Houston1stWordOnTheMoon Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Bedbugs I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my recent entry about bed bugs elicited a flurry of responses from more travelers who have encountered the bloodsucking critters first hand. The experience isn't pretty. Even worse, several people tell tales of having a hard time getting their hotels to take the pesky problem seriously.Shelly Orosz was staying at a Comfort Inn in Gulfport, Mississippi, when she awoke to itchy, swollen legs. A doctor told her she had contracted skin mites from the hotel. When she asked that the hotel cover her medical bill, they offered her a free night's stay instead. Oh the travails of frequent travel. Things like bedbugs bring new meaning to the term "road warrior.'' There's really no point naming names of hotels mentioned by bitten travelers, because the truth is, bedbugs are a problem everywhere. They don't discriminate between the number of stars in a hotel's ranking. They were all but extinct in the U.S. after the widespread use of pesticides like DDT. But bedbugs have made a comeback in recent years by stowing away in the luggage of people traveling abroad, according to one theory. One road warrior in the textile manufacturing industry writes that she discovered 24 welts on her arms during a business trip in China last June. She returned to her home in New York City, figuring the problem was history. But the bugs followed, and she was bitten several more times over the next few months. It's almost impossible to get a hotel to admit that they may have a problem. But the industry is well aware of it. A Wall Street Journal article from 2005 describes an International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant trade show in New York with a symposium called "Stop the Spread of Bedbugs." John Schulz, Marriott International's director of quality control, spoke at the event. Hotels can spray for the pests, but this is an area where travelers will need to watch out for themselves...............more here http://travel.news.yahoo.com/b/b_correa/20...a/b_correa11812 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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