Bedbugs Hyatt Regency DCA

staplegun

staplegun

Well-Known Member
On April 23rd, 2013 I Checked in to room 446 Hyatt Regency DCA around 8:40 PM. Went downstairs for some food since I had missed dinner. Came back to the room around 10:30 PM and used my computer on the internet for about an hour. Went to bathroom around 11:30 and noticed a bug on the wall of bathroom which I killed.

I got into bed and turned out the lights and lay there for about 10 minutes, thinking of the bug I killed the whole time. I realized it was probably a bedbug so I got up and turned all of the lights on in the room.

I found 2 bedbugs on top of the covers of my bed and 4-5 bedbugs crawling on the pillows on the other bed. I killed 1 on my bed and trapped the other under a glass to show the hotel. I then called down to the front desk informing them that the room was infested with bedbugs and asking for a manager. They sent security up to the room to verify it was a bedbug, the guy took one look and said, "yep, that's a bedbug."

I was told the hotel was completely full and that I would be walked across the street to the Renaissance. By this time it was after 1:00 AM so I called crew-tracking to inform them of what was occuring. Crew-tracking made the decision to remove me from the next day's flight and deadhead me home.

Luckily because I realized what was happening before I spent more than 5-10 minutes in the bed I was not bitten. I didn't think my suitcase or other bag were infested as I had put my suitcase on the metal stand away from the beds.

I got home yesterday and undressed in the backyard leaving all of my clothes & bags there. I put all of my clothes in the dryer on high setting for 40 minutes and took my bags enclosed in plastic yard bags to an off-site dumpster just to be safe. So far it looks like I dodged a bullet!

I submitted FCR to the company and email to ALPA hotel comittee.

FYI!

Kevin
 
Boris Badenov said:
*shudder*. I really hope you didn't get any hitchikers, thanks for the heads up.
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So far, so good. I was realy careful not to bring anything into the house but my naked body straight to the shower. Then I put my clothes into plastic bags and put them directly into the dryer. According to multiple sources heat above 120 degrees F for 20+ minutes kills all the little buggers. Last I threw away my suitcase and "Bombay" bag.

I "think" I dodged a bullet, we'll see.

Thankfully the one bedbug was in the bathroom for me to see, otherwise I would have crawled into bed and gone to sleep and the story would be much different...

Kevin
 
I'm on the hotel committee at my airline and the bed bugs are very sporadic.

Other than NYC in general, which seems to be chronically infested with everything, it seems to depend on who was in your room in the preceding days or weeks before you. We've had very clean hotels suddenly have a room with bed bugs, and hotels that are not in the least fancy or don't seem very newly renovated, never have a single bug issue.

Sounds like you didn't bring any home with you though, so that's good.
 
I swear, it is now the pilots worst nightmare. Thunderstorms, ice, parking lots in Newark? Nope! It's the friggin bedbugs!
 
Eww!

Thanks for the report, bro, that's some nasty stuff.

Back when I was SLC M90 I flew with one of the hotel committee guys to SAT and he was also there to investigate a case of bed bugs at the Crockett. Low and behold, he certainly found them and it was nasty.

Perhaps we ought to start carrying a family of Meerkats in our suitcases to unleash them when we check in hotel rooms to snack on any pests.
 
It's a little unfair to go plastering the hotel's name around the internet and posting bad reviews on tripadvisor. There is almost nothing a hotel can do to prevent bedbugs as they are brought in by travelers, making airport hotels especially susceptible. Any hotel, from the Waldorf Astoria to the Super 8 is vulnerable to bedbugs. What separates good hotels from bad ones is how they deal with the bedbugs once reported. If it's a bad hotel your hotel committee will get multiple reports and hopefully change properties.
 
Believe it or not, some hotels have management that does not know how to tell whether the bed bug problem was fixed or not and they will just go through the motions and offer the infested areas areas again. It's an unfair world, but that's what reviews are for. It doesn't matter who brought the bugs or whether the hotel knew about them or not. Until we can easily identify the Pig Pens of the world, reviews, web posts and word of mouth is all we've got. People generally know which hotels should be avoided anyway and if the Hyatt is genuinely worried, they'll fix the problem and try to win the tentative folks back.
 
Interestingly bed bugs are kind of like poison ivy because only a % of the population will show ANY symptoms if bitten. Unfortunately I have skin that is allergic to almost everything. Furthermore, any exposure I get whether it be to bed bugs, poison ivy, etc will manifest itself into what is an especially awful case. I've been hit by bed bugs 4 times in my flying career. Thankfully I've never brought any home. The SOB's are miserable. I do the room inspection thing everywhere I go but I think it accomplishes little. Only once have I found any evidence yet I've still had encounters at hotel properties that were exceptionally clean. I found a website that shows you how to train your dog to sniff bed bugs out. I've seriously considered doing it and having him sniff my bag after every trip. AKC should offer a bed bug sniffing title for dogs :)
 
Cav said:
I found a website that shows you how to train your dog to sniff bed bugs out. I've seriously considered doing it and having him sniff my bag after every trip. AKC should offer a bed bug sniffing title for dogs :)
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And now flight crews would be able to participate in the "emotional support animal" game. Bring him with you! I'd back it.
 
Landis said:
And now flight crews would be able to participate in the "emotional support animal" game. Bring him with you! I'd back it.
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Taking my dog to work would rock! He's about 75 lbs so space in the FD might be an issue. My wife would be furious!
 
I wonder why they closed this thread over on the DALPA forum. Still trying to figure that one out.
 
Cav said:
Taking my dog to work would rock! He's about 75 lbs so space in the FD might be an issue. My wife would be furious!
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Ditto, I'd love to bring my 85lb lab to work with me. Only problem I think would be that he'd probably try to curl up in my lap on short final. He's tried to do that while driving before.

I jokingly tell my wife that I'm taking him to work with me. The answer is always "hell no"
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Ditto, I'd love to bring my 85lb lab to work with me. Only problem I think would be that he'd probably try to curl up in my lap on short final. He's tried to do that while driving before.

I jokingly tell my wife that I'm taking him to work with me. The answer is always "hell no"
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You have a big boy! My 1.5 yr old Chesapeake Bay Retriever is 75 lbs and they are usually a touch bigger than labs. Our guy is still growing though.
 
Cav said:
You have a big boy! My 1.5 yr old Chesapeake Bay Retriever is 75 lbs and they are usually a touch bigger than labs. Our guy is still growing though.
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Awesome. I grew up with collies and never understood the attraction of labs. As far as appearances, they're about as plain as dogs go. But my wife knew better and had our chocolate lab before we met. I have learned my lesson and labs are now my favorite breed out there. We now have our chocolate and a yellow lab mix. I completely understand why they are so popular. They're my best buddies and I miss them greatly when I'm on the road.

This morning I woke up spooning with my chocolate and with the yellow one laying on my feet. Gigantic lap dogs.
 
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