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Waldorf Astoria Guest Cries Bedbugs


By

John Del Signore

Published Oct 7, 2010

Modified Oct 7, 2010


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By

John Del Signore

Published Oct 7, 2010

Modified Oct 7, 2010


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A woman visiting NYC from Florida says she was bitten by bedbugs while staying at the fancy Waldorf Astoria, a hotel popular with heads of state and celebrities. After waking up with welts and rashes on her arm, the unidentified woman complained to the hotel's management, who were not very proactive, according to her account. Sure, they upgraded her to a $700-a-night suite in the "super-fancy" Waldorf-Astoria Towers section, but she tells the Post that managers wouldn't take her word for it, and asked her to display her bites.

"It felt like you were getting blamed for the fact there was a bedbug in your bed," she tells the tabloid. "I definitely thought they would have taken the appropriate measures to ensure there were no bedbugs in the room. I definitely expected them to monitor it or at least deal with it in the proper way." By the way, it's not unheard of for upscale hotels to get bedbugs. The Helmsley Hotel was sued back in 2003 by a guest who claimed they bitten by the critters during their stay.

But the Waldorf rep says they found no signs of bedbugs in her room. Of course, they would say that, so who knows what to believe. With the city's alarmist bedbug panic is at its peak, perhaps it's important to remember that just because you wake up with bites, that doesn't necessarily mean the perpetrator was a bedbug. There are all sorts of insects that can crawl into your bed at night and sink their "teeth" into your flesh. Take dust mites, for instance! Why, there's just no limit to the variety of things that can sneak under your sheets (#twss!). Honestly, you're probably better off sleeping on the couch.

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bedbug panic

bedbugs

hotel

waldorf astoria


John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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