Problematic Stay
Sep 26, 2017, 1:10 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 733
Problematic Stay
Hey all. I'm staying for the second time at a BW in Asia. First time was good enough at the price point for me to come again. BW Diamond as well as status with several others, with 120 nights in hotels this year across different brands. However, never experienced either of these issues. On day 1:
Housekeeping entered room despite DND light and even though I was in the room in bed, then proceeded to clean the bathroom, restock towels, restock the mini fridge, then left. All while I was asleep in bed naked with my SO (I woke up to the knock but fell back asleep after I double checked DND). Really creepy experience to have someone know you are sleeping in bed and enter and stay to clean (!!!) anyway.
I let Front Desk know after I woke up and realized what happened and they made a report and cleaned my bed (as HK of course didn't get the chance while we we were in it). The FD staff suggested the cause of this was the HK staff couldn't understand the meaning of their own DND sign due to language barrier.
I came home later that night and showered. When I got out there was a bed bug on the bed between the bed sheet and comforter. I brought the live bug to FD and the manager took photos and reassigned rooms (downgrading us but at least I haven't seen bugs here yet). He said the hotel considers it serious and will take calling pest control as a priority.
He said he can move me back to the correct room type the next day as it becomes available. (When we checked in we were initially given an unclean room, so this will make the third time we moved during a four night stay).
For the trouble he offered free breakfast. Breakfast is approx $7 pp, so not exactly what I would call commiserate to the experience.
I told him I'd like to personally speak to the GM in the morning. As I've never experienced this kind of problem - - what would be reasonable compensation?
Housekeeping entered room despite DND light and even though I was in the room in bed, then proceeded to clean the bathroom, restock towels, restock the mini fridge, then left. All while I was asleep in bed naked with my SO (I woke up to the knock but fell back asleep after I double checked DND). Really creepy experience to have someone know you are sleeping in bed and enter and stay to clean (!!!) anyway.
I let Front Desk know after I woke up and realized what happened and they made a report and cleaned my bed (as HK of course didn't get the chance while we we were in it). The FD staff suggested the cause of this was the HK staff couldn't understand the meaning of their own DND sign due to language barrier.
I came home later that night and showered. When I got out there was a bed bug on the bed between the bed sheet and comforter. I brought the live bug to FD and the manager took photos and reassigned rooms (downgrading us but at least I haven't seen bugs here yet). He said the hotel considers it serious and will take calling pest control as a priority.
He said he can move me back to the correct room type the next day as it becomes available. (When we checked in we were initially given an unclean room, so this will make the third time we moved during a four night stay).
For the trouble he offered free breakfast. Breakfast is approx $7 pp, so not exactly what I would call commiserate to the experience.
I told him I'd like to personally speak to the GM in the morning. As I've never experienced this kind of problem - - what would be reasonable compensation?
Sep 26, 2017, 6:11 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 2
I don’t know how to answer your original question, but if you are still in house, do not move back to your original room. It takes longer than 24 hours to properly treat rooms for bedbugs.
Edit: I reread your statement and realized you said room type, not room.
Edit: I reread your statement and realized you said room type, not room.
Sep 27, 2017, 1:24 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 429
In all the (American, European, Asian) hotels we have ever stayed we always had the opportunity to lock the door from inside, so housekeeping can not get in, when we were there. Was not this option available?
Ignoring the DND or the 'Please clean my room' signs is unfortunately happening in both BW or not BW hotels - regardless if there is a language barrier or not.
Why not indentify the hotel?
Ignoring the DND or the 'Please clean my room' signs is unfortunately happening in both BW or not BW hotels - regardless if there is a language barrier or not.
Why not indentify the hotel?
Sep 28, 2017, 2:21 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 733
Thanks for the responses everyone.
Yes, I could have locked it from inside. My SO had unlocked it when they went out for a smoke and I didn't double check before bed, and when I heard the knock I thought double checking that DND was on would be sufficient without needing to get out of bed (DND control is on the bedside table).
I didn't identify the hotel because I wanted to meet the general manager first and give him an opportunity to air his side of the story, tell me how they're fixing it, and try to convince me this hotel isn't absolutely inept (it's one thing to have problems - - every hotel has problems--but it's an entirely different thing if those problems are serious and are not resolvable when they need to be) .
I made this post to get some ideas of what would be reasonable to ask for at that meeting.
I was given the following explanations/solutions:
Housekeeping is contracted from a housekeeping company, their staff evidently weren't trained on what the hotel's DND sign looks like or means, and the individual cleaner obviously also lacked good judgment and common sense in light of entering and remaining in a room where guests are sleeping. I would have to imagine the housekeeper has not been cleaning many hotels before.
That specific housekeeper will not be subcontracted by the hotel any more. I am not particularly confident in this resolution because obviously hiring, training, and consistency are also a problem here and not just the one bad egg.
For the bed bug problem, they said they called a pest control company who checked the room and surrounding rooms next day and found no further bugs or eggs. The company's professional opinion is it must have been a one-off bug from a guest's bag, either a previous guest of the room, one that was in a common area, or from me. He actually specifically named people from India and Mainland China as the likely culprits due to generalizations about their cleanliness.
I find the suggestion it was left over from another guest a bit hard to accept because it was found between my fresh linen, and between when housekeeping changed my linen (7pm) and 2am nobody was in my room - - moreover my own bag was closed and far from the bed. The fact it was found in the linen of fresh sheets suggests to me that it was in the mattress or came with the linen. I lean towards the latter considering there were no other bugs in the room and the towels here are not of the cleanest quality in general. I am, however, not knowledgeable about bugs outside of the scope of my formal education.
The manager told me this was the second ever case of bed bugs and that the first was long ago. He also mentioned that a pest control company screens the rooms weekly. These answers may sound somewhat reassuring, but the night manager actually had told me that rooms were screened monthly not weekly and that the construction on another floor may be bringing them out from the hallway carpets. This discrepancy is a huge red flag to me and I can't help but feel as though the manager was trying to explicitly lie or that the incompetence here goes to a whole other level.
In any event, after having provided their responses and my critiques, I can clarify this is the BW Plus Kowloon in Hong Kong. The city has many BW and better hotels, there is 0 reason to book this hotel, even in light of the cheap prices.
Yes, I could have locked it from inside. My SO had unlocked it when they went out for a smoke and I didn't double check before bed, and when I heard the knock I thought double checking that DND was on would be sufficient without needing to get out of bed (DND control is on the bedside table).
I didn't identify the hotel because I wanted to meet the general manager first and give him an opportunity to air his side of the story, tell me how they're fixing it, and try to convince me this hotel isn't absolutely inept (it's one thing to have problems - - every hotel has problems--but it's an entirely different thing if those problems are serious and are not resolvable when they need to be) .
I made this post to get some ideas of what would be reasonable to ask for at that meeting.
I was given the following explanations/solutions:
Housekeeping is contracted from a housekeeping company, their staff evidently weren't trained on what the hotel's DND sign looks like or means, and the individual cleaner obviously also lacked good judgment and common sense in light of entering and remaining in a room where guests are sleeping. I would have to imagine the housekeeper has not been cleaning many hotels before.
That specific housekeeper will not be subcontracted by the hotel any more. I am not particularly confident in this resolution because obviously hiring, training, and consistency are also a problem here and not just the one bad egg.
For the bed bug problem, they said they called a pest control company who checked the room and surrounding rooms next day and found no further bugs or eggs. The company's professional opinion is it must have been a one-off bug from a guest's bag, either a previous guest of the room, one that was in a common area, or from me. He actually specifically named people from India and Mainland China as the likely culprits due to generalizations about their cleanliness.
I find the suggestion it was left over from another guest a bit hard to accept because it was found between my fresh linen, and between when housekeeping changed my linen (7pm) and 2am nobody was in my room - - moreover my own bag was closed and far from the bed. The fact it was found in the linen of fresh sheets suggests to me that it was in the mattress or came with the linen. I lean towards the latter considering there were no other bugs in the room and the towels here are not of the cleanest quality in general. I am, however, not knowledgeable about bugs outside of the scope of my formal education.
The manager told me this was the second ever case of bed bugs and that the first was long ago. He also mentioned that a pest control company screens the rooms weekly. These answers may sound somewhat reassuring, but the night manager actually had told me that rooms were screened monthly not weekly and that the construction on another floor may be bringing them out from the hallway carpets. This discrepancy is a huge red flag to me and I can't help but feel as though the manager was trying to explicitly lie or that the incompetence here goes to a whole other level.
In any event, after having provided their responses and my critiques, I can clarify this is the BW Plus Kowloon in Hong Kong. The city has many BW and better hotels, there is 0 reason to book this hotel, even in light of the cheap prices.