Bed bugs at Bonnet Creek :(

[Three cats]

Well now i'm going to be paranoid at every hotel I stay at. I goes everyone just makes the assumption that only dingy little models get bed bugs, yet its more common in the nice and fancy "clean" looking resorts. Ick!

Oh absolutely. They can be found in 5 star resorts.

 

[ohionola]

Just checked in. I looked all over. Other than a little dirt on the corner of the box spring, the room looked good.

 

[happy2012]

I think calling the health department is the best idea. I would have been so upset b/c you had your baby on that bed! what room/floor/bulding you stayed in?I'm so upset for you!!!

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

While I'm really sorry to hear that happened to you & your family, I want to thank you for posting this. It made me more aware, and WILL be checking our hotel room (it's not at Bonnet Creek thankfully) upon checking in- flipping the mattress to check for blood stains *gag*, bugs, etc.. how nasty, but it's better to check than be sorry. Usually we bring a blanket to place over the hotel bedding but that does no good, I can still bring home the eggs/bugs on my blanket. What a nightmare. I hope that you call the health department on them, maybe send them the pics that you took of the bugs, etc. I know you rented the room through the time share but maybe the owner can go about getting a refund for you? I would consider having a lawyer send the hotel a letter. These hotels need to be more pro-active in keeping the hotels clean.

 

[Ametista]

So you're saying that the bugs got into the pack and play that you brought from home and then in turn brought the bugs home with you??? Thats terrible

Yes. If you look at the railings on a pack and play they have padded nylon wrapped around them so your baby/toddler doesn't get hurt on them. The space between the pads and the rails was totally full of bugs. They are attracted to body heat (they see infrared) and once they find a food source (my daughter) they find a place to hide near the food source. It was so disgusting, I swore I would never stay in a hotel or resort again but that didn't last more than a year!

 

[spel]

What a horrifying experience. I feel terrible for you and your family.

Thank you for posting your story. I will be hyper vigilant about checking every bed the second we walk into a hotel room. You've just given me a huge wake-up call.

 

[melifeld]

So you're saying that the bugs got into the pack and play that you brought from home and then in turn brought the bugs home with you??? Thats terrible

That is how bed bugs move. A brand new hotel can get bed bugs from a guest carrying them in on/in their luggage.

With regard to treatment - here is what Ecolab recommends... When bed bugs are found in a hotel room, the rooms on all sides of the infested room should be inspected. So for a room that is not on the top or bottom floor, this means NINE rooms should be inspected. Here is an illustration:

X X X
X X X
X X X​

Where the red X is the infested room. If none of the surrounding rooms are found to have bugs, then only those NINE rooms need to be treated. If any of the adjoining rooms are found to be infested then additional rooms will need to be inspected and treated. So, as you can see, treating for bed bugs is a very large undertaking if done correctly.

 

[kmb584]

Oh my I feel so sorry for what your family experienced.


Bed bugs are grossly common anymore and because of that I check every crevice that I can think to check prior to placing any of our belongings on a bed, sofa, chair, etc.

You handled the situation in a better manner than I would have. If I had sat my daughter on a bed only to realize that it was swimming with bed bugs, I would have utterly flipped out. I think that WBC handled the situation in an extremely poor manner as well. Having to place 2 phones and wait 1 hour for the manager to show is completely unacceptable and just plain rude. Yes, bed bugs are common, but it's not a situation that should ever be taken lightly. Once that first phone call was placed, someone should have been immediately dispatched to your unit. Then there's the fact that the manager unloaded all sorts of wrong information to you. He should have been well versed in what a bed bug is, its food source, its ability to transport, the fact that they'll settle into a non-food source, etc. It's almost as if he was brushing off the entire situation - "It's just some little bugs, nothing to worry about!"

What bugs (no pun intended) me even more is that you're infestation was so severe that had housekeeping changed the sheets that housekeeper could not have missed them. The infestation should have been reported then and there and the room thoroughly treated prior to any family being assigned to the unit. So, either the sheets weren't changed (I fully believe they weren't) or the housekeeper was negligent in reporting the issue. I will add that I am not fond of the housekeeping at WBC. We spent 10 nights there in October / November and paid to have our unit cleaned every other day ($99 per cleaning). Housekeeping entered our unit TWICE during that entire duration, even skipped the "free" cleaning mid-week. We placed well over a dozen calls to the front desk, manager, etc. and one manager actually stated, "I don't believe you. The housekeeper assigned to your unit has it marked that she's been in every day she was scheduled for." I told him to get his tush to our unit because seeing is believing - sure enough, he appeared 45 minutes later, looked at the disaster (we pick up after ourselves, there were no clothing or shoes out of place, toiletries were in their respective places, etc) but what didn't lie was piles of towels (including ones that we placed in the red bag outside of our room, where it remained for nearly 2 full days), unemptied garbage cans, dust, etc. He promised someone would be in the next day: nope. The housekeeping manager came after that call and was thoroughly appalled. Not only was a housekeeper in our unit the next morning, the manager came by to make sure she cleaned the unit from top to bottom. She also removed 4 $99 cleaning fees from our bill since the unit wasn't cleaned.

 

[spiceycat]

think you are expecting more of the maids than they can do.

first they are the lowest - if they take the time to report things like this - and yes it is very nasty - they would be told it is not their business that cleaning the room is the only concern. secondly pretty sure that (like disney did) there maids can not speak English. So even telling someone other than their supervisor might be hard.

maids are not suppose to report problems - it is not their job. Sorry but true. If they even tired they could be fired.

so you are blaming the maid for something they have no control over.

Now the manager is definitely at fault - he should have moved the family immediately. He should have come or send someone immediately.

next time (if it ever happens again) would definitely call the health dept. did not know someone just visiting could call the health dept. Thanks for the information.

 

[kmb584]

think you are expecting more of the maids than they can do.

first they are the lowest - if they take the time to report things like this - and yes it is very nasty - they would be told it is not their business that cleaning the room is the only concern. secondly pretty sure that (like disney did) there maids can not speak English. So even telling someone other than their supervisor might be hard.

maids are not suppose to report problems - it is not their job. Sorry but true. If they even tired they could be fired.

so you are blaming the maid for something they have no control over.

Now the manager is definitely at fault - he should have moved the family immediately. He should have come or send someone immediately.

next time (if it ever happens again) would definitely call the health dept. did not know someone just visiting could call the health dept. Thanks for the information.

I didn't know that a housekeeper was not allowed to report a problem. Can you tell me why that is? There was obviously a glaring health risk in OP unit and because of that, it should have been reported. I understand that cleaning rooms is their position but how can one, in good faith, place new sheets (and as I said, I doubt the sheets were changed) on a bed literally crawling with bugs and not say a word about it? As a nurse I can't imagine any situation where someone would be penalized for not reporting a health risk, especially one where DOH intervenes.

I wasn't placing blame on the housekeeper per say, the blame lies within the entire WBC infrastructure - ground on up.

 

[Cdn Gal]

Post on trip advisor so other people are more diligent.

 

[spiceycat]

I didn't know that a housekeeper was not allowed to report a problem. Can you tell me why that is?

she did not call the health dept - so they may not know. Know that some timeshares will not report it - unless YOU call the health dept. they way they did the cleaning - seems to say it was not going to be reported.

talk to the housekeeper and ask them why - if they can understand you. they generally do what they are told. secondly they are timed - if they take too much time on one room (and this would involve time) then they can't get to every room they need too - again a reason to be fired.

you seem to think it is their job - again if you report something like this you could get fired. would you do it?

now most US citizens (I hope) would - but these are from poor countries and they are working here because they can. the timeshares or hotel recruits them and does the paper work necessary to bring them to the US to work.

Disney tried this - and got so many complaints - that I think they quit it.

kept in mind that bed bugs are sometimes that the hotels/timeshares can't really control. so they don't want it know that they have them.

which is why the internet and sites like this are so great. they allow communications.

 

[livndisney]

think you are expecting more of the maids than they can do.

first they are the lowest - if they take the time to report things like this - and yes it is very nasty - they would be told it is not their business that cleaning the room is the only concern. secondly pretty sure that (like disney did) there maids can not speak English. So even telling someone other than their supervisor might be hard.

maids are not suppose to report problems - it is not their job. Sorry but true. If they even tired they could be fired.

so you are blaming the maid for something they have no control over.

Now the manager is definitely at fault - he should have moved the family immediately. He should have come or send someone immediately.

next time (if it ever happens again) would definitely call the health dept. did not know someone just visiting could call the health dept. Thanks for the information.

This is not true of every hotel. I guess it is a management style. But every hotel managed in our family- housekeeping absolutely has a voice!. If they see something is wrong, they have a duty to report it so it can be corrected before the next guest.

 

[BonnieP]

We recently stayed 4 nights at WBC, tower 2, 7th floor-very good view of the fireworks and lake. We found the unit clean, beds too. I always check before I accept any hotel rooms. My husband is finally getting use to my wanting to check.

This poor familys' story is terrible and the health department should be told. The manager certainly should have been more knowledgeable of this problem .

What's to say the housekeeper that "cleaned" their rooms isn't carrying a bug(s) on their clothing or cleaning equipment from condo to condo, not a comforting thought...

This is a good topic to make people more aware of the potential problem and that it can happen in any type of hotel.

 

[spiceycat]

This is not true of every hotel. I guess it is a management style. But every hotel managed in our family- housekeeping absolutely has a voice!. If they see something is wrong, they have a duty to report it so it can be corrected before the next guest.

please say which hotel you are talking about.

getting really tired of the corporation style.

any in florida?

if so any close to wdw?

 

[tstidm1]

I didn't even realize I had Bed Bugs at a place (Clarion LBV) until after I got home. It cost me several hundred dollars to treat this issue. I always look in the room before I put my luggage in the room at any hotel (even Disney World). Stand up for yourself and let the owner know of the Timeshare, so he can also take action.

 

[wdwgirl100]

Is it possible to have only 3 or 4 bites? We just got home from WBC yesterday and were in tower 4. I have a 4 little red "bites" on one leg, it never occured it might be bed bug bites. Now I am really worried about our luggage and clothes etc. which we have already put away!

 

[kmb584]

she did not call the health dept - so they may not know. Know that some timeshares will not report it - unless YOU call the health dept. they way they did the cleaning - seems to say it was not going to be reported.

talk to the housekeeper and ask them why - if they can understand you. they generally do what they are told. secondly they are timed - if they take too much time on one room (and this would involve time) then they can't get to every room they need too - again a reason to be fired.

you seem to think it is their job - again if you report something like this you could get fired. would you do it?

now most US citizens (I hope) would - but these are from poor countries and they are working here because they can. the timeshares or hotel recruits them and does the paper work necessary to bring them to the US to work.

Disney tried this - and got so many complaints - that I think they quit it.

kept in mind that bed bugs are sometimes that the hotels/timeshares can't really control. so they don't want it know that they have them.

which is why the internet and sites like this are so great. they allow communications.

Believe me, if I walked into a resort room only to be a bed infested with bed bugs I'd place two calls, the first of which would be the DOH (the second to the front desk demanding a manager).

This really stood out: "you seem to think it is their job - again if you report something like this you could get fired. would you do it?" because yes, I do think it's their job to report a health risk. I understand time schedules and all that jazz, but if a housekeeper were to walk into a room covered in blood - are they supposed to clean around it? A health hazard is a health hazard. I don't care if they speak English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese - there is going to be someone on their staff who understands them. And furthermore, why do you keep insisting that someone will be fired if they report it? In my field, not reporting it would lead to termination.

I really can't wrap my mind around this .. at all.

 

[happy2012]

I read several reports of this issue in 5 star hotels in the area & all over. I had no idea that it happens that often. It is important to let the health dept. know so that is taken care of. It really seems to be the only solution for other guests in the future.

 

[Indy Denise]

For the OP concerning her car:

Do you know anyone with a paint booth that is used in car collision repair?

If you do, ask them to put your car in the booth and " heat" it up. When the booth is on bake they get very, very hot.

You may want to offer them some money as those booths are expensive to run.