vandalby

Wonderful...well, at least is there a chance the mods could revise this thread title to indicate that the bed bug incident didn't actually occur at an SPG property? Could save forum members a lot of time.

CNWO4LIFE

Seems we are in the clear now. It was a case of mistaken bed bug identity. Seems she caught them at some Hilton property. Of course, if she had in stragglers hitching a ride she may have infected that Westin as well.

m0hamed

I found this rather amusing http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/op...%20life&st=cse

SceneStealer7

To clarify: not saying at all that I picked them up at Hilton. My point is that sources are pretty ambiguous about when the bites show up - it could have been Westin or Hilton; however, the fact that I seemed to keep getting more bites throughout my stay at the Westin makes me think it was there. In any case, bed bug bites can come from anywhere.

I'll keep you posted when I hear back from the Westin about an inspection...

fadeforward

I think this is a fascinating thread. A little bit of witch hunt, a lot of paranoia, and a healthy dose of misplaced cause and effect.

What I find particularly interesting is the desire to avoid this hotel. I personally think that this is irrational. If we assume that all hotels in a particular city that cater to similar clientele have equal risk of bedbugs, then a hotel where we have evidence of a quick, thorough, and customer-friendly response to bedbugs is actually *preferable* to one where we have no information.

In any case, thumbs up to the OP's sensitivity, and thumbs down to those who are acting as if she's sheltering a criminal. I think a little more rational thinking about bedbug risk and a little bit less hysteria would do all of us some good.

TravelGuy1965

My hat is off to you for posting a postive aspect while avoiding setting off something unnecessary that could hurt someone... the business owner when they are taking what you believe to be the right action to resolve the issue.

It reminds me of something in our neighorhood about 6 months back. One family had a child found with lice at school. The parents quickly remidied it and tooks the appropriate actions but some parents in the neighborhood went as far as to tell their children to avoid the 'infected kids with lice'. It was terrible for the child, when lice (like bed bugs) is something that can be properly eliminated if taken seriously and appropriately. The children are still getting abused by the kids of the parents who made those statements and its very sad.

While the hotel isn't a defenseless child, one thing is in common - that bed bugs can be taken care of if its properly and seriously addressed. So it would be a shame to penalize the hotel owner (especially if franchised) by outing them if you are confident they have taken the appropriate steps in your opinion.

I'm glad to hear news of hotels and other businesses taking inputs seriously.

adisneyfan2

DID NOT ASK FOR POINTS??? You should be severely punished and banned from FT for 6 months.

SceneStealer7

It's funny... in some ways I'm a total points whore in that I'll spend extra on a certain hotel just because I want more points at that chain or need the status bump or whatever. But when it comes to begging for points when things go wrong, I always keep my mouth shut. Gotta work on that because I'm losing out!

NoSevens

I support the OP stance not to out the hotel due to their response to the situation.

Given all the media hype these days about bed bugs and how easy they are to spread, soon we may need to assume ALL hotels have had a bedbug incident or 2. What it boils down to for differentiation and quality is how they respond to these incidents.

I want the hotels who don't treat these reports seriously to be outed not the ones that respond like this Westin did.

Hopefully bed bugs don't become so ubiquitous where we as frequent travelers begin wanting to know what protocols hotels take to prevent/respond to bed bugs rather than whether they've had reportings of bed bugs.

DLBosPvdFF

+1. Only out them if the hotel management is not addressing the issue, not just because they have bed bugs like thousands of other hotels and homes across the country.

Toula

We also picked up bed bugs on our travels. Have to say any decent hotel will take you seriously as soon as you let them know.

I became a bit of a bed bug expert after going thru hell of being bitten for 2 months. My first bites did not show occur until about 5 days after returning from a trip. Bed bugs normally only eat once every 7-10 days so that is the time frame you need to look at.

Also people should not be paranoid at bed bugs moving from room to room. Bed bugs have to be taken to a new site, they don't march endlessly around a hotel looking for new hangouts.

Now when I travel I keep my suitcase zipped at all times, I never put it on the floor and if there is room I will leave it in the bathroom.

sbtinme

This is sage advice, sadly. For decades, when I was on the road, I would always just toss my bags and suitcase alongside one side of the bed that I wasn't using. I certainly don't do that anymore.

Any bags I'm carrying these days, I try to store near the entry door and upright, if possible. If that doesn't work, I'll put everything on the desk. I just am not willing to risk taking ANY KIND OF PEST back with me and infest my home.