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How Does the EPA Solve a Problem Like Bed Bugs?

Don't worry, everyone: the EPA is all over this bedbugs thing. Apparently, due to a recent rise in bedbug complaints to city information lines (not just hotel bedbugs, but infestations of apartments, hospitals and dorms too), officials have concluded that there has been a recent worldwide resurgence of the bloodfeeders — the first one since they were "last seen in great numbers prior to World War II. And the little buggers need to be dealt with.

According to an AP report, the folks at the Environmental Protection Agency have decided to put some heads together to do something about the issue: the EPA is hosting its first-ever bedbug summit, set to take place today and tomorrow. Explaining the current creature comeback:

One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bedbug numbers.

The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years — such as DDT — off of shelves.

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Tags: Bed Bugs / Hotel Pets / Hotel News / → All Tags

More Hotels Snuffing, er, Sniffing Out Bedbugs

And we thought bed bugs were sooo 2006.

An innovative company in New York City called Advanced K9 Detectives LLC now has a certified group of canines for hotel hire.

According to the company's website, their four-legged detectives can search the average guest room for bedbugs in seconds, er, minutes flat. Two minutes, to be exact. That means the shaggy sleuths can help a mid-size 500-room property entirely eradicate any or all bedbug infestation in about a week. So what are America's hotels waiting for?

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Jurys Boston Has Natural Approach to Bed Bugs

Where: 350 Stuart St [map], Boston, MA, United States, 02116

Let's say it loud and clear first of all: we don't think that the Jurys Boston Hotel has bed bugs. And they don't either, but they're using something special to make sure that it remains that way and they never have a case of ex-guests feeling itchy and bad-mouthing them to the world.

It's not a high-tech solution at all, but a cute one instead: Jurys Boston has a kind of a contract with a bed bug sniffer dog. Every three months, the dog takes a walk through all 225 rooms at the hotel and barks if he finds the vaguest scent of a bed bug or its eggs.

Late last year the sniffer dog barked in two rooms: as a result, Jurys fumigated both the rooms and burned the mattresses, even though they'd had no guest complaints. We kind of like this low-technology approach to make sure we have a good night's sleep without any bites or other nasty surprises.

[Photo: neon.mamacita]

Tags: Bed Bugs / Hotel Dorms / → All Tags

The New Yorker Hotel Has Construction, Moonies, Students and More

A Fordham University senior is suing the New Yorker Hotel after the room she was placed in as substitute dorm room she claims was infested with bed bugs.

Michelle Hopkins filed a suit yesterday after the insects allegedly feasted on her in the Manhattan hotel that doubled as her dorm.

"I can't sleep anymore, I haven't slept in forever," Hopkins said, breaking into tears in her lawyer's office. "I'm petrified."

A student housing crunch at Fordham led Hopkins to find a room through Educational Housing Services, which leases four floors of rooms from the New Yorker Hotel at Eighth Ave. and 34th St

Colleges often use nearby hotels as a way to supply rooms to students but we were surprised the New Yorker was being used as a dorm since it is undergoing a huge renovation with completion expected around August 2008. Additionally, Hopkins is suing the hotel's owner and manager which happens to be Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and Ramada Worldwide. Moonies own a hotel?

[Photo: WallyG]

Related Stories:
· Fordham coed sues over bedbugs in hotel dorm [NY Daily News]

Tags: Hotel Hell / Bed Bugs / → All Tags

Yet Another Bed Bug Lawsuit

Where: 1150 Hwy 412 West [map], Siloam Springs, AR, United States, 72761

It's still going through the process, but an Arkansas woman is suing Stone Inns hotel over a bed bugs incident. The grounds for her complaint aren't pretty: she claims that during her stay in the Siloam Springs motel while undergoing cancer treatment,

She was infested by hundreds of bed bugs during a stay there and now suffers recurring nightmares of bugs feeding off her body.

The motel owner reckons the health department inspected Stone Inn's twice and the bed bugs must've come from somewhere else. The jury's out ... but the guest's trying for compensation for medical bills, pain, and embarrassment and humiliation.

Related Stories:
· Stone Inns reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Woman Sues Motel for Bed Bugs [North West Arkansas Morning News]

Tags: Bed Bugs / Thistle Hotels / Hotel Hell / Bug Bites / → All Tags

Severe bug bites at Thistle Charing Cross London

Severe Bug Bites from Thistle Charing Cross London, they put me through hell and I paid full price for it.

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Tags: Bed Bugs / Hotel Management Responses / → All Tags

Wort Hotel Management Assures Guests There Is No Bed Bug Problem

Where: 50 N Glenwood Rd [map], Jackson, WY, United States, 83001

Last week, we told you about an historic hotel in Jackson Hotel, Wyoming that was offering an excellent ski deal.

The only caveat was that Wort Hotel could possibly have bed bugs since there was a few reviews on TripAdvisor about them, citing room 233.

Yet not long after we posted this, General Manger Jim Waldrop posted a response on TripAdvisor and asked us to repost it here as well.

His full response after the click.

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Bad Rate :: Filth and Bedbugs at Hotel Carter

Where: 250 West 43rd Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10036

[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. Enjoy.]

When booking a hotel, the rate doesn't tell the whole story. What looks like a bargain could turn out to be hell on Earth. When the hotel is pegged as one of "the 10 dirtiest hotels in the U.S.," it's really time to steer clear. Apparently that's the case with the Hotel Carter in New York City, which came in at #2 in the dirtiest category on TripAdvisor's new traveler survey.

[Publisher's Note: I moved the rest of this story including the photo after the jump--it is just too disgusting for the front page. Feel free to go here to check it out, sickos.]

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Tags: Hotel Hell / Luxury Hotels / London Hotel Reviews / Bed Bugs / → All Tags

Bed Bugs Stick It To Celeb Lawyer at Mandarin Oriental

Where: 66 Knightsbridge, London, United Kingdom, SW1X 7LA

When you thought only crappy roadside motels and budget inns were prone to bed bugs comes this report that a Manhattan couple visting the Mandarin Oriental in London was allegedly attacked by bed bugs during their recent stay.

Sidney Bluming, a prominent New York celebrity lawyer, and his wife, Cynthia, are suing the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, owner of the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, after staying at the fashionable London hotel last May. According to the lawsuit, which is seeking several million dollars in damages, the Blumings were bitten hundreds of times during their five-night stay leaving their skin red, swollen and itchy. A spokesman for Mr Bluming, whose clients include Elizabeth Taylor and Claudia Schiffer, said: "People associate bed bugs with more of a lower-end class of hotel. Clearly that's not the case here; the Mandarin is as premier and luxurious as any hotel could make themselves out to be.""

A hotel spokesperson confirmed that there was an isolated infestation incident in one of the Mandarin's nearly $1,000 rooms but that there have been no more reports since.

Unfortunately, that is of little condolence to the Bluming's who found bed bugs nested in their luggage and clothes even when they returned to New York. Their apartment had to be fumigated and several personal effects thrown away.

We can't help but wonder--is this the newest bed bug trend? Luxury hotel infestations?

Related Stories:
· Exclusive London hotel sued over bedbug attack [Times UK]

Tags: Ski Hotels / Jackson Hole Hotel Reviews / Bed Bugs / → All Tags

Historic Hotel Offers Ski Deal, Just Beware of the Bed Bugs

Where: 50 North Glenwood, PO Box 69, [map], Jackson, WY, United States, 83001

[UPDATE: See the Management's Response about the bed bug situation.]

Historic Hotels of America wants you to know that old is cool and they have put together a list of 60 seasonal packages being offered at some of their historic hotels. Like this package at the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hotel, Wyoming:

The Jackson Hole Ski package includes a three-night stay in a deluxe room, two-day lift tickets at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, complimentary ski shuttle and storage, full breakfast each day and beverages in the hotel lobby apres ski.

The cost is $519 per person and is good through Mar. 27. Normally, we would say just pray for some good powder. But according to some reviews, this place might just have a problem with bed bugs. We think that the cold might freeze the bugs out and plenty of people have positive things to say about this place but if you are headed here, might want to avoid room 233.

Related Stories:
· Chill out at Historic Hotels of America [PR Newswire]
· Wort Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]

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Hotel Penn Rumored To Be Calling It a Day...or More Like a Near-Century

Where: 401 7th Avenue [map], New York, ny, United States, 10001

Reports are swirling around NYC that the 87-year-old Hotel Pennsylvania across from Madison Square Garden may just be coming down.

A report by Grubb & Ellis, says the real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust plans to replace the 1,700 room hotel with a 2.5 million square foot office building by 2011.

Additionally, we hear this office building would come complete with a five-floor trading area.

Not that we like to see such a historic hotel smashed into pieces but the Hotel Pennsylvania has had some trouble with upkeep as of late. (Cough, bed bugs, cough.) And probably all those years of hosting the dog show contestants didn't help them either.

Related Stories:
· Pennsylvania Hotel May Be Slated for Demolition [WNYC]
· Hackers Can't Book Online at Hotel Pennsylvania [HotelChatter]
· Bed Bugs in Court [HotelChatter]

Tags: Bed Bugs / Hilton Hotels / Hotel Hell / → All Tags

Hotel Bed Bugs Ring in 2007 By Stinging An Opera Singer

Where: 10 East Thomas Road [map], Phoenix, AZ, United States, 85012

Actually, the opera singer, Alison Trainer claims she was bitten at the Phoenix Hilton Suites back in November 2006, but she has made the news this week by suing the Hilton Hotels Corp. for $6 million. Trainer stayed for six nights at the hotel despite the 150 reported bed bug bites on her arms, chest, neck and face because she had no idea that the bites were coming from bed bugs. (Girlfriend must not have been reading HotelChatter.)

"She noticed the itching and the blood on the sheets right away, but she didn't know that this was being caused by bedbugs," Glassman said, explaining why Trainer stayed in the hotel for six nights.

Despite the bites on her face, Trainer, who has appeared several times with the New York City Opera, the Phoenix Symphony and other music companies around the nation, has kept her singing commitments since the bedbug attack, Glassman said.

So far Hilton Hotels has not commented publicly on the suit but perhaps they should. While bed bug lawsuits can be a case of guest said/hotel said, we all would like some assurance that the bed bug problem, whether real or fake, is being taken care of immediately.

Related Stories:
· Soprano sues Arizona hotel over bedbugs [Boston Globe]