I think it’s a tough time for hotels, no question.

However, did you look at the photographs that accompanied the news story about this particular hotel? A lot of people here have bedbugs for months and never see such clear evidence.

Asking whether the health department overreacted is not a very useful question. Here are some better ones: when was the last time that one room, forget the whole wing, received a professional pest control inspection? Does the hotel have an inspection and treatment protocol in place? Does the pest control firm contracted for this purpose have the right approach? In other words, do they know what they are doing? Is the staff trained to recognize the signs of an infestation? Do they know what to do, and what not to do, if any signs are present?

I don’t expect hotels never to get bedbugs. I only want this: a) never rent me a room knowing that it is infested, and b) have a smart bedbug plan already in place.

We care about these things. Persons like you who are interested in the industry would do well to read at least two entries here: how the smart guy does it and how the dumb guy does it.

All the best…

Where do you see us “assuming that all those rooms had evidence of bed bugs?”

Perhaps you can show me where in the post above–or, for that matter, any of the comments that followed–any of us have made such an assumption. I can’t see it.

No one here is misleading anyone. In fact, we’re just blogging a story that appeared in the local news media.

If anyone has another take on that story, based on experience or evidence, we’d be glad to hear it.

I will say this– while I can imagine situations where an individual “invents” a bed bug story and produces his/her own specimens, I can’t imagine the health dept. ordering half of a motel to close unless there were other evidence present.

Reporting to the Bed Bug Registry, reviewing on tripadvisor.com, and calling the health department in the hotel’s vicinity are three steps travelers should take after finding bed bugs in a hotel.