Beware of Bedbugs

[Winue]

when we went in Jan/08, we stayed off site at a hotel on the I-90. It had been newly renovated, and appeared clean, with a kitchen. Well, the second morning after we woke up, we found 2 BEDBUGS in DS's bed!!! luckily, there were no bites on him.

We immediately called disney resorts and ended up moving to CSR, which was great. We demanded to the first hotel that we were not going to pay for the 2 nights spent there, which they attempted to argue, until we said that we would take the 2 bedbugs that we had captured in a ziploc, and show all of the other guests, who were in the dining area. THEN we got it for free.

anyways... the I-90 strip is not the cleanest, and I would NEVER stay anywhere on there again.

just wanted to share this, for those looking around.

also, everyone should be checking ALL beds no matter where you are staying, as soon as you get into the room. Any traces of bedbugs or their feces or eggs, you should GET OUT ASAP as they will bite, and get into your belongings, and you will probably bring them home to you! blech!

 

[dburg30]

To be 100% fair, there are reports of bedbugs at WDW from time to time. You could run into them basically anywhere at all. Now if you had been moved to 3 different rooms and they all were infested, that would be something different. Your point to always check is of course a good idea, but just because there are bed bugs in one room doesnt mean the hotel is bad.

 

[Winue]

well, no you may be right, but bedbugs travel and multiply like mad, so if we found 2 huge bedbugs, my bet is that there would be more where that came from. of course people bring the bugs to the hotel with them sometimes, but more of my point is to be careful, and look around. I would hope that cleaning staff would pick up on these kids of things also.

and sure, it may not mean the hotel is bad, but, I for one, will never be staying or recommending a hotel that I found bedbugs in ever again.

 

[disneyin2008]

THere have been more than a few reports of bedbugs at almost every level of Disney resorts.....like pp said, it pays to be watchful, but bedbugs do NOT mean that a hotel/resort is low class or "bad". There have been many people berating mousekeeping for not checking as well. It's pretty simple to check yourself....and if you read some of the long long long threads about bedbugs there is a link that is often cited (maybe a google search for bedbugs will bring it up)....it shows photos of what to look forward on the matress, with the recommendation that you not even bring in your luggage before examining a room.

Considering Florida's constant bug problem (of all kinds and sizes) because of their tropic weather patterns, it's definitely not a state that you want to visit if you are extremely squirmish about bugs, lol. It doesn't matter if you are the best housekeeper in the entire state, your home is occasionally going to have bugs. It's a fact of life in Florida, the slums have them, but so do the movie-star-celebrity-million/billionaire homes, and everyone in between.

I noticed that you say you stayed there for 2 nights.....did you not see any bedbugs that first night? And if that's the case, I wonder how you expected housekeeping's checking before you moved in to discover them if they weren't there for you the first night. NOT putting you down, just pointing out that one day there can be no bugs, and the next you have a small infestation....it's the nature of bugs. I know it's totally gross to find them, and especially unacceptable when they "attack" your children.....but it's also important to remember that no matter what steps a hotel takes (or even a private homeowner) you will NEVER rid a property of bugs completely. Requesting to be moved, or even checking out early is completely acceptable, but I don't agree that they owed you for both nights stay, and not positive how I feel about the one night when you did find bugs. And, even if one hotel did have an infestation, condeming all the hotels outside of Florida for it isn't quite fair....especially when so many people have reported that Disney has a bed bug problem as well. But, that said, I totally understand your disgust.....between the bugs and hurricane's I'll doubt that I'll ever be able to live in Florida.....strong as the rest of the reasons I want to be there may be.

I hope that the rest of your vacation was wonderful (and bug free!)

 

[Winue]

I changed the title so its not so targeting.

I did check the moment I walked in the place for bugs, and saw nothing. But to wake up and see 2 big ones sitting in bed where my son just came out of was disgusting. and IMHO, I should have gotten all of my money back as this was a HUGE pain to deal with in my vacation. we had just gone shopping, and had to leave at least $100 worth of food there, as there was no kitchen where we were going. The fact that I had to wash every belonging in hot water to ensure no bugs were there, search through everything, pack up, move hotels, unpack, all while we were supposed to be in Epcot for the day? yes, that is worth getting all of my money back. and IF there had been anything found in my belongings, then they would have had to do something else for me too.

bottom line, hotels need to be responsible for their rooms, cleanliness, and guests happiness. when told, and shown the bugs, the person at the front desk was disgusted, and jumped away. they were rude about it. and this is what was in bed with my 2.5 year old son.

yes, the rest of the vacation was wonderful, and bug free. thanks for asking.

 

[Sillyminny40]

Very interesting topic. I have been told the hotel bedcover is rarely cleaned. We take that off and put it in the closet.

Bedbugs can lay dormant for months and are attracted to come out in the dark due to carbon dioxide from humans breathing. Good news is there is no known disease transmision from human to human.

It was thought that DDT (bad, bad chemical) years ago had erradicated bedbugs but they are back in big numbers. There are many natural ways to deter bedbugs if you have a problem: petroleum jelly on beds, rubbing alcohol, others use the chemical Permethrin (exterminators use this but it is harmful to CATS and lizards/turtles!) Since most bedbugs are carried by travelers through contact with beds and hotel rooms in infected locations, following are some tips for those traveling to hotels that might be at risk. It is highly unlikely that the cleaning staff would find bedbugs after the previous travellers brought them in. But they should have a way of checking for the obvious. Also I am concerned that YOU could have taken them back to your house!
Travel tips This is from Wikipedia...

First, examine the room for potential hiding places of bedbugs, such as carpet edges, mattress seams, pillow case linings, bedboards, wall trim or other tiny crevices in which bedbugs might hide.
Next, look specifically at the mattress seams for signs of bedbug activity: droppings, eggs, bloodstains or even bedbugs themselves, hiding in tiny folds and seam lines.
Keep a flashlight nearby when sleeping, to immediately observe suspected activity during the night without having to get up out of bed, thereby giving bedbugs time to hide in safety.
Never leave your clothing lying on the bed, or any location of possible infestation (as mentioned above). Instead, use hangers or hooks capable of keeping all cloth distant from the floor or bed. Suspend new shopping in bags the same way.
Close all luggage (suitcase, travel bag etc.) when you're not using it. This way, during the night the bugs may move over the top of your bags and have difficulty getting inside.
Elevate your luggage off the floor to luggage stand, tables or chairs. These can also be hiding places, but they are not as likely to be.
Keep any bedbug you find (intact if possible) to show the hotel owner (which you did).

 

[Winue]

I thouroughly checked through every little thing that we had, and washed it all in hot hot water right away. even when we got home, we kept it in garbage bags on the front porch for a day or two, then right into the wash again. thanks for the concern!

 

[disneyin2008]

I changed the title so its not so targeting.

I did check the moment I walked in the place for bugs, and saw nothing. But to wake up and see 2 big ones sitting in bed where my son just came out of was disgusting. and IMHO, I should have gotten all of my money back as this was a HUGE pain to deal with in my vacation. we had just gone shopping, and had to leave at least $100 worth of food there, as there was no kitchen where we were going. The fact that I had to wash every belonging in hot water to ensure no bugs were there, search through everything, pack up, move hotels, unpack, all while we were supposed to be in Epcot for the day? yes, that is worth getting all of my money back. and IF there had been anything found in my belongings, then they would have had to do something else for me too.

bottom line, hotels need to be responsible for their rooms, cleanliness, and guests happiness. when told, and shown the bugs, the person at the front desk was disgusted, and jumped away. they were rude about it. and this is what was in bed with my 2.5 year old son.

yes, the rest of the vacation was wonderful, and bug free. thanks for asking.

I'm not looking to argue with you....but I am curious what you think the hotel could/should/would do that they didn't.....you yourself said that you checked when you first arrived and found nothing. So if there was nothing when you moved into the room, there would have also been nothing if the maid had looked before you (and you don't know that she didn't check). What more could they have done to prevent a NATURAL occurance? And, who's to say that you didn't bring them in with you.....your luggage could have been in the luggage hold of the airplane with an infected bag and so it came with you. Or maybe the person in the room next to you brought them from home/plane/wherever and that's why it wasn't until the second day that you found them in YOUR room. If it wasn't in the bed when you checked, and it was later, than it arrived unseen, unknowingly sometime after you checked or even the following day. I personally can't place the blame on the hotel because they can't check hourly to see if a customer has brought bugs into their hotel. I would hope that they do have their staff checking when the room is cleaned, but if you didn't see any after you moved in, expecting them to find them before that is not really reasonable.

I guess I'm just quite laid back about blaming someone.....I've made so many mistakes and caused so much problems for others that I try to not blame people for things that they don't have absolute control over. I expect that they will take precautions and reasonable care to prevent problems, but I also realize that things may happen anyway. I had a few bad experiences at Disney, but never did I feel that they owed me something....even when two days of our trip were taken over by their error.

I wonder how you would have reacted had the bedbugs also been in SSR? Because they have been reported there in 2008.

Oh well, having a good vacation was the important part....hopefully you can laugh about the experience someday.....maybe in 2010, lol.

 

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

Bugs are icky! Sorry to hear about your experience and your wasted vacation day.

 

[New England]

I work in the multifamily housing industry and I have to say that often bed bugs just happen. It's like lice in elementary school.

With that said both lice and bed bugs completely FREAK me out Most other bugs don't bother me.

My husband travels quite a bit for work and the first thing I ask is..DID YOU CHECK FOR BED BUGS. They are making quite a come back and just like lice they don't distinguish between income levels, clean/dirty folks etc.

When I arrive in my townhouse at WH I will immediately check for them and then bring the baggage in and as soon as it's dark I'll check again. I will probably be completely over compulsive and keep checking. I am itching just thinking about them!