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Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport : Bed Bugs, and Deception.

Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport : Bed Bugs, and Deception.

 
Old Oct 13, 2015, 9:52 am
  #1  
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Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport : Bed Bugs, and Deception.

Just a warning to anyone with a trip planned to the Sheraton Hartford Hotel at Bradley Airport in Hartford. I stayed there last week and received dozens of bed bug bites all over my body, arms, neck, and face (including eye lid...very painful). It is extremely itchy and painful and I am scared that I might have now brought the infestation home with me in my luggage.

As can be expected, the hotel is denying any responsibility. I am pursuing other avenues at the moment, but I wanted to give a heads up to fellow flyertalk members to avoid this property at all cost, and if you need to stay here, do a VERY thorough bed bug check before tucking in for the night.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 11:11 am
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...Do you remember the room number you stayed at. I will be staying there next week.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 12:37 pm
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Unfortunately, I do not. The property is telling me that it was #420, but I do not recall and cannot verify. It was an accessible room which might help you some.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 12:40 pm
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Originally Posted by laetabee
...Do you remember the room number you stayed at. I will be staying there next week.
Does it really matter which room it was? I would just stay away at all costs.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 2:23 pm
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Uggh ... I've a night booked next week when I arrive on a midnight flight .. I do this all the time and have always loved this property.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 3:11 pm
  #6  
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Originally Posted by rikramer

As can be expected, the hotel is denying any responsibility.
Why is that expected?

I got badly bitten at a (non-SPG) hotel earlier this year. The front desk clerk concurred that the bites looked like bedbugs, but their room inspection found none. Still, they moved me to a new room, laundered or dry cleaned all my clothes at their expense, and took the room out of service for a professional extermination.

And this is the minimum sort of reaction I would expect.

Whether bedbugs are the hotel's fault or not may be debatable. They could have been left there by the prior guest, and until a guest complains or the housekeeper notices blood on the mattress the hotel has no way of knowing.

But if you report being bitten, and the hotel denies the bugs exist, then when the next guest is bitten, it clearly IS their responsibility.

Either way, though, it's a nightmare. Besides the discomfort and itching, I also was terrified about bringing them home. I bought a can of bedbug spray and did a few generous applications on my suitcase and backpack, inside and out, and the rental car trunk. Shoes in the freezer. What I couldn't figure out how to address was electronics - I read that they could hide in a computer keyboard, but I couldn't spray or freeze my laptops.

Good luck.
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 7:24 pm
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I developed bedbug symptoms at an SPG property and it was taken very seriously!

Originally Posted by swag
Why is that expected?
We were on vacation at the Sheraton Maui, where I developed bumps that were clearly bedbug bites. My wife, who was in the same/room bed as me, did not. When I reported this to the hotel, they took a full report, took photographs, did a full inspection of the room, and reported back to me with their findings. They also denied responsibility. They told me they found no evidence of bedbugs. I suspect that they were right and that I got the bites on the United flight from Denver to Maui. My wife missed her connection and flew on a different flight than I did. We didn't bring anything home and no additional bites developed.


A well run hotel will take this seriously and react appropriately. That is what happened in my case (occurred about one year ago).
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Old Oct 13, 2015, 8:16 pm
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WARNING:

EVERY hotel you'll ever stay in has had incidents of bed bugs.
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Old Oct 14, 2015, 6:52 am
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Originally Posted by laetabee
...Do you remember the room number you stayed at. I will be staying there next week.
Have you looked at your bill? Aren't room numbers usually on there?

More on topic, I think we would all be horrified to find out which hotels have had instances of bed bugs. I personally stayed at a property a while back and after developing a bumpy rash swore I had gotten bed bugs at the hotel. I never took it up with the hotel but I was really glad I never did because it turned out that I had a delayed reaction to poison ivy after having worked in the yard the day before I stayed at the hotel.
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 8:53 pm
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Wow. Sheraton Bradley Airport (Bed Bug Deception)

I am at a loss for words.

Long story (somewhat) short:

- I checked into the Sheraton Hartford at Bradley Airport on Oct 6 after midnight
- When I arrived the front desk clerk told me that they were overbooked and I had lost my assigned upgrade room and had to be placed in a replacement room
- It appeared that the room was not intended for use as the shower did not have a hook on the wall (it was hanging loose) and the room was not very clean (hairs in the bathroom)
- I needed a bed for a very short night, so I didn't complain and went to bed.
- Next morning I woke up with lots of bed bug bites all over my body and face
- I left the hotel as I needed to hit the road at ~6am for an all day session at UCONN. I didn't know anything about bedbugs at the time so I didn't take any action (uggh)
-They never sent me a bill over email nor did they slide a bill under my door.
-I complained to the hotel the next evening as soon as I had a moment away from my session. From the first interaction, the hotel claimed they would "inspect room 420" and "make sure room 420 didn't have bed bugs". I asked them multiple times if they were sure I was in room 420 since that didn't sound right to me. I couldn't remember which room I was actually in though and I didn't have a bill to prove anything.
-I asked the hotel and the SPG Platinum line to send me a bill but they declined and told me all communications needed to be with Zurich Insurance which covers bed bug claims for the hotel.
- The hotel did send me heavily redacted pest control reports showing me that room 420 was inspected and cleared. I asked them what was contained behind the black marker redactions and they told me it was unrelated to bed bugs and had to do with mosquitos and flies in their garbage dumpsters.
-3 weeks later my wife and I started the receive bites at home. We've had 2 pesticide treatments and have gone through a figurative nightmare (cleaning, bins, threw out bed, etc.). All-in costs have been in the thousands of $s.
- Zurich refused all claims because in their view the hotel adequately checked room 420.
- I recently opened a complaint with the Connecticut Insurance Department and as a result, I was just now able to see the non-redacted pest control reports that were filed
- Sure enough the reports show that the hotel also had room #307 inspected the same day they checked "my room" 420. And the pest control company captured 35 bed bugs in this room! (pictures attached of this pest control report). I am almost certain (but cannot prove) that I was in fact in room #307 and not #420 as they so claimed

I am convinced that the Sheraton Bradley has lied and claimed that I was in room #420 when in fact I was in the infested room #307. I recall the front desk clerk apologizing that I would be on a lower floor due to the oversold situation. Either the hotel is covering up the room that I was in, or the front desk person never actually updated my room number in the system and the Manager truly believes I was in #420.

Questions:

- Zurich Insurance has already closed my case and sided with the hotel as they also took their word that I was in room #420.


- What really can I do at this point? I feel like the hotel had the perfect coverup. They claim I was in different room and they know that I do not recall my room number at all (as I mentioned to them on my first call)

- Any CT based lawyers on here that are interested in taking my case?
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 9:02 pm
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Man this is a wild story. I am sorry for the bed bug bites. They are no fun at all.
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 9:06 pm
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Wow, sorry to hear (read) about your plight. For reasons far less significant than this, I always get a copy of my folio.
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 9:13 pm
  #13  
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If your credit card was charged anything for the stay, you can demand an itemized bill. It normally has the room number as well as check in and check out times. You might also want to check whether you retained the key card envelope.

Do you remember anything about the location of your room such as its floor (3rd or 4th of how many floors at the hotel? Checking how many floors the property has might help your memory.) or its location in center or end of the building (here it might help to see a floor plan of the hotel showing room numbers) or proximity to elevators. Room 307 is almost certainly in the middle of a hallway, while 420 could be a corner/end room, depending on how many rooms are on a floor.
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 9:16 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
If your credit card was charged anything for the stay, you can demand an itemized bill. It normally has the room number as well as check in and check out times. You might also want to check whether you retained the key card envelope.

Do you remember anything about the location of your room such as its floor (3rd or 4th of how many floors at the hotel? Checking how many floors the property has might help your memory.) or its location in center or end of the building (here it might help to see a floor plan of the hotel showing room numbers) or proximity to elevators. Room 307 is almost certainly in the middle of a hallway, while 420 could be a corner/end room, depending on how many rooms are on a floor.
I was very close the elevator. The hallway split two ways and I was the first or second, maybe third? room in one direction. I tried to find a room map online but had no luck.

Last edited by rikramer; Feb 8, 2016 at 10:33 pm
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Old Feb 8, 2016, 11:14 pm
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I don't know who I'm most upset/disappointed with:

1) SPG for immediately refusing to address my complaint since this property is not corporate owned

2) The Sheraton Bradley Airport for claiming their hotel was completely bed bug free and refusing to answer any of my questions and immediately directing my complaint to Zurich Insurance

3) Or the Zurich Claims Specialist for blatantly lying to me on multiple occasions:

--> He had told me he was looking at the unredacted pest report and it didn't mention Bed Bugs at all (now proven by fact to be a lie)

--> He told me he couldn't share the unredacted pest report due to insurance restrictions (yet I managed to receive the report)

--> He told me that Zurich would cover my medical bills but not my other expenses, but when I filed the comprehensive claim he denied all items.

It really is sickening.
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