When someone gets sick in hotel room

[LongLiveRafiki]

What has been people's experience when someone in your group gets sick and pukes all over the hotel room? We were staying at a non-Disney hotel in the Midwest a few nights ago when my toddler woke up in the middle of the night and got sick all over the bedding, floor, and bathroom. After getting him cleaned up, DH went down to the front desk to ask for clean bedding and supplies to clean up the mess. He was handed a new sheet and pillowcases, but nothing else, and told to leave the soiled linens under the bathroom sink . I went back down, asking for a new comforter and was told they didn't have any, but they did manage to find a thick blanket that wasn't even part of the standard bedding they have in the rooms . I asked again about something for cleaning up the mess and where to take the bedding and was told to leave everything in the bathroom and housekeeping would find it the next day and clean up the mess. Umm okay.

So I did the best I could at 4am trying to get puke off the carpet and wiping down the bathroom with a tiny bar of soap and the hotel towels because I wasn't just going to leave puke festering all over the room. The next morning we left a note explaining what happened and a tip for housekeeping. I also spoke again with the front desk to ensure our room was not ignored like it had been on previous days and explained that I hadn't been able to clean the mess the greatest with my limited supplies. We returned that afternoon and the soiled linens and towels were taken and the bed was made with a comforter, but the towels were only half replenished and it was clear that nothing had even been wiped down. There was still quite visible puke residue on the floors and toilet that I had missed/couldn't get in my 4am cleaning stupor.

I went to the front desk again and they said they'd make a note for the housekeeper to clean better the following day. We checked out the next day so I didn't see the end result, though I did leave another note and sincerely hope it was cleaned well after we left.

I'm wondering if my experience is normal. To be clear, I was not expecting someone to come in the middle of the night to clean the room, I was completely willing to clean the mess myself. The responses from the front desk seemed really unhelpful though. I was surprised to be told to just leave the mess for housekeeping and not given anything to actually clean up the puke (and yes, I had made it clear that the puke was everywhere). I was also baffled at being told to leave the soaked linens in the bathroom overnight. It shocked me that despite the note I left and the talks with the front desk that the room was not actually cleaned. Isn't that a bit of a health hazard? Is there a standard protocol/ health code that should be followed or is it left up to the individual hotel? What have other people's experiences been like?

 

[Christine]

And we wonder why noravirus spreads so rapidly with travelers!!

Anyway, I haven't had your experience but my son did come down with noravirus on the Disney cruise and they came in after him with hazmat suits and totally disinfected the entire room. It was amazing.

 

[mjkacmom]

Embassy Suites, one of my kids puked all over the sofa bed. Called and within minutes a team was there to not only clean, but replaced the sofa bed. It was around midnight.

 

[cabanafrau]

And we wonder why noravirus spreads so rapidly with travelers!!

Anyway, I haven't had your experience but my son did come down with noravirus on the Disney cruise and they came in after him with hazmat suits and totally disinfected the entire room. It was amazing.

Not surprising in a cruise environment as that can hit their bottom line -- and hit actual media, not merely social media.


As for OP's situation it's unacceptable that the room wasn't thoroughly cleaned the next day, including carpet. It sounds like housekeeping was put out about the situation and decided to retaliate by avoiding their job and being punitive about not providing enough towels.

 

[Sparkly]

That's disgusting that they left the vomit stains there!! It must have smelled so nasty after a few hours too.

 

[cabanafrau]

Embassy Suites, one of my kids puked all over the sofa bed. Called and within minutes a team was there to not only clean, but replaced the sofa bed. It was around midnight.

That's great service. I love Embassy Suites, but I would have never expected that kind of service.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Not puke but my son slipped and hit his head on the bathtub at a Hampton Inn. He didn't realize he was bleeding until it was all over the pillow case and sheets. Called the front desk, went to dinner, came back an hour later and everything was spotless. They even replenished the towels.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

Your experience is not acceptable.
You didn’t mention what hotel brand you stayed in, but if it a major brand there are protocols in place.
Major brands should have 24 hour staff & an MOD available to assist with cleaning & providing appropriate linens.
I would speak to the GM or AGM.

 

[piglet too]

I agree that this is not anywhere close to how it should have been handled. Once, we opened the mini-fridge to discover old (and very smelly) food. The smell permeated the room and when we called the front desk, they moved us to a new room and the original room was completely sanitized. (Saw the “deodorization in process” sign posted to the door, and it remained there for at least 24 hours.)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Your experience is not acceptable.
You didn’t mention what hotel brand you stayed in, but if it a major brand there are protocols in place.
Major brands should have 24 hour staff & an MOD available to assist with cleaning & providing appropriate linens.
I would speak to the GM or AGM.

It was Comfort Suites. The only employee I ever saw late at night was one front desk clerk (different person each night). It definitely seemed like the night clerks weren't really trained or equipped to handle anything. Our first night we asked for a bandaid after my son cut his knee and they said they didn't have any, which I found strange.

I've been debating sending an email to someone higher up about the puke situation, but I don't want it to come across like I'm seeking compensation, because I'm not. That's kind of also why I wanted to hear other people's experiences with this sort of thing to know if it's normal or not. It just seemed to me like the situation should have been handled better.

 

[cabanafrau]

It was Comfort Suites. The only employee I ever saw late at night was one front desk clerk (different person each night). It definitely seemed like the night clerks weren't really trained or equipped to handle anything. Our first night we asked for a bandaid after my son cut his knee and they said they didn't have any, which I found strange.

I've been debating sending an email to someone higher up about the puke situation, but I don't want it to come across like I'm seeking compensation, because I'm not. That's kind of also why I wanted to hear other people's experiences with this sort of thing to know if it's normal or not. It just seemed to me like the situation should have been handled better.

I think you can make it clear that you're looking for procedures to be addressed or properly trained. I wouldn't necessarily be one to say that you deserve compensation because there wasn't more help given in the middle of the night because there was at least some token attempts made. Where I do feel compensation is in order would be the lack of addressing the situation by housekeeping during regular room cleaning the next day. That is completely unacceptable in my book. The fact more help wasn't available during the night isn't great, but the complete failure by housekeeping the next day doesn't fly.

Maybe you could include in your letter or email a recommendation that they keep onhand emergency bags at the front desk for precisely this type of emergency. It could include bedding, towels, antiseptic wipes, maybe a deodorizer. Good answer for a property that doesn't want to staff for that type of situation, but it will help guests make it through the night more comfortably.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

And we wonder why noravirus spreads so rapidly with travelers!!

Anyway, I haven't had your experience but my son did come down with noravirus on the Disney cruise and they came in after him with hazmat suits and totally disinfected the entire room. It was amazing.

Wow! I definitely thought at the time that if we were at Disney it would have gone so much more smoothly.

Embassy Suites, one of my kids puked all over the sofa bed. Called and within minutes a team was there to not only clean, but replaced the sofa bed. It was around midnight.

That's awesome! I'm surprised they had another sofa bed to replace it with.

Not puke but my son slipped and hit his head on the bathtub at a Hampton Inn. He didn't realize he was bleeding until it was all over the pillow case and sheets. Called the front desk, went to dinner, came back an hour later and everything was spotless. They even replenished the towels.

That actually reminds me. One of the pillowcases put on the bed the day after the incident by housekeeping had two drops of blood (or at least what looked like blood) on it. It was faded so I'm pretty sure it had been washed, but still gross. I did take it down and ask for a replacement.

I agree that this is not anywhere close to how it should have been handled. Once, we opened the mini-fridge to discover old (and very smelly) food. The smell permeated the room and when we called the front desk, they moved us to a new room and the original room was completely sanitized. (Saw the “deodorization in process” sign posted to the door, and it remained there for at least 24 hours.)

I'm glad to hear that other hotels seem to handle this situation better. I've run into food a time or two in a hotel fridge but thankfully there was no smell and the room otherwise looked clean so I didn't raise a fuss. For it to start smelling like you describe though, it had likely been there for a while. Yuck!

 

[G719]

On our first trip, my nephew got sick on the bed and floor. Housekeeping came and cleaned the place up right away. This was later in the evening at all-star music.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Write a report on Trip Advisor. That will get hotel management's attention. From the quick responses we've received from our reports (good and bad) it's obvious that the hotels are aware of the feedback I've posted.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I think you can make it clear that you're looking for procedures to be addressed or properly trained. I wouldn't necessarily be one to say that you deserve compensation because there wasn't more help given in the middle of the night because there was at least some token attempts made. Where I do feel compensation is in order would be the lack of addressing the situation by housekeeping during regular room cleaning the next day. That is completely unacceptable in my book. The fact more help wasn't available during the night isn't great, but the complete failure by housekeeping the next day doesn't fly.

Maybe you could include in your letter or email a recommendation that they keep onhand emergency bags at the front desk for precisely this type of emergency. It could include bedding, towels, antiseptic wipes, maybe a deodorizer. Good answer for a property that doesn't want to staff for that type of situation, but it will help guests make it through the night more comfortably.

The emergency bags are a great idea! I should also make the recommendation that they have basic first aid supplies available, like Band-Aids. The housekeeeping there was just... weird. The first day they skipped our room even though we were gone from 930am-10pm. The second day we were out of the room for 30 mins in the morning and hadn't left out a tip because we were going to come back to the room for a while and weren't expecting them to get to it so quickly. The room was cleaned well, and we were left tons of extra toiletries. Then the third day was when they didn't really clean, despite the note, message with front desk, and a nice tip. Maybe they were upset about having to gather up soiled linens off the floor, but I did roll it up so they wouldn't be touching anything gross and was only doing what we were told to do.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

This happened to us at the Wailea Beach Marriott. DS got the stomach flu in the middle of the night (3:00 AM) and puked across the white bedding. We called the front desk and within 5 minutes two people in hazmat suits came to our room, cleaned it all up and replaced all the bedding. I took DS into the bathroom to wait by the toilet while they were there. The service was amazing. We gave them a pretty big tip on the spot!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

This happened to us at the Wailea Beach Marriott. DS got the stomach flu in the middle of the night (3:00 AM) and puked across the white bedding. We called the front desk and within 5 minutes two people in hazmat suits came to our room, cleaned it all up and replaced all the bedding. I took DS into the bathroom to wait by the toilet while they were there. The service was amazing. We gave them a pretty big tip on the spot!

Yours is the second post here that mentions employees cleaning in hazmat suits. I never would have thought they were so commonly used in society. I've only ever seen them in real life when I was in the military.

It's great though that they handled your situation so well, and in the middle of the night, no less.

 

[wenrob]

That's great service. I love Embassy Suites, but I would have never expected that kind of service.

You should. There should be night staff there to take care of it.

Your experience is not acceptable.
You didn’t mention what hotel brand you stayed in, but if it a major brand there are protocols in place.
Major brands should have 24 hour staff & an MOD available to assist with cleaning & providing appropriate linens.
I would speak to the GM or AGM.

This.

 

[smokeyblue]

I worked at a hotel as a night auditor when I was 20. Other than the deaf guy who cleaned the kitchen during the night, I was the only person there after the bar closed at midnight or two on weekends. This was the nicest hotel in town, that commanded the highest prices. I would have had no idea to help someone had this happened when I was on. Sure I'd try to use some common sense and offer fresh linens, but at $7/hr, there would be no way I would clean puke.

 

[lovin'fl]

My DS works at the desk of a hotel. I just asked him what he'd do. He said housekeeping is there until 6pm and if before then, they'd go up and clean up. If after 6pm, he would have to give you what he could (bedding and such) and you'd have to take care of what you could (I guess with the bath washcloths and some trash bags and then replace bedding which he does have extras of everything)....then housekeeping could clean properly the next day. They also have bandaids if a guest needs one. He made mention of something like 'not being a full service hotel' which I assume meant not having housekeeping department 24/7. They also don't have room service or a bar or anything like that. It's just a smaller regular hotel in a popular (major) hotel chain (I won't mention which) similar to OP's Comfort Suites.