Suburban Couple Says Hotel Stay Ruined By Bed Bugs
MORRIS, Ill. (CBS) -- Imagine turning the light on in your hotel room and finding bed bugs. That's what a suburban couple says happened to them about 10 days ago at a hotel in Morris, Illinois.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that local authorities are investigating the situation.
It may be the last thing you want to find where you sleep, but tiny bed bugs are exactly what Amber Medina says she uncovered while staying at the Days Inn in Morris, Ill.
"I just freaked out," she says, "I walked in the room, turned on the light there was one on the wall and I killed it. It's in the bag here. And then when I turned and looked at the bed that my husband was in I freaked out because there was bugs all over the bed."
Medina says there were at least 20 bugs crawling around.
She took pictures of the bugs and bite marks on her husband and complained to hotel management.
She says a worker offered her another room, but that she didn't want to take a chance of bedding down with more bugs.
"Oh no. They were all over," Medina said.
Management at the hotel told us the room has been cleaned and said they had no other comment.
A spokesman from the Morris Buildings Department told us the hotel had the room cleaned and exterminated, that the room is quarantined and that the hotel says it won't be rented out for three weeks.
Medina had her home checked for the bugs and says none were found, but her car had to be steam cleaned.
The hotel didn't charge her for the room, but she still believes the company is responsible for the inspection and cleaning she had done.
"I want them to pay me back for the canine inspection that I had to have. I had to have my car sprayed down and stuff," Medina said.
"We're having nightmares now. Not being able to sleep at night. You wake up and you're scratching. You can't fall back asleep," she said.
The Grundy County Health Department has its environmental inspector on the case.
The Medina family says their concern is that cleaning just one room may not protect other hotel guests, because the bugs can spread quickly from room to room.
