the backpack anyway. Downstairs locked up tight.

 

[MickMac]

View attachment 158985I booked a room in Samos at Convento do tras. Based on comments left on Wise Pilgrim. After I checked in I looked st comments again and sometime between the first and second time someone posted about bed bugs! I’m aline in a twin bed room so I checked the bed i wss sleeping in. Spare not too well. I didn’t fully pull off the covers. Just checked the mattress area. Also the heat is on. I can’t control it. Radiator ay head of bed. Figured that heat would deter bed bugs.

I woke up with a sore wrist from my bracelet pushing into my cell phone beneath my pillow. I got up and switched the light on and with the covers thrown back i see dried blood on the top sheet. I can’t day for absolute positive that it wasn’t like that when i got into bed but further inspection shows what looks might be a deed bed bug. And then zi saw something crawling on the wall so I smushed it. I don’t appear to be bleeding anywhere. Tried to take a couple of selfies of my back. Don’t see any bites or bleeding.

Backpack is in closet. I moved over to the other bed. Just sitting here with the light on at 3 am.

This place is a restaurant downstairs. Not sure if the owner is the bar tender who checked me in and speaks some English. My knees are sore today so I booked a backpack transfer. That’s the other thing. Someone left a comment that they had to hang around until 9am until they opened to leave the pack. Just as I’m writing this I spotted 2 smaller insects on far wsll and smushed them. My window is open with the light on. Could have attracted something in from outside.

Just read some reviews on Booking.com don't know if yours is on it but this appears an ongoing problem since June.

 

[J Willhaus]

I would think private rooms would be even harder to contol bedbugs. More furnishing and decor for them to hide in. Large spartan dorms with metal bunks and plastic covered mattresses may not be everyone's thing, but it does make the surveillance a little easier.

 

[SoonFlynn]

View attachment 158985I booked a room in Samos at Convento do tras. Based on comments left on Wise Pilgrim. After I checked in I looked st comments again and sometime between the first and second time someone posted about bed bugs! I’m aline in a twin bed room so I checked the bed i wss sleeping in. Spare not too well. I didn’t fully pull off the covers. Just checked the mattress area. Also the heat is on. I can’t control it. Radiator ay head of bed. Figured that heat would deter bed bugs.

I woke up with a sore wrist from my bracelet pushing into my cell phone beneath my pillow. I got up and switched the light on and with the covers thrown back i see dried blood on the top sheet. I can’t day for absolute positive that it wasn’t like that when i got into bed but further inspection shows what looks might be a deed bed bug. And then zi saw something crawling on the wall so I smushed it. I don’t appear to be bleeding anywhere. Tried to take a couple of selfies of my back. Don’t see any bites or bleeding.

Backpack is in closet. I moved over to the other bed. Just sitting here with the light on at 3 am.

This place is a restaurant downstairs. Not sure if the owner is the bar tender who checked me in and speaks some English. My knees are sore today so I booked a backpack transfer. That’s the other thing. Someone left a comment that they had to hang around until 9am until they opened to leave the pack. Just as I’m writing this I spotted 2 smaller insects on far wsll and smushed them. My window is open with the light on. Could have attracted something in from outside.

That photo you posted is a bed bug.

 

[mattythedog]

View attachment 158985I booked a room in Samos at Convento do tras. Based on comments left on Wise Pilgrim. After I checked in I looked st comments again and sometime between the first and second time someone posted about bed bugs! I’m aline in a twin bed room so I checked the bed i wss sleeping in. Spare not too well. I didn’t fully pull off the covers. Just checked the mattress area. Also the heat is on. I can’t control it. Radiator ay head of bed. Figured that heat would deter bed bugs.

I woke up with a sore wrist from my bracelet pushing into my cell phone beneath my pillow. I got up and switched the light on and with the covers thrown back i see dried blood on the top sheet. I can’t day for absolute positive that it wasn’t like that when i got into bed but further inspection shows what looks might be a deed bed bug. And then zi saw something crawling on the wall so I smushed it. I don’t appear to be bleeding anywhere. Tried to take a couple of selfies of my back. Don’t see any bites or bleeding.

Backpack is in closet. I moved over to the other bed. Just sitting here with the light on at 3 am.

This place is a restaurant downstairs. Not sure if the owner is the bar tender who checked me in and speaks some English. My knees are sore today so I booked a backpack transfer. That’s the other thing. Someone left a comment that they had to hang around until 9am until they opened to leave the pack. Just as I’m writing this I spotted 2 smaller insects on far wsll and smushed them. My window is open with the light on. Could have attracted something in from outside.

I just completed the Norte. Stayed in an albergue along the way where I saw a bedbug crawling up the curtain of my bunk about 1700. Squished it and showed the very pleasant host who acted like he did not know what it was, played like he had never heard of bedbugs, let alone imagine they might ever be in his albergue. He said the owner would be there at 2000, so I could talk to him. NOT! Host booked an albergue outside of town for me and gave my money back as I quickly packed to leave. Some take the bugs seriously; others don't care.

 

[J Willhaus]

I just completed the Norte. Stayed in an albergue along the way where I saw a bedbug crawling up the curtain of my bunk about 1700. Squished it and showed the very pleasant host who acted like he did not know what it was, played like he had never heard of bedbugs, let alone imagine they might ever be in his albergue. He said the owner would be there at 2000, so I could talk to him. NOT! Host booked an albergue outside of town for me and gave my money back as I quickly packed to leave. Some take the bugs seriously; others don't care.

It's not really an easy thing to deal with in the moment. Sorry the person acted this way. It can take weeks or months to get rid of these guys. You don't just spray and they are gone. You have to have continual surveillance with daily checks.

We used a hot steam gun regularly in some places to keep them in check. No blankets for pilgrim use. No extra bedding or pictures on the wall. Pilgrims think we are mean when we don't have these extras, but we are trying to protect them.

Daily carefully checking of mattresses, crevices, baseboards with a strong head lamp is required. Its not ok to have bed bugs and most people do work hard to prevent and eradicate them.

 

[JillGat]

View attachment 158985I booked a room in Samos at Convento do tras. Based on comments left on Wise Pilgrim. After I checked in I looked st comments again and sometime between the first and second time someone posted about bed bugs! I’m aline in a twin bed room so I checked the bed i wss sleeping in. Spare not too well. I didn’t fully pull off the covers. Just checked the mattress area. Also the heat is on. I can’t control it. Radiator ay head of bed. Figured that heat would deter bed bugs.

I woke up with a sore wrist from my bracelet pushing into my cell phone beneath my pillow. I got up and switched the light on and with the covers thrown back i see dried blood on the top sheet. I can’t day for absolute positive that it wasn’t like that when i got into bed but further inspection shows what looks might be a deed bed bug. And then zi saw something crawling on the wall so I smushed it. I don’t appear to be bleeding anywhere. Tried to take a couple of selfies of my back. Don’t see any bites or bleeding.

Backpack is in closet. I moved over to the other bed. Just sitting here with the light on at 3 am.

This place is a restaurant downstairs. Not sure if the owner is the bar tender who checked me in and speaks some English. My knees are sore today so I booked a backpack transfer. That’s the other thing. Someone left a comment that they had to hang around until 9am until they opened to leave the pack. Just as I’m writing this I spotted 2 smaller insects on far wsll and smushed them. My window is open with the light on. Could have attracted something in from outside.

Please consider the fact that sending your backpack ahead via transfer, before you have heat treated your gear, puts others - whose backpacks will be together with yours - at risk of picking up bed bugs. Take a break and clean your stuff.

 

[marilyn van graan]

Those that don't care or do not take it seriously have never been bitten by these critters - simply awful and just for the records my bites only started swelling and itching after about 7 hours later but took weeks to heal up. I am sorry this happened to you - lucky I have never had a problem across Spain on all my caminos. I got bitten in the Amazon XX

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I'm very allergic in general and react badly to bites. I have come to expect that on every trip I will be bitten (though I was very lucky starting out early in the season last year, and so escaped un-eaten). By the time almost 400,000 walkers have tromped all over the caminos, carting their bugs with them, I see it as pure blame-shifting to think it is the fault of a single albergue, or a single person, etc.
If people on the ground seem a little *sanguine* about it, it is because there really is nothing they can do by the end of the season. If they shut down, they lose badly needed income (after 2 years of lost income in the height of COV losses).
I'm sure that albergues all over the various ways are just waiting for their opportunities to close in November and get rid of all the bedding and other junk *we* have contaminated... pack it up for industrial washing, and then fumigation of the spaces.
Because I am very allergic, I take ceterizine with me (N. Americans will know it as "Reactine") and I start taking it at the first sign of a bite. And if I am bitten, I take all my things to a super-hot wash and dry cycle (like: strip down to rain pants and rain jacket or poncho) and just cook the hell out of everything. Yes, my merino as well. Yes, my boots as well.
*everything*. And then I resume walking.
When I arrive back home: I strip down to the poncho on my back deck; shake out everything on the deck; do the wash routine by taking my stuff directly to the wash from the deck; put my pack in the chest freezer for at least 2 weeks.
Bedbugs do not carry diseases that can transmit to humans.
The big risk is that for those of us who are very reactive to them, we can end up scratching to the point of infection.
If you get an infestation where you live, your pets can become anemic... small children can really suffer, and some people develop systemic allergies.
So I am very, very careful.
But the reality is that it is the fault of cavalier travellers, and not hospitaliers, that things get bad each year by the time we are in the high season.
Same as people with COV knowingly staying on the trail and in shared dorms in 2021/22 instead of self-isolating. I know *exactly where I got infected last year, and who did it*... but heard that that person just kept going along without caring at all what he was coughing onto his fellow travellers. I figure that the reported wave that hit the Frances out of Leon around the same time was also driven by selfish people who would. not get off the trail.
Me? I had RATs in my bag, tested regularly, and when I tested positive -- even though I felt *great* as a lucky asymptomatic person -- I stayed in isolation and rejoined the trail only once I tested clear/negative again. I lost 4 days to it. But I didn't make anyone around me sick.
Bed bugs.... COV... the various stomach ailments that travel the camino... it's all the same. It's *us*, not the locals, who are the problem.

 

[mattythedog]

It's not really an easy thing to deal with in the moment. Sorry the person acted this way. It can take weeks or months to get rid of these guys. You don't just spray and they are gone. You have to have continual surveillance with daily checks.

We used a hot steam gun regularly in some places to keep them in check. No blankets for pilgrim use. No extra bedding or pictures on the wall. Pilgrims think we are mean when we don't have these extras, but we are trying to protect them.

Daily carefully checking of mattresses, crevices, baseboards with a strong head lamp is required. Its not ok to have bed bugs and most people do work hard to prevent and eradicate them.

Well, after discovering the bug, I pulled up the mattress from the built in bed that was about 1/2 meter above the floor. What was in the cavity space beneath was old dead bugs, cobwebs, atrocious amounts of dirt, crumbs and decaying matter.

 

[WalkingLester]

Same thing happened to us in March 2023. Bed bugs in all the rooms. Changed rooms then hospitalera booked 2 pilgrims in the room we vacated. It’s an old building so maybe it’s hard to control the bugs. But wondering if they are doing anything about it.