Looks nasty...
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETBRslhL8n4

Hilton Cinncinatti, plus some tips...

that's not good....

Bed bugs at the W=A
 

We stayed over Christmas, and not only noticed bed bug tracks, but ended up with welts on 3 of us after our stay.

I was there Dec 27-29th - no bugs in our room!

not good....

Bed Bugs at Hilton San Francisco - Union Square?
 

I just completed a 4 night stay at this property (my 2nd 4 night stay here in the past 8 months). Yesterday morning while at a business conference I was itchy in the area of my right hip and thought nothing of it. When I returned to the room I showered and while in the shower I noticed the area where I had been itching was irritated, red and what appeared to look like insect bites of some sort.

On my iPad I researched bed bugs and pictures of bed bug bites and the pictures were identical to what I had and I was surprised to find several reports of bed bugs at this property within the past year.

I proceeded to the front desk to report my situation to management and I wanted to do so in a way that didn't attract attention to the hotel or the situation so I avoided the check in area which was very busy and went to the bell desk to ask them to contact the manager on my behalf.

The manager offered to move me to a new room (which I thought might make the problem worse if my luggage and clothes were carrying the bugs) and he assured me that it likely wasn't bed bugs despite not asking what my bites looked like or wanting to see them. I explained that I was going to be leaving for the airport to catch a red eye; this was earlier than I had originally expected when I had made this advance purchase so I didn't require a new room and my single concern was not wanting to bring these bed bugs home with me. I was not asking for or looking for free nights, points or any other type of compensation - again I just didn't want to have to deal with an infestation in my home where I have a 14 month old and I have heard horror stories of people having to spend thousands of dollars to get the problem under control. I explained this to him and asked what could be done to help minimize the likelihood that I would carry them home with me in my luggage or clothing. After suggesting some options that wouldn't work he offered to keep my luggage and clothes and have them heat treated and returned to me which I agreed to. I also suggested someone from the property look at the bites to confirm my concern so he agreed to have security take a statement and take some pictures. He also was nice enough to offer me a town car to take me to the airport and I said I appreciated his gesture but that wasn't necessary yet he said it was something he wanted to do.

This evening I received a call from the manager saying that they had brought dogs into the room and the dogs did not detect the presence of bed bugs in the room and he suggested my bites were from something other than bed bugs. I asked him for a copy of this report (which I felt the need to do based on other reports where this property made claims that investigations were made but the hotel guests disputed those claims). I was told that he didnt think he would be able to send me the documentation but that the security manager was away until Monday and that this person would call me then to determine if I could get the actual report. He also said he would be returning my clothes and luggage without it having been treated for bed bugs.

So now I am in a situation where I have to either trust management at this property or look to protect my home and family from the possibility of a bed bug infestation. Based on the response I am getting from Hilton I don't see any other option than documenting the bites, seeing a doctor tomorrow and contacting an attorney proactively in the event that my home does get infested. Again, I am not looking for anything other than peace of mind that I am not putting my home and family at risk to these bugs but I dont see any other option.

Any suggestions? Anything else I should consider? I must say based on reading the experience of others at this property I am not confident that Hilton is being honest with me and is only looking to cover their but.

Sorry for the lengthy post and rambling.

I'm a crazy who worries about this constantly. Here is my bed bug plan that I have been readying myself for for about two years.

Nothing "unclean" comes into your home.

Forget about the suitcases. If you are that worried you need to throw them away and buy new. They get dumpstered or donated (if you feel like you can do this) away from home. This is actually why I travel with $10 Men's Warehouse hanging bags.

Nothing unwashed goes into your home. You take the laundry to a laundramat and wash the clothes in the warmest water they will tolerate and dry them at the hottest temperature they will tolerate. Once cleaned, bring them home and wash them again immediately in your washer again in the hottest temps tolerated. It isn't terribly likely that anything will survive two cycles in a very hot temperature.

Anything you can't launder gets throughly inspected. Check cracks and crevaces. Wipe down hard surfaces with a disinfecting cloth followed by soap and warm water cloth. If it's hot out at your place, leaving those things in the hot trunk in the sun for a few hours will discourage living things from living.


Now for future trips you need to check for bed bugs before you settle in. Look for bug "poo" on mattresses. I pull back the fitted sheet and look for discolorations (flea dirt and flea dirt color, if you know what I am taking about). You can also use the hair dryer to heat part of the mattress, bed bugs don't like heat and may come out into the open where they can be seen. I also disinfect all hard surfaces and only place my bags on those hard surfaces. I also pull the hard surfaces I'm using away from the walls and other furinature. Wood isn't so comfy for bed bugs so I feel like it is a little less likely that bugs will get into my stuff. Since I use hanging bags my clothing isn't on the floor or on a bed/luggage rack/sofa/etc.

A lot of you will think that is a little crazy but I'm a planner. It gives me a little peace to know I have both a prevention plan and an action plan.

Beagle dogs are the standard for investigating whether a room has any problems, and no major hotel brand wants to have a reputation of having this sort of issue. The important thing to keep in mind is that there are a lot of other skin infections that may be acquired even staying in your home area and going to your local gym. You may come into contact with something some one has touched, such as staph or foliculitis. There could also be a skin allergy involved such as eczema. It might be wise to go and have this looked at by a doctor, if it does not clear up in a couple of days.

I believe It'sHip2B^2 provided some good advice. Please keep us updated. My in-laws want to stay at this property in the future and I wouldn't want to subject them to this.

Seeing a doctor certainly makes a lot of sense in order to find out what you have and what the treatment (if any is necessary) is, regardless of whether the problem is bedbugs. For your sake of mind and comfort, I hope it's something else (as long as that something else isn't even worse). Good luck with this, and please update when you find out.

thanks for the replies and input.

I received an email from Hilton management last night which was part receipt / part findings from the bed bug inspection with dogs stating that the dogs did not find anything and nothing was found with regards to the human inspection as well.

Not sure if I could post this or even if anyone would want to see.

Not sure how to feel about the report. In some regards I feel relieved but I also feel some concern that maybe it is just a CYA approach so still unsure what to do.

As some have suggested I will likely go to my doctor tomorrow. I dont think he would be able to rule definitively if it were bed bugs based on my research but as a previous poster had mentioned at least I could get a professional opinion one way or the other.

Let us know how it goes and good luck to you.

I added the question mark to the title
 

While I personally am paranoid about bedbugs and follow most of Hip2be's advice anyway, the Hilton said they had investigated and found no bedbugs. So I added the question mark to the title, to be fair.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

squeakr

co-mod HH

Bedbug question - What would you do?
 

I have read a ton of the bedbugs threads on FT. I am just curious what other HHonors members would do in my situation.

So I've been staying a particular property for over a month now. I like the property and the staff and don't particularly want to change hotels. I checked into my room this week (I check out and leave on the weekends) and got ready for bed. Was laying in bed reading over FT when I glanced over and saw a bug scampering across one of the pillows. I pulled back the sheets and checked everything out. I found 3-4 small dead bedbugs under the mattress on top of the boxsprings.

Freaking out I quickly removed the headboard and found 1 large dead bedbug and 2 live ones. Was able to grab a cell phone pic for proof before they scampered off. There was a little "bedbug spotting" but not a lot, actually a very small amount.

I went to the FD agent (it was midnight) and asked to change rooms. She didn't ask me why I wanted to change rooms, so while she was getting new key cards ready I quietly informed her that I spotted some bedbugs in the room I was in. She apologized ("I'm sorry about that") and gave me my new key cards. I informed her that I had turned the bedding inside out and removed the headboard.

Today I walked passed the room and saw the door was propped open with the deadbolt. I couldn't tell if it was an employee in the room or if it was another guest.

I'm not looking for any compensation or anything from the hotel. So, my question is .... would you guys go see the hotel manager during the day to inform them of what happened? Again, I'm looking for anything but I want to make sure they take care of this and not just let another guest sleep in the room. I am not 100% sure if the night FD employee told the GM. Housekeeping could have just put the headboard back up and flipped the room if they weren't told.

So would you find and tell the GM or would you just let it go? It's weighing on my mind because I pass that room every day in and out of the hotel.

Let it go. You've already informed the staff. You have a new room.