Hotels and Roaches!

[Karen4120]

I've been reading reviews for some 3 bedroom condos and some mention roach problems. How much of a problem is this? I know I really don't want to deal with this at all but I guess it is Florida. Is this something that is common especially now that some codos don't included daily housekeeping? I so want to avoid this!!

How dependable are the reviews on tripadvisor? Some of the resorts I am looking into are:

Embassy Vacation Resort Grand Beach (roaches mentioned here)
Cypress Pointe Resort (some mention a roach problem)
Regal Palm (think this one too had a review with roaches)
The other one I'm thinking of is Windsor Hills. Researching that now.

So how reliable do you find these reports?? Thanks for any info on how to avoid these nasty critters.
Thanks!
Karen

 

[ducklite]

It's Florida, there are roaches. Unless the resort has a "Tubes In the Wall" system--which I highly doubt any do (and even that isn't 100%), no pest management program is going to completely eradicate them. I found one at the YC a few years back. Yuck.

Anne

 

[crjack]

I agree with Ducklite...and I am bug phobic! Ironically, our one and only encounter with roaches was at the FW cabins on-site at Disney and it was a major problem! I would never advise anyone to not stay on-site but it is funny that our most expensive accomodation was the one with the issue and that included daily housekeeping.

We have stayed at HIFS (pre-Nick hotel,) Windsor Palms 2x and last summer at Summer Bay Villas and not one problem. If you read enough reviews I am sure some people had issues at these locations though.

On our next trip we are staying in Windsor Hills and I am hoping my streak of off-site, bug free accomodations continues! I honestly don't think, at least from our experience, that the housekeeping is the issue. Many things cause the bugs to be an issue in Florida and my thought is the best you can hope for, if it's discovered, is a good response from the hotel or management company.

Don't let it spoil your trip planning.

 

[webray]

Also keep in mind..what some people are calling roaches are really palmetto bugs, much more common in FL than roaches.

 

[crazelion]

Also keep in mind..what some people are calling roaches are really palmetto bugs, much more common in FL than roaches.

Those things is the hardest to kill. You have have a heavy shoe to kill those bad boys.

 

[ducklite]

Also keep in mind..what some people are calling roaches are really palmetto bugs, much more common in FL than roaches.

What I saw at the YC was a roach, Ewww.

I find dead palmetto's in the river rock around my house pretty regularly. Only once have I found one indoors (dead), and never roaches. Tubes In the Walls are absolutely the best defense against them if you live in Florida.

Anne

 

[kilee]

We rented a house in Hampton Lakes that we found one (don't know if it was a roach or a palmetto bug) but it was big and gross. The house was still spotless and gorgeous. Unfortunately, it is the area and they are common. I would stay there again. It was hiding in a dresser drawer and for our 8 nights it's the only creature I saw.

Now, we've also seen 1 at the Dolphin in the bathroom. So, they can be even at the nicest hotels too. Now if the reviews said there was an infestation, then I'd be leary.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Had to chuckle a little at this thread. I've lived in Fl for 30+ years, and we do have critters here! At least y'all didn't walk down to the lake -- umm, manmade retention pond in the morning and find a gator Not a daily occurence, but we do see it on the news at least once every month or two.

My experience, as a homeowner, roaches/palmettos have nothing to do with "housekeeping." Ants finding their way to a trail of spilled soda on the counter, yes, but roaches/palmettos are a pest control issue. Even with pest control, it's not 100 percent cleared up all the time -- especially in the hot summer months.

I'm sure hotel management all over Florida pays dearly for their pest control maintenance contracts; I know I sure do. Call these folks -- not necessarily housekeeping; call the hotel manager or someone responsible for paying the bills and let them know their pest control company needs to come back out.

For those of you wondering if it was a "roach" or a "palmetto,", palmettos have wings and will fly right at your face when you try to kill it. Roaches generally don't have wings and will just try to scurry away when faced with your shoe.

 

[ducklite]

I hear you on the alligators. I'm very high on a hill with no nearby water source, so I don't need to worry about them in my yard, but I have seen some (fortunately small) snakes in my yard, and have little lizards all over the place. They get on my lanai, and I'm ok with that, as long as they don't try to come in the house--so far they don't seem interested, sunning themselves on the screen seems to be what they are after. The lizards eat bugs, so I consider them a good pest.

Now if I could just get rid of the mud daubbers. They aren't quite as bad since the construction in my neighborhood is winding down thank goodness.

Anne

 

[phamton]

Also keep in mind..what some people are calling roaches are really palmetto bugs, much more common in FL than roaches.

Palmetto bugs are roaches. It's just a fancy name we like to call the Australian cockroach here in Florida. Someimtes the American cockroach is also referred to as a Palmetto bug in Florida. In Texas, they call them waterbugs rather than roaches but they are still cockroaches---a rose by any other name....
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN001l

 

[sammielynn]

We never have seen roaches but had plenty of other critters last year.

 

[ladysoleil]

We had one in our villa at Cypress Pointe. Or at least, my DH says we did. If I'd seen it I would have had a heart attack, those suckers freak me out. I don't care what you want to call it, palmetto bug, giant freaking roach, whatever. I don't like em.

However, as previously noted, it is Florida, and considering the bugs probably outnumber us down there, seeing only *one* doesn't seem to be too horrible. Our villa was spotlessly clean when we got it, and we kept it very very tidy while we were there, so I don't think it was a housekeeping issue- I get the feeling they're kind of hard to avoid in general.

 

[disneysteve]

At one time or another, we've seen palmetto bugs/roaches just about everywhere we've stayed in Orlando including the onsite Disney hotels. The worst bug problem we ever had in Florida was onsite. We came back to our room one nite to find a swarm of ants right outside our room. We thought that was bad until we opened the door and found they were INSIDE our room too. We had not made a mess or left anything around to attract them.

Anywhere you stay, from the cheapest budget place to the most expensive luxury place can have this problem. I wouldn't let it be a deciding factor in where you choose to stay.

 

[In a hurry]

We had them at the Vistana a few years back. It totally freaked me. Since then, I've read more about them, and although I hate them, I don't think of the places that have 1 or 2 as being narly!

 

[ChristusG]

I have never encountered any roaches in any Orlando hotel/resort. Well, maybe except for Fort Wilderness, but what do you expect there? LOL!!

 

[spiceycat]

I live in the South believe me roaches are everywhere.

I definite the different between roaches and palmetto bugs as:

roaches will actually live in your house.

Palmetto bugs only visit it.... they are looking for food not a new resident. they generally come in the night and are gone by morning....

you hardly ever see one in the daylight.

and yes they are called waterbugs here.... and goodness they are big!!!