Bed bugs!
 

Hi all! This is my first post on this forum, though I have following many interesting threads regularly. I’m a Titanium member and appreciate the service, quality, and perks that come with the elite status, so thanks for that. I’ve been a very loyal customer because of that.

Last night for the first time, there were bed bugs in my room. The staff was well trained in what to do, but this still is so annoying as it shouldn’t happen. I lost a night’s sleep, my skin is very itchy and I’ll throw away my suitcase and backpack just in case since I don’t want to bring them home. I need to focus on work, but this is so frustrating and painful.

Question for the lurkers and other long time members: has this ever happened to you and what recourse can Marriott offer to make up for this terrible situation??

It happened to me at a Novotel in France in 2015. The little bass-turds came home with me. I needed to hire an exterminator who heated my bedroom to 55 C for four days.
It got rid of the little monsters, but I had to get a new bed and mattress.

Swiss insurance covered the costs for the exterminator.

Never been bit but I found them a couple times and notified the hotel. I was offered a large amount of points. If memory serves 50,000 range

i now check the bed mattress in every room when I first walk in. I also put my bag and clothing directly into a bed bug oven when I get home as you never know what is hitching a ride including on fellow passenger bags

It seems like there’s a thread on bed bugs every other week.

It is still educational for me. First time I heard of Bed Bug Oven. Thanks.

thanks, did you get that from the hotel or Marriott customer support? The hotel did assist me in washing my stuff, but my body is so itchy... I would like some compensation from Marriott as a token.

Welcome to FT, mark_tew!

The hotel would be responsible for any compensation, but that should all be addressed while you're still on site.

Haven’t experienced them yet, but usually I’ll set my bags down in the bathroom (or other hard surface) and pull back the sheets to check the mattress before I settle into the room just in case.

excellent advice for everyone! I do the same at EVERY hotel I stay at!

My wife brought them we think from the Loews Philadelphia. We found shells under the bed when moving it about 6-8 weeks later. I found a couple live bugs in the bed and saved to show the exterminator. It was a sleep number matress, so I ripped it apart and put it in the dryer on high, which destroyed the entire matttress covering (melted), but also killed the bedbugs. We caught it early enough that no others were in the house except in the bed! We had further inspections without any bed bugs and never found them for years after that. We did sell the house about 3 years after the incident.

While under SPG, found a bed bug at what is now the Park Central San Francisco (was a Westin). Gave me another room, thanked me - promised extermination of the room - and that was it. Granted, I saw it in the first few minutes I entered the room when I pulled back the sheets and didn't sleep in it.

I got bit at Hotel Republic San Diego. Thankfully, I use a Pelican case and it was sealed after I got my change of clothes.

Hi mark_tew, please be assured the care and comfort of our guests are of the utmost priority to Marriott, and we take bed bug issues very seriously. We wish to look into the matter; can you please PM or email us at: [email protected] with the name of the hotel, reservation dates, your first/last name, and your contact information? We will reach out to the hotel's executive management for review and determine the next appropriate steps. Thanks again for bringing this matter to our attention.

-Leanne

Hotel, and I demanded to speak to the manager

What is a bed bug oven?

So the maid just puts clean sheets over the bugs?? It seems like they would live in the mattress and come out at night and if so you wouldn't just be able to see them under the sheets. Just reading about this makes me itch.

?? The poster saw it in their room and got moved. Not that they put sheets on top of the bugs after seeing them.

Likely no one noticed anything until the poster reported it. At which point, the hotel would likely do something as the risk of spreading + the risk of inaction and lawsuits greatly outweighs the downtime.

Or bigger

Or even bigger

I was in Edmond Oklahoma at Hampton Inn (A Hilton Brand) - when i received about 100 bites. This was my first and only time I had to deal with this issue. Today, (I travel about 80 days a year) I check the bed every time I stay. My feedback however is how Hilton handled the situation. I called the Hampton and could not get a call returned. I emailed without success as well A week after I reached out to Hilton with this response:

Dear Mr. Robinson,
Thank you for contacting Hilton Guest Assistance. My name is Agnes. It will be my pleasure to assist with your bed bugs and service concerns at the Hampton Inn Oklahoma City/Edmond. It is my understanding that the hotel has not contacted you regarding your hotel service issue. I sincerely apologize for the delay. Regretfully, our office is unable to be of further assistance with this issue. If you need further assistance with this issue, please contact the hotel management via phone at 405-844-3037. Should you have any additional questions relative to this matter, please contact our Guest Assistance office at [email protected] or by calling 1-888-240-6152.

With Hilton not willing to help - I once again called the hotel and finally got the manager. She thought I was joking! A few days later I received this:

Dear -
I can confirm that there were confirmed bed bugs in the room. Our procedures were in place and multiple treatments of the room have taken place.
I appreciate your tolerance of the situation and the room charges have been refunded to your card.
I cannot apologize enough for your discomfort due to your stay here.
If there is anything else I can help you with, please feel free to contact me.
Again thank you for patience and tolerance.
Respectfully,

My take away - I was refunded for the room and that was it. No points or other compensation for my bites and discomfort. From the time I stayed there until someone finally got back to me was about 2 weeks. So basically 14 days + of other guests getting bites and tracking them home!

Yup this. I have one. Stick it in my garage. I get home home. Bags, clothes go directly into the oven and not my house. You heat the contents to 120 degrees and any bed bug dies in 60 seconds at that temp. Depending on ambient temp can take a few hours of cooking to hit 120 but gives me total piece of mind that I’m not bringing home bugs so worth the hassle. All it takes is one bug to bring misery, and let’s face it those guys are everywhere including British airways biz class seats

If one had a cockroach crawl on ones body while in bed, what would be the proper recourse? I was offered a measly 5k points. I had a whole host of problems during this stay, but this was the biggest one.

Um, not to be a pest, but what's the point of these threads if we don't know which hotel and how they handled the situation?

I don’t wanna name the hotel coz there’s no point in shaming them. As I said to them when they apologized it can happen anywhere...
i started this thread coz i would like to know what recourse other travelers in my situation were offered and for a lurker to pick this up and help me out in seeking recourse.

The response is unacceptable. If I had received the bites and been treated in such a manner, the response would have been to find out who the general manager and the franchisee is (on the land documents) an send them an email. The email would have included the executives for that geographical area (using the corporate org chart), as well. Everything would be photographed along with a medical report by a physician. I would be very clear that a failure to redress to my satisfaction would result in me contacting the local health department, code enforcement, and media orgs.