I'm in hotels about half my life for work (well okay it's probably closer to 1/3 of my life but still) and quite honestly would take the reports with a HUGE grain of salt.
First and foremost, the fact that a property has no reports on Bedbug Registry or any similar sites means squat. It certainly doesn't mean they're "clean."
Second, a bedbug is not easily identifiable by the layperson or anyone not equipped with a magnifying glass or microscope. All sorts of critters from dust mites to beetles to arthropods live in bedding and are often mistaken for bedbugs. Sure, sleeping with these other bugs isn't a warm and fuzzy thought, either, but they're nowhere near the nuisance that bedbugs are.
Third, Bedbug Registry has very, very loose "moderation" if you can even call it that. They don't take down reports unless the person who posted them consents or a given amount of time (either 1 year or 2 years) lapses. It's not like the BBB where you can see whether a complaint was resolved or not. With Bedbug Registry, it's completely binary, the complaint is either there or it's not. The reason this matters is because, as some PP have pointed out,
ALL hotels have likely suffered bedbugs at some point or other. It just can't be stopped. It's the response to bedbugs that matters. A reliable property will quarantine the room, tent it up, and take all possible measures to clean up the infestation (and even those aren't always 100% successful). A less reliable property will be dismissive and ignore the problem until it spreads.
Honestly the only thing that would bother me here is that the hotels sound like they've been somewhat dismissive of the complaints. If that's a repeating pattern, then yes, I would consider looking elsewhere, be it the Motel 6 or the GCH. But I'd put zero stock in the fact that the reports exist, and I'd put even less stock in the ability of the average hotel guest to positively identify a bedbug as opposed to the myriads of other creatures they might be seeing. Frankly -- and I obviously have no solid basis for this assumption -- I'd wager that DLR area hotels will have higher bedbug reports in general either because kids tend to be nice vectors for all sorts of bugs
or because parents tend to be extra vigilant when traveling with kids. One would mean that all DLR area hotels have an increased risk of bedbugs, whereas the other would mean that there are more false alarms than usual. Neither one means anything much and would be chalked up as noise in my book...
JMO obviously but take it from someone who used to obsessively check hotel mattresses all the time before going to sleep: bedbugs are very rare, and an accurate report is even more rare. The more you read about this sort of thing, the more freaked out you'll get, so if it's a good hotel all around and frequented by DIS members, I wouldn't worry too much. My first reason is the most important to bear in mind ... simply because no reports exist doesn't mean anything, you could just as easily walk into a supposedly "clean" property and get the only infested room there
I wish the BedBug Registry included the room numbers they had problems with..
A couple of years ago I remember hearing about bed bugs and began checking my room/bed for signs of them. Since then I have become pretty lazy about searching for these disgusting little creatures. Believe me after reading the reports on the registry I will check from now on. And if I ever find them or receive a bite I will document it with photos and witnesses if possible. I say that because after reading the reports the hotel denials were amazing.
