Honeymoon Discussions

Honeymoon Ruined by Bed Bugs - What now?!

My hubby and I decided to go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for our honeymoon and stay in a efficiency hotel(one like a studio apt with fridge and stove etc.). We paid for our own wedding so we decided on Florida because it was inexpensive and having a fridge and stove would cut down on the cost of meals if we could make our own. We also rented a car to drive to Florida. After 17+ hours of driving we arrived and the hotel room was really nice, clean and the outdated furniture gave it a romantic feel. We were only sleep for 30 minutes or so to wake up to tons of bed bugs all over the bed our pillows and us! We quickly packed up our things, showered and demanded our money back after showing the hotel manager the video footage we recorded of the bugs. We had to toss our luggage, find a laundry mat and wash and dry everything in hot water. We also sealed everything in ziplock bags. My hubby and I are now paranoid to stay anywhere else and are currently traveling back home. Any suggestions on making this HM not such a disaster. We're both devastated. :-(

Re: Honeymoon Ruined by Bed Bugs - What now?!

  • sdg2502sdg2502 member
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its First Comment
    I don't really have much helpful to add because I don't know the area but I really hope someone can give you some advice.
    Where are you from? Maybe then people will know the route you'll take home and what you'll pass on the way. I'm so sorry for your bad luck :(
    Maybe just take a map, look at places between where you're from and Florida and start visiting anything that sounds interesting and booking hotels on the road? I know when I visited New York, there was an online sort of register that detailed if any place had ever had reports of bedbugs but I don't know if you could find that for any hotel. Good luck.
  • Wow! I'm so sorry that happened! Horrible...
    My advice would be use this drive home as an adventure. Take the back roads, make stops at landmarks, go to a museum, stay at some B&Bs (they're sometimes cheaper andusually always cleaner). Try to make the best out of a badsituation. I took a road trip for my honeymoon with my 1st wedding. It turned out to be a lot of fun!
    And although it may not seem like it now... You'll laugh at it in a couple years :) good luck and try to have fun.
    Also... Bombard the internet with bad reviews of that hotel. What was its name?
  • I'm from Ohio traveling back from florida. The hotel is called Paradise by the Sea. What's crazy is I read nothing but good reviews about them on Expedia so I'm not sure if I can really trust reviews now.
  • that sucks but why did you head home? why didn't you go to another hotel in the area?

    check tripadvisor or the tourism website for where ever you are and see what appeals to you.

     

  • I also have to wonder why you decided to go home instead of just checking into a different hotel. Yeah, it sucks, but other hotels don't have bed bugs. I love Georgia - Savannah is gorgeous. If you haven't passed it already, check it out. Charleston (SC) is another one of my favorite cities. If you're beach people, I've heard good things about the Outer Banks (I've never been though). I'm not sure what route you're taking and what states you go through, but find something interesting and stop for a few days - make an adventure out of it.
  • Thanks for the suggestions. My hubby and I are paranoid and aren't willing to chance another bedbug exposure in a different hotel. I guess it's post traumatic stress.
  • That's disgusting!  I'm sorry.  I like the idea of a B&B.  I don't blame you being paranoid about hotels now.  I would be too if I had an experience like that.  
  • Oh no! A friend of mine just wrote a horrible review about that very hotel on trip adivisor. You should add yours for sure. 

    Could you stay in a chain hotel with guaranted standards?  (Sheraton, Hilton, etc...)?

  • Thanks for the suggestions. My hubby and I are paranoid and aren't willing to chance another bedbug exposure in a different hotel. I guess it's post traumatic stress.

    But you're asking for other places to stop on the way home. That's what's confusing...

     



  • Thanks for the suggestions. My hubby and I are paranoid and aren't willing to chance another bedbug exposure in a different hotel. I guess it's post traumatic stress.
    But you're asking for other places to stop on the way home. That's what's confusing...
    We tried a Marriott last night. It was much nicer. We were still very paranoid(waking up to make sure we weren't being someone's meal) but overall we enjoyed our stay there. We're going to try some activities closer to home and plan a better honeymoon for another time.
    trinitygc said:

    Oh no! A friend of mine just wrote a horrible review about that very hotel on trip adivisor. You should add yours for sure. 

    Could you stay in a chain hotel with guaranted standards?  (Sheraton, Hilton, etc...)?

    Yes, I will be writing a review about this horrible place as soon as I get home. The manager was very unapologetic.
  • you know-bed bugs show up everywhere. the price of the hotel doesn't matter. 'guaranteed standard' hotels included.

    the best thing that you can do is to check before you do anything (dont put your clothes away, nothing). I always pick up the top mattress and look along the seams of the bottom one. there are websites online that you can look at to show you how to checke and what to look out for.

     

  • mlg78mlg78 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper

    I work in an environment that is frequently exposed to bed bugs.  This is a huge epidemic in the country because they won't go back to the way they used to kill bed bugs and people aren't properly treating when they've been exposed. Rip apart your bed before you take your belongings into a room and look for evidence of bugs.  Never set your purse or luggage down on the ground. Use those luggage racks or a chair.

     

    And use this website: http://bedbugregistry.com/search/ and report and search other hotels.

     

    Also, I looked up your hotel on Trip Advisor. I'd hardly call them good reviews. Most of the last few were horrible and the place looks very old and dated from the pictures.

  • I've stayed in so many hotels and never even though about this.  Now you guys got me all paranoid.

    If you find bed-bugs, is it enough to move to another room?  Or is it likely the whole hotel has them?

    SaveSave
  • edited May 2013

    you know-bed bugs show up everywhere. the price of the hotel doesn't matter. 'guaranteed standard' hotels included.

    the best thing that you can do is to check before you do anything (dont put your clothes away, nothing). I always pick up the top mattress and look along the seams of the bottom one. there are websites online that you can look at to show you how to checke and what to look out for.

    We checked and saw nothing. Even with thorough inspection sometimes you won't be able to tell until you wake up to them all over you.
    mlg78 said:

    I work in an environment that is frequently exposed to bed bugs.  This is a huge epidemic in the country because they won't go back to the way they used to kill bed bugs and people aren't properly treating when they've been exposed. Rip apart your bed before you take your belongings into a room and look for evidence of bugs.  Never set your purse or luggage down on the ground. Use those luggage racks or a chair.

     

    And use this website: http://bedbugregistry.com/search/ and report and search other hotels.

     

    Also, I looked up your hotel on Trip Advisor. I'd hardly call them good reviews. Most of the last few were horrible and the place looks very old and dated from the pictures.

    I only read the reviews on Expedia. I recently read the Tripadvisor reviews and the hotels response is more defensive than apologetic smh
  • OP is right that sometimes checking the mattress does nothing. If its a new infestation they could still be lurking in the boxspring of the bed where you can't see them. I got paranoid this winter when I thought we had them (turned out to be an allergic rash, I'm a dumbass) and we asked the exterminator a ton of questions about them when he came and tore our room apart checking for them.
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