Anonymous

Summary: The Country Inns and Suites in West Valley City has a lovely breakfast, indoor pool, and quiet rooms. But the cleaning and maintenance as of 2/8/17 shows long term neglect of basic vacuuming and pest control to the point where bed bug carapaces have piled up behind the bed and nightstand at least one room (303). A live bug was spotted, though I wasn't bitten to my knowledge. The kind overnight desk clerk moved me to a seemingly bug free room. Management addressed the issue, but grudgingly and dismissively. The Long of It: On 2/8/2017, I was getting ready for bed in room 303. On the bed across the nightstand, I saw a bug move to the edge of the comforter. Grabbing a napkin to squish it, I found it looked like a tick. Comparing this with CDC information, it was indeed a bed bug. Pulling back the nightstand and bed frame, i discovered months to perhaps much more than a year of filth: dust, dirt, numerous hairs on the mattress frame, and at least 6 bed bug carcasses. I promptly took photos of all these areas. Mortified, I reported it to the front desk, which clerk was equally disturbed, helping me find another room apparently free of bedbugs. However, this room likewise had obviously only been vacuumed in the most cursory manner. There were toenails, dirt, entire candies, and trash piled up around the corners, even in front of the bed. This morning I asked the manager to accompany me to show her the issues in the room. Showing her the live bug I had found, she minimized it as a young bug, despite obviously being an adult which had not eaten in a while, emphatically not a nymph. We checked around the bed of my new room, with the head housekeeper in attendance, as well as in the affected room 303. Both tried to challenge me that this was a standing problem, claiming that the bugs were young, implying I had brought the bugs from another hotel, and telling me "not to believe everything on the internet". While they claimed the white powder piled up under the bed in 303 was bed bug preventative, it obviously wasn't working very well. I found this attitude to a potent public health issue, not to mention the accumulated filth behind and under the beds of both rooms rather insulting. The manager agreed to clean my clothes, and gave me alcohol wipes to clean my shoes and other potentially affected items. Thankfully, this is trivial, as I brought very little personal effects, and stored these mostly on top of the table. I appreciated this consideration. For the moment I'm satisfied with my new room, if far from happy. But I had to drag an incident report out of the manager, who claimed I didn't need one since I'd not been bitten. She further chalked up the problem to a high turnover with housekeeping staff, who didn't know the routine of cleaning yet. While I sympathize with the difficulties of hotel cleaning, it is obvious these housekeepers don't have enough time to thoroughly clean or vacuum the rooms. From the amount of debris and grime, not to mention bug carapaces, this is a long standing issue of a year or more, belying management irresponsibility. Rather than passing the buck, minimizing this bed bug issue as routine, managers should be much more militant, transparent, and proactive in ensuring their rooms are free from parasites which can cause serious health issues. Is it really out of order to hope managers spot check rooms regularly, have housekeeping take time to deep clean bed frames and behind dressers at least once a month? Forget mints on pillows or daily soap. Please, just vacuum before we check in. Hotels are a major point of infestation and spread of bed bugs. At this moment, I don't feel the Country Inns and Suites take their responsibility seriously enough. I filed a request with their corporate office to check up on this issue. I do hope they try to clean behind furniture on a more regular basis. But it's apparent that the entire industry takes a far too casual view of letting customers sleep in filthy conditions which breed these noxious, troublesome parasites. As a private person, I absolutely loathe being a "squeaky wheel." I've never made a complaint like this in my life. I don't even like housekeeping coming into my room while I stay at a hotel, and try to save them work by keeping my space clean. But you may count me as another newly made "troublesome customer" who will demand to check under and behind the bed before staying in any hotel. And I will defiantly think twice before staying in Country Inns or any Radison facility again.

• Bedbugs Found
• Requested Refund