Bedbug incident compensation

MR Elites, I would like to get your opinion on what is the fair compesantion for being a bed bug bait during my recent stay on a Courtyard hotel.

I will not disclose the location as the GM was very apologethic and assured me that it will be taken care of immediately. THey offered me 1 night off or points.

Since my stay in paid by my employer, I chose points. We did not discuss how many points but I think this is my take I would like to hear your thoughts...

90000 points or more - 90k is the most I have seen as mentioned in the website based on what is due for Plat Premiers being bumped on a confirmed reservation on a Courtyard property. I think this is a reasonable figure, maybe you guys think it is too low.


Thank you.

If the choice is "1 night or points" then the points should be however many that hotel charges for one night. (That is, assuming the 1 night would have been fair compensation had you been paying for the stay yourself.)

sethb, thank you for sharing your thoughts. it is a mid cat hotel property (3 or 4) and this makes me think that if that happened on a cat 7 hotel then they will be compensating me more than if it was on a cat 1 hotel for the same reason. should there be a standard?

I agree with SethB -- the points that one would need for a stay at that motel. One might be offered the equivalent at a higher category hotel but you were not at such a hotel, and the standards of such a hotel as compared to the motel that you were at differ significantly, as does one's overall expectations between the two. Take the equivalent points and be done with this.

When it comes to safety and sanitation, should we expect less on low cat properties? I think there is minimum requirement for all hotels and not having any pest infestation is one. Category in my opinion is driven by amenities, location, etc. but not by adherance to code and standards.

I may not have a choice but to accept what they will offer yet this is a very good and productive exchanges with those who bothered to view and respond.

Thank you.

Yes.


Agree.

Agree. But you fail to see that you were provided those additional amenities at the property whether in the room you had or a new one in which you were placed. Therefore, the minimum you were to received from either a high or low level category hotel roughly approximates the category level of the lower category courtyard at which you stayed.


There is a floor in such compensation and it is reached at somewhere between a Category 3 - 5 hotel's point value, depending on the circumstances, etc.

40k Points would be fair. If given the choice of not spending a night with bedbugs or 40k points I would still opt for not spending it with bedbugs.

Bed Bug infestation is a serious issue, you could post your incident on TripAdvisor, yelp, etc and the hotel would lose a ton of business.

I would ask for 90,000 points and have them provide you with a gift certificate from an airline of your choice... enough funds for a business class ticket to any destination around the globe.

I had an incident at a property in Los Angeles and was given enough points for 3 free nights. I will never stay at that hotel again but will refrained from posting the incident online.

I had a bed bugs issue at another chain. They credited me with enough points to cover my stay and told me that their insurance would be in touch to schedule a cleaning of my home. I got the points, but never heard from their insurance. Fortunately, there was no evidence that the bed bugs came home with me. Like another poster mentioned, it's highly unlikely that I will return to the property, but I am satisfied with the outcome.

Personally.....I think I would want enough compensation to replace just about anything I walked into that hotel room with because I would throw it all away and never take the chance on bringing them home with me.

You are definitely entitled to more than 9000 IMO. Granted this happened when I was a PP, I once received 60000 (I had to fight with the GM as he only wanted to give me the difference in the rate) just because the hotel gave my confirmed suite, guaranteed with a CC, away since we didn't get in till 11pm and they had to give me a regular room. It should at least be the same amount of points you would have to redeem for one night. An alternative is to ask the hotel to cut you a check for one free night, they can easily submit that request to Marriott - had this happen twice with guaranteed bed type which is a $100 check.

It's things like this that caused me to start moving away from booking Marriott, and bring all my business over to Hyatt whenever possible. Lucky for Marriott that they have hotels in more places than Hyatt or I wouldn't stay as much.

Bedbugs are a different situation than other pests and vermin. It's not necessarily a sanitation issue; as an example, they don't appear because of the same environment that allows cockroaches to thrive. Bedbugs are brought in by other humans. Prevention and eradication techniques that are effective against roaches, etc. simply don't work. Only heat treatment can kill them.

Lodging facilities have training and inspection procedures, housekeeping is supposed to search for bedbugs upon room turnover, but inspection is only as good as the personnel conducting it. Some facilities use dogs to periodically check, but this isn't foolproof either.

I can't speak to how sanitary the facility the OP stayed in was, but it can happen anywhere.

I would throw away anything without sentimental value, including the suitcase, and ask for monies to replace everything. You do not want them in your house.

My mom had them at two different Marriotts within two years. I can't remember now exactly what she got. The first time was at a premiere resort location and she got her money back and I believe an equivalent points. So it was a cat 6 property, 3 nights, so I think she got 90k points in addition to her money back. We didn't push for more but could have. I just have no recollection on the second time but it seems she stayed at the property again and they gave her a free room for a couple nights or something. Again, we didn't push it as the hotel was extremely nice about the situation. It sucks but it's extremely common. Every single hotel is susceptible to them. To think otherwise is foolish. This also is why I have not posted the properties as I think it's unfair to "out" them for such a common problem.

Hi,

Not sure if it's ok to bring this topic up again. But currently I am in the same situation. I am not sure how to proceed or if I should even request or expect anything.
- this property that I am staying -is a property that I have frequented a lot since the last 1 year and staying between 3-5 weeks on a go.
- i know a majority of the staff due to my frequent visit (and they recognize me, including the GM)

Situation: Currently in my 2nd week of my stay and after getting another bite and swollen bump, I visited a walk-in clinic and the treating doctor suspects highly that it is due to bed bugs.
In my 1st week, after the 1st night, I did get a few bites on my hand and back - but since it was just 4-5 bites and did not look too serious, I ignored it. [this is my first experience after thousands of nights in hotels in my life]
This week, on Monday, noticed additional red spot and saw that it was swollen. Still thought that it was some insect bite from outside (weather is hot where I am currently). It was not until today that it just hit me that something is not right.
Since coming back to the room, I have pulled the sheets up, but did not see anything under the sheets.

I already wrote to the GM (received an out office response, so forwarded the email to the replacement). Just received an email from font desk asking if they could do more to help and that they will inform the maintenance team - that's all the response I have received until now.

I am checking out tomorrow to spend the weekend somewhere else and have my reservation back at the property next week.

My plan is just to continue with the stay next week since it's my last week for this trip as it's the most convenient for work.

Should I expect more and request for compensation? Or should I cancel and move to another property for my stay next week and future stays?

Cheers!