Bedbugs infest hotel says pregnant woman

Dover Express (2014) explained,
A HEAVILY pregnant teen living in a taxpayer-funded room at the County Hotel claims she was moved twice because of bed bugs – but the owners say she must have brought them into their building.

Catherine Goldup, 19, was allocated a room at the Townwall Street hotel by Dover District Council (DDC) last week and claims beds in two of the rooms were "full of bugs".

The former Christchurch Academy pupil said: "It was fine for the first four days, but then we were told we had to move rooms and they wouldn't say why.

"The new room we were given had bugs all over the mattress. We were moved to another room and there were loads of bugs in it again. It was gruesome.

"So we put them into a glass and went to show the manager, and he said we would have to cope with it because there are no other rooms available.

"I wasn't very happy – it's not the sort of thing you want to deal with when you are eight months pregnant.

"Our neighbours in the hotel told us they had complained about the same thing.

"There are lots of young families here. There are newborn babies everywhere."

Shortly after the Express contacted hotel staff saying a guest had complained of bed bugs, Miss Goldup says she was phoned and told to leave immediately.

Asked if this was true, owner Steve Christo said: "I don't know."

He said: "If there were bed bugs then why didn't she mention it when she first moved in?

"I don't know what my staff were shown as I was away for the weekend, but we checked on Monday and couldn't see anything. We have pest control in every three months to make sure we are on top of that sort of thing.

"If there were bed bugs she must have brought them in with her, probably in her luggage."

A DDC spokesman said: "The council has a duty to provide advice and appropriate assistance to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and this does mean that we sometimes have to house people in B&B accommodation in an emergency.

"We try to ensure that the accommodation used is of an appropriate standard, but if concerns are raised with us we will always address them."

A spokesman for SOS Pest Control said: "Both of the situations are absolutely possible. Bed bugs can be transferred easily from clothes, so there's really no saying where they might have come from."

Read more at http://www.dover-express.co.uk/Bedbugs-infest-hotel-says-pregnant-woman/story-22729753-detail/story.html