Anonymous

Hello, I am writing to file a complaint about my recent stay at Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Uptown NC. I reserved a three night stay from Aug 1-Aug 4 for my family reunion, along with several other family members. The reservation included myself and my two children, ages 20 & 13. In our first assigned room, 501, we (my 13 year old son and I) awoke on the morning of Aug 2 with several itchy bites all over our bodies. He had slept on the pull out couch in the living room while my daughter and I had slept in the two queen beds in the bedroom. We went to breakfast and tried to figure out if we had somehow gotten bitten by mosquitos or something but we hadn’t been outside the night we arrived given the heavy rains. As we weren’t sure at this time, and still sleepy, we went back to the room and I went to sleep for about an hour in the same bed. When I awoke this time, the original bites had grown (as I am severely allergic to bed bug bites) and more were present, including on my face. Now I was sure that these weren’t mosquito bites as I do not react this way to them. I went to the front desk for the first time and asked for the manager. I spoke with her (do not know her name) and reported what had happened. She told me that they would have to do their own investigation but would give me a new room in the mean time. I told her then about my concerns given my allergies, the extreme number of bites on my son, and whether we would now have to worry about bringing bugs back with us. She reiterated that they would have to complete an investigation and stated she would follow up. We moved to our next room. I took pictures of all our bites. However, weary of the entire hotel now and not wanting more bites, I had to go and get spray for the beds and anti-itch cream for our bites. I then had to join my family for the start of our activities. During the day, several of my bites continued to swell. I didn’t make it back to speak to the manager for a second time until that night. I was told that no manager was in but I could ask for one in the morning when they returned. No one contacted me at any time during my stay to follow up with me. The next morning, my entire right arm from elbow to shoulder was red, hot, swollen and severely itchy. I went back to speak with a manager on Saturday morning for the third time. It was a male this time. I explained what happened to him and again expressed my concerns. I requested that I at least be compensated for my first night stay since I shouldn’t have to pay for my child and I to be bitten up. He told me, as his counterpart before, that an independent investigation would have to take place since no one had complained before about that room. In disbelief, I stated “so I have to pay for my son and I to be bitten and exposed to a health hazard??” He sort of shrugged, and asked if I was checking out today. I told him no, that we had a three night reservation. He looked up my information, and I suppose because they would still get money from me for the other two nights, he agreed to comp the first night and did something on his screen, saying “ok, I got you”. I assumed that meant that my first night was comped. However, when I checked out and got my bill, I had to go back to the manger for a fourth time, as I had been fully charged for the entire stay. The same male manager looked up my information again, and adjusted the balance for the first night, having me sign the adjustment and handing me a new bill. However, as of this writing, I have still been charged for the full amount plus incidentals. The new emailed copy of the bill still had the original total as well, despite the hard copy I was given. We arrived home last night, and now all of our things are in the bathroom and I have to get them fumigated before we can bring them into the rest of the house for fear of having brought bugs back with us. I am including pictures of our bites, my Walmart receipt, and my bill. I will be visiting my allergist this week as well. This ordeal not only negatively impacted my family’s health, but our very first family reunion as I missed parts of our activities and had to share the info with my family who were then rightfully also concerned and sprayed their rooms. I am out of money for things I should not have had to buy and a doctor’s visit that I should not have had to make. Nothing was ever offered to me, and I was treated as if I was lying about what had happened to us even as I showed them the growing bites on my arms. It is my feeling that my entire stay should have been comped, along with my medical expenses and any fumigation costs. Instead, I had to beg and debate for one night.

• Bedbugs Found
• Requested Refund