1/27/2012 NYC Ritz Carlton Crawling With Bedbugs

A room for a midweek night starts at $695 and can soar up to $4,500 for a suite, but this particular hotel on Central Park South may have a problem commonly, if unfairly, associated with more low-rent lodging — bedbugs. And it may also have a bigger issue — grumbling workers.

A worker at the hotel, the Ritz-Carlton New York, said that a guest in Room 1005 reported to the front desk on Sunday that she had discovered a bedbug in her room. The guest then checked out, but not before producing a specimen of the bug, a wingless six-legged bloodsucker.

The worker, Rosanna Polanco, a room attendant, said she was asked on Monday to service the room next to 1005 but was not told about the bedbugs. She found out only when she encountered a worker from Ecolab Inc., a company that supplies cleaning products and pest elimination services.

“He was the one who told me: ‘Be careful. There’s a lot of bedbugs in there,’ ” Ms. Polanco said, referring to Room 1005. “Management didn’t tell me. I found out myself.”

As is usual in cases involving bedbugs in hotels, guests in adjacent rooms and those above and below were moved to other rooms or upgraded to suites. And on Wednesday, workers were given training and shown a video on signs of bedbug infestation, like blood on sheets.

Although bedbugs are sometimes associated with fleabag hotels, they can thrive anywhere and are easily transported. There have been reports of bedbugs in office buildings like the Empire State, movie theaters and stores like Abercrombie & Fitch.

Ms. Polanco said she was worried about her family — in case she had unknowingly picked up a bedbug on her clothing and carried it home. “I haven’t checked my house,” she said. “I don’t know how to inspect my house.”

The hotel has offered to send professionals to her home to check for any infestation, though Ms. Polanco said no one had come as yet.

Scott Geraghty, the hotel’s general manager, confirmed that a bedbug had been found in the room. “Bedbugs are inevitable,” he said. “They’re brought in by guests and come in on luggage or things of that nature.” He said the problem had been remediated.

John Turchiano, a spokesman for the New York Hotel Trades Council, which represents about 30,000 hotel workers, said on Wednesday: “I’m told the hotel apologized for the delay in notifying the members. I can also tell you there was bedbug training this morning and afternoon for management and staff.”

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1/16/2012 Michigan Cheerleaders Not Cheering For Bedbugs

A cheerleading squad that checked into the Quality Inn in Walker said they found numerous bed bugs and evidence of bed bugs in more than one room.

Friday, they drove six hours to the Grand Rapids area for an early Saturday competition.

“I was getting my hair done when we saw a bug crawl across the pillow right next to one of the girls that was sleeping,” nine-year-old Carrigan Craven said. “[There were] eggs, a nest and dead bugs all over it and a bunch of live bugs all over it. It was gross.”

“So we started thinking about, when there’s bed bugs there’s normally more than one,” Craven’s mother, Angela said. “So we tore the whole room apart and found about five live bugs, numerous dead bugs and we found a little nest that looked just like the internet pictures. It was really disgusting, they were crawling all over the place.”

When they contacted the hotel staff, Angela Cramer told 24 Hour News 8, they were offered a $5 discount. That wasn’t good enough. The parents took pictures and insisted on a refund.

After a few hours of arguing and threatening to call police, they were promised their money back, according to Craven.

“I want hotels to recognize they’re there for customer service,” she said. “If somebody comes to you and says ‘I’m not happy with this, I just want to leave’, you shouldn’t try and fight us or argue about it.”

A Quality Inn staff member told 24 Hour News 8, they checked out the rooms but didn’t find any bugs. She also said an exterminator came into the rooms just in case.

Word spread fast.

By the time a group of Junior Varsity Cheerleaders drove down from Harrison Saturday afternoon, they had heard about the pest problem.

“I was kind of grossed out,” Megan McCarrick said. “I didn’t even know bed bugs were real.”

The group checked their matresses & box springs and requested to be on the second floor (bugs were allegedly found on the first floor).

The hotel staff was so insistent it didn’t have bed bugs, they let a 24 Hour News 8 crew into a first floor room.

After searching the matress they allowed the crew to see, they didn’t find evidence of any bed bugs.

But for Craven and her teammates, the experience and the pictures they took are proof enough.

“I’m just glad we found them before we went to bed,” Angela Craven said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done if we would’ve woke up and our girls had bites all over them.”

According to the Kent County Health Department, if anyone finds bed bugs in a hotel, they should call a county health department right away.

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12/5/2011 Survey: Travelers Fear Bedbugs And Dirty Sheets

Bedbugs, unwashed sheets and dirty toilets are among the biggest hygiene fears of Kiwi travellers, a survey has revealed.

The Travelbug survey of 11,000 New Zealanders, conducted by the Trade Me website, asked people their destination preferences and hotel habits.

Of those, 32 per cent revealed their biggest hotel hygiene fear was discovering unwashed sheets in a room, followed by an infestation of bedbugs (24 per cent) and dirty toilets (15 per cent).

“Maybe people think bedbugs are unlikely but unwashed sheets are quite a real fear – you do hear some horror stories about what people find when they pull back the sheets. But in reality NZ hotels are very clean by world standards,” said Trade Me head of travel Daniel Bridges.

Those most scared of germs were women aged 18-29, with 95 per cent having some hygiene fears, compared to the least concerned – men over the age of 60 – 22 per cent of whom had no hygiene fears.

The survey also revealed some fascinating habits of travellers once behind the hotel room door, said Mr Bridges.

Men were more likely to wander into the wrong hotel room, with seven per cent having done so; and 68 per cent of female respondents aged 18-25 had no problem taking the hotel toiletries home with them.

Queenstown was a clear winner when it came to the most sought-after destination.

More than 80 per cent of New Zealanders planned to travel around the country this summer, with the town topping the list of best destination they had visited and most preferred place to return to.

The visitor-friendly aspect of the town was a large part of its appeal, said Mr Bridges.

“It’s no longer just a winter playground there’s so much to see and do and it really is an exhilarating place to be all year-round. It’s exciting and unlike anywhere else in the country with world-class visitor experiences like ZipTrek Ecotours, Shotover Jet and bungy-jumping.”

The “Queenstown obsession” was particularly strong among young people, with 26 per cent of those aged 18-29 picking it as their number one holiday destination.

Northland also rated strongly, with those over 60 selecting it as their favourite place to visit.

When travelling, most people preferred to people were happy to pay for accommodation and have their own space rather than stay with friends and family.

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11/26/2011 Stockton Marriott Serves Up Bedbugs For Thanksgiving

We hope you are enjoying this Thanksgiving weekend and haven’t encountered any unwanted guests.  As we comb through weekend bedbug news, we came across one posting of a family staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Stockton California.

After finding evidence of bedbugs at the neighboring Marriott Courtyard, we were moved over to this hotel. Hopeful, we went in to do our usual flashlight inspection of beds, furniture, etc. Even though this one didn’t have as many, we still found the bedbug “skins” that had been shed behind the bed on the carpet baseboard and box springs/bedskirt. Thinking maybe this was only evidence of a previous problem that had been eradicated and that it simply never gets cleaned behind there, we were about to give in. However, for good measure, I wanted to see a second room to be sure. I scooped up samples with a piece of paper, one of which appeared to be an actual dead bug, to take to the desk. All of a sudden, the “dead” bug began to move! We immediately went to the front desk and gave them the live bug and dead skins and departed to look for something outside the Marriott chain. We ended up at the Hilton, which passed our inspection.
This is the first time we’ve ever found anything. The lesson we learned is that you have to pull the bed out even if it isn’t on a roller frame. The pressed wood box is a pain to move, but if the hotels would do the same thing and clean back there after a known bedbug problem, maybe we would still be at the first hotel.

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10/23/2011 How Hotels Are Trained To Handle Bedbugs: Experts Write Proper Procedure To Follow When Guests Complain              Hopefully you will never have to deal with bedbugs in your hotel.  However, if you do, below is the way the hotel should deal with the matter:

We know all too well there is always a risk that hitchhiking bed bugs will be introduced into one of your hotel guestrooms. Catching bed bugs ahead of a guest sighting/attack is clearly the best possible outcome.  

Unfortunately, there will still be the occasion where a guest comes forward with a bed bug report. With endless media reports of bed bugs, there is little doubt that travelers are on heightened alert. Add to this that guests will often confuse other insect activity with that of bed bugs. 

Basically, there are two possibilities for bed bug reports: a guest reports having seen what they believe to be bed bugs (but is not complaining of bites), or a guest is complaining they have received bed bug bites at your hotel.

Under either scenario, there are common “response” and “action” steps to take.

RESPONSE
Whenever a guest complains of sighting a live bed bug (and/or bed bug indicators) or comes forward with a complaint of bites, it is important for the staff to take quick and decisive actions. As part of my efforts with B3G (a company whose mission is to eradicate bed bug infestations at hotels), I have developed an easy-to-remember response protocol. This approach starts with using the response acronym “LOCATE.” Think of the bed bug epidemic as a battle against tiny terrorists. Before you can take proper actions, you need to locate the enemy’s base of operations. “Locate” as our acronym helps you remember the six elements of the proper response.

Step 1: Listen. Listen completely to the guest’s bed bug report without interruption.

Step 2: Offer a different room. As soon as you have completed listening to the guest’s bed bug account, let the guest know that you are prepared to offer them an alternative room.

Step 3: Comfort. Comfort the guest and provide reassurance that bed bug prevention is taken very seriously at your hotel.

Step 4: Ask. Ask for the details that led to the guest reporting bed bug activity within their room. Fact gathering basics include: what did they see; where did they see it; how much did they see?

Step 5: Tend to needs. Typically, the guest will request an alternative room. Relocating the guest should be seamless via the help of hotel staff.

Step 6: Explain. Explain the steps that the hotel will take as a result of a guest report. Continue to keep the guest informed throughout the process.

ACTION
Responding to the guest is important but without taking quick and appropriate physical action, the hotel will lose credibility.

Just as there is an acronym for the appropriate response, B3G has developed an easy to remember list of actions to be taken by the staff following a report of bed bug activity in a guest room. The easy to remember acronym is “ACTION,” which was selected in order to help your staff remember the six steps that need to be completed.

Step 1: Attend to guest. Attending to the guest is synonymous with the response protocol, LOCATE (Listen, Offer, Ask, Comfort, Tend, and Explain).

Step 2: Contain. Avoid cross-contamination. Do not relocate a guest reporting activity without completing an inspection. If the inspection results are positive for BB activity, take appropriate steps regarding the guest’s belongings.

Step 3: Treat. Any report of bed bug activity will result in treatment and taking extra preventative maintenance measures.

Step 4: Impart seamless service. Imparting seamless service means that the staff is aligned to tend to the guest’s needs and provides timely and appropriate assistance.

Step 5: Offers. Follow your hotel’s protocol for problem resolution. Then, follow-up with the guest to ensure that they are satisfied with the hotel’s response to their bed bug report/complaint.

Step 6: Notes. After taking care of the guest and all steps to inspect and treat a guestroom, properly reporting the situation is the final action.

THE FOUR “DON’Ts”

1.    Don’t delay in responding to the guest (best practice is to extend an immediate response by GM or MOD).

2.    Don’t be defensive about the possibility that the guestroom has bed bug activity.

3.    Don’t disregard the inconvenience the guest will experience as a result of making report.

4.    Don’t drop the ball—complete all the following steps:

a.    Do your fact gathering

b.    Tend to the guest’s needs at all points of the process

c.     Keep the guest informed along the way

d.    Complete an incident report and make entries into your hotel’s bed bug log.
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9/7/2011 Travel Website Raveable Assembles Hotel Bedbug Database

“We have assembled the largest database of traveler reports of bed bugs in hotels globally,” claims hotel review site Raveable, based in Kirkland, WA. TechFlash picked up on their story that the bed bug report population is exploding, but I think it’s worth qualifying that Raveable seems to be making statements about their own statistics, not bed bug populations assessed by more official means.

For instance, their their press release lists the top ten cities with hotel bed bug reports. Raveable says, “Since 2010 the number of individual hotels with bedbugs has risen 250%,” but that’s not precisely accurate. I believe they mean, “the number of reports of individual hotels with bedbugs.” In short, since they are a start-up that began in 2009, I suspect them of measuring their increase in popularity with travelers in general, as well as their users’ encounters of the bed bug kind.

Their bed bug reports page offers a list of cities most recently infested, and the closest to us on that list is Portland, OR. That seems a little strange. Seattle’s page at the Bed Bug Registry has 100 entries, classified as “latest reports.” As some of those reports extend back to 2009, it is difficult to get a clear picture of whether things here are getting bed buggier or not. In any event, since 2009, 28 Seattle hotels have been flagged as having bed bugs at some point, which doesn’t rate on Raveable.

Raveable, commendably, says they do contact travelers to “confirm” the bed bug incident, and they also remove the reports after one year. That makes sense, as with bed bugs and hotels, what counts is either a steady stream of reports, indicating the problem has never been solved, or a fairly recent report, indicating the extent of the bed bug infestation may still be unknown.

Sadly, a review of the Bed Bug Registry’s reports gives you some inkling of the problem becoming intractable at some budget and residence hotels, where the rates don’t seem to justify cleanliness in general, let alone the expense of multiple pest removal treatments.

Bedbugger.com has news for itchy travelers who have thrown away one too many suitcases full of clothing: The Packtite Closet is coming soon. It’s a portable, blow-up bed bug roaster that allows you to treat all sorts of clothing on hangers, speeding the process: “We recently had 50 hung up items get to temp in right around 2 hours,” claims Packtite.

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11/1/10 How To Beat Bedbugs On Vacation

10/25/10 Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite: Hotels Dealing With Pesky Problem

If evolution really worked in our favor, bedbugs would be as large as melons, with neon carapaces and a courteous deportment, announcing their presence every time a newcomer entered a hotel room. Alas, the vampirish insects are neither obvious nor polite: They’re tiny and reddish-brown like freckles, and masters of subterfuge.

At hotels haute to low, exposure to the pests can be higher than at home, because of the rapid turnover of guests. In addition, the guaranteed food source encourages the insects to stay. The bed bug-traveler cycle is endless. But it can be broken.

“People need to be proactive,” said Joseph McInerney, president of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

“This is something that we’re going to have to live with for a while.”

After a dormant period following World War II, Cimex lectularius is back. In the 1990s, the insects started re-emerging in overcrowded urban settings and of late have catapulted to star bugdom status, surfacing in hotels nationwide, in Manhattan retail stores and in Broadway theaters.

“They’re all around,” said Wayne White, a board-certified entomologist with American Pest in Takoma Park, Md., who attributes the rise in bedbugs to the uptick in international travel and a shift in pesticide usage. “They’re just finally showing up in places that are more public.”

In late August, pest control company Terminix released a list of the 15 bedbuggiest cities in the United States. New York,

Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago filled the top five spots.

“We have 3.5 million people in the United States staying in hotels every night, and the number of people bitten is minuscule,” said McInerney. “But when it happens to you, it’s a big deal.”

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10/24/10 How To Avoid Bed Bugs When You’re In A Hotel

Worried about bedbugs on your next hotel stay? The mere mention of the critters probably makes you itchy.

Here are some common questions about travel and bedbugs answered by bedbug expert Jody L. Gangloff-Kaufmann, urban entomologist in the integrated pest management program at Cornell University.

Q: How do you inspect a hotel room for bedbugs?

A: Experts say inspection of the mattress under the sheets is good, but you’re more likely to find bedbugs in less disturbed places such as the box spring and the headboard, so I make some effort to inspect these areas. I’m not especially paranoid, so I don’t go crazy inspecting. But even rooms that appear clean have been found to harbor bedbugs behind the headboard. Most headboards are mounted on the wall with hooks and can be lifted off and removed or replaced. Places where the box spring meets the frame are good; crevices are favorite hiding spots. I always look between the mattress and box spring by lifting the mattress. The fecal stains are what to look for primarily, although they could be old. If those are found, it’s a strong indication to either do a very thorough inspection or change rooms.

Q: Does keeping your luggage in the hotel bathroom really help protect it from bedbugs?

A: I keep my luggage off the bed and more towards the door. My theory is when luggage or belongings are placed and left on the bed overnight and bedbugs sense a person and become active they may feed, then run and hide in the closest crevice available, which might be a suitcase. They are not attracted to suitcases, but suitcases provide suitable habitats for bedbugs that come across them.

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10/13/10    Tips for travelers worried about getting bedbugs from hotels