Itchy welts after a hostel night — bedbugs or just mosquitoes, and do I tell the desk?
Woke up in a Colombo hostel dorm with a line of itchy welts on one arm and ankle. Could be mosquitoes through a gap in the net, but the bites look oddly clustered. Do travelers bag their clothes, tell the desk, or just move hostels and stop guessing? Not asking for a medical diagnosis — practical next steps that do not invent fees.
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5 Answers from travellers
Tell the desk calmly with photos if you have them. Ask for a linen change and a different bunk or room while they inspect. Bag your clothes in a sealed sack, heat-wash or hot-dry when you can, and check seams of the mattress and headboard for tiny dark spots. Mosquitoes leave scattered bites; bedbugs often show in lines or clusters. I will not invent a pest-treatment charge as gospel. Honest reporting helps the next guest and usually gets you a practical move.
Sealed everything, asked for a new bunk, left a review only after they treated.
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