When I was a child, I remember my parents tucking me in and saying “sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite”. I never put a lot of thought into that phrase since I knew they were just being funny. I didn’t understand what bed bugs were until I started working in the hospitality industry and read complaint letters from our guests. Then one day, I was the person writing the complaint letter!
My husband and I made a surprise trip home to share our son’s first Christmas with our family and booked a suite at the newly opened George Washington Hotel in Winchester, Virginia. I began my room inspection and pulled back the covers and to my horror, there were dark specks and chunks all over the sheets. I pulled back the mattress cover and noticed even more. While I didn’t see any live bugs, I felt certain these were pieces of bed bug carcasses and tracings. Needless to say, I was beyond furious and made my way down to the front desk. The desk attendant offered to move us to a new room, but there was no way I was going to feel comfortable sleeping in that hotel knowing we probably weren’t alone. Thankfully, we had family close-by that let us inconvenience them.
I wrote to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts about the situation and this is the response I received from the Director of Operations.
I would like to take a moment to address your concerns regarding the bed bugs. This is a charge we always take seriously. We have a full contract with Ecolab for full inspection should suspicion or evidence be present. The inspection process alone is approximately 6 hours and tears covering from box springs, carpet from away from the wall and moves all furniture to check all surfaces in the room. I must admit I was surprised to see the inspector unscrew the light bulbs as well. The inspections have resulted in testing that has discovered that the batting in our box spring mattresses is filled with unrefined cotton. This means that there are black ground cotton casings that look very similar to dried bed bug casings. An uncomfortable situation we must apologize for.”
I’m not buying the unrefined cotton excuse one bit, I know what I saw! I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about bed bugs feasting on my body while I sleep.
Unfortunately, these nasty creatures have made a comeback and reports are indicating there is an epidemic in the United States. Check out this excerpt from Good Morning America, it will change the way you travel! ALWAYS check for bed bugs…do not wait until you wake up the next morning covered in bites!
What are your hotel room inspection rituals? Please share your experience in the comments section. Thanks for visiting The Unemployed Mom’s blog and don’t forget to bookmark the site.