Waldorf Astoria Guest Cries Bedbugs

A woman visiting NYC from Florida says she was bitten by bedbugs while staying at the fancy Waldorf Astoria, a hotel popular with heads of state and celebrities. After waking up with welts and rashes on her arm, the unidentified woman complained to the hotel's management, who were not very proactive, according to her account. Sure, they upgraded her to a $700-a-night suite in the "super-fancy" Waldorf-Astoria Towers section, but she tells the Post that managers wouldn't take her word for it, and asked her to display her bites.

"It felt like you were getting blamed for the fact there was a bedbug in your bed," she tells the tabloid. "I definitely thought they would have taken the appropriate measures to ensure there were no bedbugs in the room. I definitely expected them to monitor it or at least deal with it in the proper way." By the way, it's not unheard of for upscale hotels to get bedbugs. The Helmsley Hotel was sued back in 2003 by a guest who claimed they bitten by the critters during their stay.

But the Waldorf rep says they found no signs of bedbugs in her room. Of course, they would say that, so who knows what to believe. With the city's alarmist bedbug panic is at its peak, perhaps it's important to remember that just because you wake up with bites, that doesn't necessarily mean the perpetrator was a bedbug. There are all sorts of insects that can crawl into your bed at night and sink their "teeth" into your flesh. Take dust mites, for instance! Why, there's just no limit to the variety of things that can sneak under your sheets (#twss!). Honestly, you're probably better off sleeping on the couch.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on October 7, 2010 6:15 PM

Comments [rss]

Freebed

People need to learn how to check their hotel rooms to protect themselves: http://www.freebedbugadvice.com/how-to-check-for-bedbugs/

Also, hotels need to get with the program and adopt standards to detect bedbugs before a guest gets bitten or brings an infestation home with them. http://www.bedbugchecker.com aims to do that.

pmalik

Wow talk about schizophrenic paranoia. The "Vigilant from the Bedbugger Forum" guy is a crackpot.

Nyctini11

You might think upon reading it, get bed bugs, you'll be searching for a link to that article, trust.

dhash

You can sue for bed bugs in your hotel room? Good lord.

John L

Maybe, just maybe, if enough tourists complain Bloomberg will give a fuck.

nicemarmot

Bloomie will care when his townhouse is infested, at which point he will declare an all out ban on bedbugs.

longacre

Didn't realize the Waldorf had rooms that cheap. Must be tiny.

Pachinko

I'm convinced Rosco doesn't have fleas, but bedbugs tucked in his little doggie pockets.

kane

Sure, they upgraded her to a $700-a-night suite in the "super-fancy" Waldorf-Astoria Towers section, but she tells the Post that managers wouldn't take her word for it, and asked her to display her bites.

A pretty reasonably request, one that it seems she did not comply with. She shouldn't be complaining to the Post if she got upgraded by simply complaining about bedbugs while having no proof of it.

Brian

I hear she found a cockroach in her dinner at Per Se too! Oh my, she just has the darndest luck, doesn't she?

Grifter

nicemarmot

Well, I can see why they'd want her to show them the bites. I can just imagine some bitch whining "bedbugs, bedbugs, I'm going to sue you!" when actually she got bitten by a mosquito in the park. Or wasn't bitten at all and is just a lawsuit-happy lunatic. There are a lot of them out there.