MountainMystery
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Messages
- 66
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My husband and I just began managing this place 3 months ago... Things have been going really well. We even got a 100% on our health department inspection, and we've been working hard to make sure the place was even cleaner than it was with the previous managers.. and this place has the reputation of being one of the cleanest around! Tonight, after we lock up and make a run to the store for some essentials, we get a call from a guest that booked several nights through TA- he's got a major problem and needs us there right away. His wife has hives and they have to check out immediately.
When we get back, she shows us her arms and legs and my mouth drops open. Then, to reinforce my fears further, the husband hands me the cup with a great crawling big bed bug, as well as two more tiny ones. The sheets on both queen beds in the room have several bloody spots and smears where the bugs have obviously been biting the guests. I'm speechless... We give a complete refund, apologize as best as we can and watch them drive away.
I called the housekeeper- who happens to be family- and discuss the situation. She has never found bloody spots like these on the sheets in this room before. We've never had any other guests with concerns or complaints- and the majority of our business is return guests. I flip up the corners of the sheets and mattress pads and look around the mattress and box spring edges for tell-tale signs and see none! I take the headboards off the walls and found one small, living bed bug crawling behind each.
We go and check the other room the guests had been in (When they first checked in, we had them in another room but since we had some issues come up with the refrigerator, we had to move them after their first night. Seriously... this guest was doomed from the start!). I figure, if the guest had brought the bugs with them, perhaps we would see something in their original room too. We have not had any other guests in there, since the room is blocked for repairs. The beds have been stripped of sheets, but they have not been made back up yet. I see no blood stains on the mattress pads. Nothing behind the headboards. Nothing on the mattresses or box springs.
I'm freaking out and don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight... Terminix was just here yesterday doing his monthly preventative treatment for ants and spiders and such... I can't wait to call him back first thing in the morning for this!! We've actually talked about it before because it's truly my biggest fear in this business. I know the treatment will be a major PITA and will cost a fortune (he told me before that they usually have to treat more than just the one that's affected...). But this weekend we've got a full-house and we're in a really busy period in general. And I'm really worried about how this is going to affect our online reputation especially! We've got an excellent TA reviews and I'm afraid this will change everything! Have any of you been through this?? Is there any words of encouragement or advice you can share??
When we get back, she shows us her arms and legs and my mouth drops open. Then, to reinforce my fears further, the husband hands me the cup with a great crawling big bed bug, as well as two more tiny ones. The sheets on both queen beds in the room have several bloody spots and smears where the bugs have obviously been biting the guests. I'm speechless... We give a complete refund, apologize as best as we can and watch them drive away.
I called the housekeeper- who happens to be family- and discuss the situation. She has never found bloody spots like these on the sheets in this room before. We've never had any other guests with concerns or complaints- and the majority of our business is return guests. I flip up the corners of the sheets and mattress pads and look around the mattress and box spring edges for tell-tale signs and see none! I take the headboards off the walls and found one small, living bed bug crawling behind each.
We go and check the other room the guests had been in (When they first checked in, we had them in another room but since we had some issues come up with the refrigerator, we had to move them after their first night. Seriously... this guest was doomed from the start!). I figure, if the guest had brought the bugs with them, perhaps we would see something in their original room too. We have not had any other guests in there, since the room is blocked for repairs. The beds have been stripped of sheets, but they have not been made back up yet. I see no blood stains on the mattress pads. Nothing behind the headboards. Nothing on the mattresses or box springs.
I'm freaking out and don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight... Terminix was just here yesterday doing his monthly preventative treatment for ants and spiders and such... I can't wait to call him back first thing in the morning for this!! We've actually talked about it before because it's truly my biggest fear in this business. I know the treatment will be a major PITA and will cost a fortune (he told me before that they usually have to treat more than just the one that's affected...). But this weekend we've got a full-house and we're in a really busy period in general. And I'm really worried about how this is going to affect our online reputation especially! We've got an excellent TA reviews and I'm afraid this will change everything! Have any of you been through this?? Is there any words of encouragement or advice you can share??