In continuation from Wednesday…

Everything was going along quite nicely in my conversation with the staff member, so I decided to ask the dreaded question…”Do you have a bed bug infestation problem at your hotel?”  I really did not expect her to say, “well, yes Mrs. ‘C’ we do have bed bugs, come on down!”  As always, I was curious to see what her reaction to my question would be.  As is usually the case, she did not disappoint!  This kind woman spent five minutes telling me that they don’t have bed bugs because they are a very clean establishment and that they change their sheets and towels every day.  She said that they pride themselves on keeping the room dust free and clean the windows…and other nonsense that had nothing to do with a bed bug infestation.  So after she rambled on a bit, I politely told her that having bed bugs had nothing to do with being cleanly.  I told her that bed bugs were a blood sucking parasite that could be found in flea bag motels and 5 star hotels.  I then asked her if the cleaning staff was trained to look for bed bugs each time they cleaned the guest rooms.  After a long pause, she said “Mrs. C”, why exactly do they call them bed bugs; do they live in the bed?”  It was then that I knew I was in trouble.

I then spent the next 15 minutes educating the reservation staff member about bed bugs.  She was very thankful for the information that I gave her once I was done.  The last thing she asked me was “is it wrong for me to be itching right now?”  I responded by telling her “nope, bed bugs do that to a person!”  So beware; if you are traveling, your hotel staff might not even know what bed bugs are.  It’s up to you to ask the right questions and look for bed bugs yourself because you cannot be guaranteed that the staff has received the education they should have been given.

Stay tuned for more Vacation Follies.  Bed bugs are in Philadelphia, not just New York City!  It was a bed bug filled adventure!