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Bed bugs in London hotels
Bed bugs in London hotels
With the rise in bed bug incidents in London, more and more hotels and guesthouses are finding that guests are suing them for the distressed caused by staying in a hotel and sharing a hotel bed with these pets.
Northolt,
Middlesex,
United Kingdom
(sardnews.org)
26/02/2013
With the rise in bed bug incidents in London, more and more hotels and guesthouses are finding that guests are suing them for the distressed caused by staying in a hotel and sharing a hotel bed with these pets.
Recently a Mr Michael Hatch, 74 was staying in the £120 a night Hilton Hotel in Gatwick with his wife. They decided to stay in the hotel to catch an early flight at the airport the next day for the sake of convenience.
However, Mr Hatch and his wife spent the night being bitten by bed bugs and awoke the next day with bites from the experience as well as blood on the sheets. He immediately reported it to the hotel reception and they waved the cost of his hotel stay.
Mr Hatch says that it ruined his holiday and as a result was unable to sunbathe due to the sore bite marks on his body. As a result the Hilton Hotel has apologised and given the couple £750 in compensation. They also hired pest control contractors to eradicate the problem following this incident.
Akeel Jaffar runs HLA Pest Control in London, who specialises in bed bug infestations in hotels and guesthouses and can help businesses put in place a commercial pest control strategy to tackle a problem before it gets out of hand. They offer advice to hotels and businesses in London to help tackle the rise following the events of summer 2012. HLA Pest Control has seen a 25% increase in call outs for the last three months compared to the same period in 2011. Akeel Jaffar says:
"Unfortunately, hotels placed next to airports are of particular concern when it comes to incidents of bed bugs. Bed bugs are more likely to occur anywhere that people from all over the globe stay. America and Australia in particular have had high incidents of bed bugs over the last few years and all it takes is a few to creep into your luggage or on your clothes for them to end up in a hotel and breed at an alarming rate.
"With the unusual events of last year including the Olympics and Queen's Jubilee, the UK's capital city saw a huge increase in people staying in the many hotels and guest houses. These were passed on to residents of London through cinemas, restaurants and cafes and so the problem became worse as time went on.
"Hotels need to take proper precautions where ever they are but especially near airports. They should hire professional pest control contractors on a regular basis to check the rooms and bedding to nip any problem in the bud before they are taken to court. The loss of profit can be phenomenal, as soon as word gets out that there are bed bugs in a hotel, no one wants to stay there. Therefore it's imperative that for a hotel's reputation, these problems are tackled before they get out of control."
Notes to Editors
HLA is London's leading Bed Bug specialist and a member of the British Pest Control Association and winner of the National Pest Technician Association Awards. To find out about bed bugs signs and symptoms in hotels and to get advice on commercial pest control click here. To find out more about how to remove your pests for good with London's most competitive prices and a one-hour response time click here
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About HLA Pest Control Services
HLA is London’s leading rodent control specialist, a member of the British Pest Control Association and winner of the National Pest Technician Association Awards.
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