Bed and mattress suggestions

[Tom]

Hi,

I was reading a previous article on this site about bedding. I was wondering what kind of bunk bed frames people recommend? I was looking at Ikea's wood and metal frames, but I read that thin frames are squeeky and unstable. Does anyone have suggestions on what beds to choose?

I am also curious to know what mattresses are better? Firm or soft? There are so many to choose from and the price ranges are widely varied also.

And the final thing....Bed Bugs...I have read many complaints on hostelworld.com about bed bugs. Is there a way to prevent them or stop them at a very early stage before infestation?


I look forward to reading what everyone has to say.

[Hostels]

Bed bugs can be a problem once they get into the hostel. Take every report of bed bugs very seriously. Immediately take action and make sure that the guest is compensated (do not charge for the nights where they were having begbug problems).

Immediately put all of the sheets and clothes through the hottest setting on a dryer to kill any bed bugs. Close the room until you are sure that you have gotten rid of them. Keep the incident as quiet as possible (front desk should not talk about it in front of customers).

I would go with metal frames. If they squeak, you should be able to stop it by tightening the bolts, and/or WD40.

Firm mattresses are healthier -- if a mattress is too soft your body can get out of alignment and you sometimes don't wake up feeling as good.

EDIT: providing free linens and forbidding sleeping bags can help prevent bedbug outbreaks.

[maelinva]

Just a little thing, to help a bunk bed frame be more stable you can attach it to the wall, ideally in 4 points, 2 at different heights in each pole that is by the wall.

And I agree about firm matresses, they are not only more comfortable to sleep in but also a too soft matress can give a feeling that it has been used for years even if it´s new.

[gordo]

there was a good speech made by carolyn someone at an EHC meeting a few years ago - its available on www.europeanhostels.org somewhere, excellent resource btw,

basically, they like wood, carpet, darkness and warmth. she metions a couple of ways of killing & preventing, nothing revolutionary though. another is to put double sided tape around the legs of the bed posts so they get stuck trying to climb up - problem is, they look dirty real quickly.

[aboriginalhostel]

there was a good speech made by carolyn someone at an EHC meeting a few years ago - its available on www.europeanhostels.org somewhere, excellent resource btw,

basically, they like wood, carpet, darkness and warmth. she metions a couple of ways of killing & preventing, nothing revolutionary though. another is to put double sided tape around the legs of the bed posts so they get stuck trying to climb up - problem is, they look dirty real quickly.

That was Carolyn Zukowski from Krumlov House, at the EHC conference in Prague, 2005. Presentations could be downloaded at: http://www.gomio.com/conference/ I hope that could help!

[gordo]

That was Carolyn Zukowski from Krumlov House, at the EHC conference in Prague, 2005. Presentations could be downloaded at: http://www.gomio.com/conference/ I hope that could help!

thats the one - i had a quick look around the gomio site before i posted but couldnt find it. cheers.

[Ria]

get army surplus metal beds....will last forever and bed bugs are not drawn to them.. STAY AWAY FROM WOOD...bed bugs get into the cracks and their eggs can lay dormant for up to one year...and bed bug spray does not kill eggs..only live bugs. So you can spray a room and have the problem return months later.

make sure each of your mattresses is sealed in a plastic mattress protector. You'll get some complaints about squeaky sounds from the beds but bed bugs cannot burrow through plastic.

firm, thick mattresses will keep you from replacing them every 2-3 years...

[uktrail]

It's not so much squeaky sounds -- it's that however well you stretch out the sheet on the bed, you wake up with the sheet creased in 500 places, you try to stretch it again, then as soon as you turn the sheet turns with you. It's all to do with amount of friction, the sheet slides on the plastic more than it slides on your body. There may be some plastic covers not like this, or perhaps you can put a cloth cover on top of the plastic sheet; but please do some research before you choose this method. I am totally put off some otherwise good hostels by this. I know Tim has a similar view in his BUG guides.

[Hostels]

If I'm staying at a really weird hostel I sometimes buy my own plastic cover and put it on the mattress. I also put one of those cloth mattress covers on top of the plastic -- I'm not sure what they are called, but they are cheap. It's like a sheet, but a little thicker, and it is made to go under a sheet. That keeps the plastic from being noticeable.

[santa klaus]

get army surplus metal beds....will last forever and bed bugs are not drawn to them.. STAY AWAY FROM WOOD...bed bugs get into the cracks and their eggs can lay dormant for up to one year...and bed bug spray does not kill eggs..only live bugs. So you can spray a room and have the problem return months later.

make sure each of your mattresses is sealed in a plastic mattress protector. You'll get some complaints about squeaky sounds from the beds but bed bugs cannot burrow through plastic.

firm, thick mattresses will keep you from replacing them every 2-3 years...

I disagree totally. Stay away from steel pipe bunks and sealed matresses. It´s not something I would like to sleep on.
You´re right about the bugs, but you can keep them in check in "real beds" as well. And what´s wrong with replacing the matresses every 2-3 years? I´m doing that with my own ones at home, too.