This MSNBC article by Anya Yurchyshyn, a Budget Travel writer, describes how Motel 6 is changing its room designs to make the rooms cooler and more functional.

The upgrades may also make rooms less bed bug-friendly than traditional-style US hotel rooms.

Of particular relevance to our topic of interest: upgrades to beds and flooring.

The Motel 6 beds are moving to simple, clean platforms and ditching the box springs and bed skirts:

3. Bed Platform

Beds give the room a sense of openness because guests can see beneath them; the sight line isn’t interrupted by a bed frame and skirt. There’s also more room to store luggage.

I hope you don’t mean we should store luggage under the bed!  That’s a big no-no, where bed bugs are concerned.

Anyway, the beds look like they have a clean, washable covering, as opposed to the bedspread idea traditional in US hotels.

And floors are going naked:

5. Floors

The carpeting is being replaced by floors made of composite wood and plastic laminate. “A lot of people feel that carpets aren’t very clean,” says Priestman.

(That’s Paul Priestman of Brit design firm Priestman and Goode.)

Yes, you can still get bed bugs in a room that has simple furniture and no carpeting.  (And it does not matter how cheap or expensive the hotel is.)

But with fewer frills and fewer layers, it’s easier to locate bed bugs when you inspect the room, and if they’re found, it’s easier for a pest control professional to get rid of them.

Rooms like this make it easier for staff to inspect rooms for bed bugs (as I really hope they are doing), and easier for them to spot bed bugs. It’s therefore easier to respond to bed bug problems if and when they arise.

Since I (cough) “became aware of” bed bugs, I admit to choosing my hotels from tripadvisor.com based not only on reviews (or rather, the lack of reviews mentioning bed bugs), but also in part on the design apparent in room photos.

I prefer hotel rooms that have the kind of bed coverings which need to be washed regularly (like uncovered white comforters), and beds without a lot of frilly action in the bedskirt and bedspread department.

And I’d rather inspect a room where I can really see under the bed, look at the edges of the floor, etc. All in all, I am happy to see any motel chain moving in this design direction.Similar Posts:

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Where can I read about bed bug lawsuits? Here are some cases discussed online. (Links which are internal to the blog have additional links to news reports and sometimes case information.)

General

Article about bed bug lawsuits in New York City (Sept. 2008)

New Furniture Purchase

Couple claims they were sold bed bug infested furniture by J. C. Penney in Cherry Hill, N.J. and wins $49,000 in jury trial.

Furniture Rental

Customer of Aaron Rents (they rented an infested living room suite) 2007

Summer Camp

Family sues YMCA Camp Storer claiming kid brought bed bugs home from camp 2008

College Students

This Fordham student sued the provider of third-party student housing in the New Yorker Hotel. (09/2007)

Hotel guests

Woman stays in a San Francisco Ramada and gets 400 bites in three days; settles out of court for $71K. October 2008

Winnipeg Howard Johnson’s motel sued by Toronto resident, Steven Lipson April 2008

Milford Plaza, NYC hotel guest sues hotel and hotel’s PCO for negligence, in progress, March 2008 (punitive damages dropped); Bedbugger and New York Law Journal

Ohio Hilton guest, 2007

Guest of Roger Smith Hotel, NYC, 2007

Siloam Springs (bed bugs in motel caused nightmares) 2007

NYC Opera Soprano at the Phoenix Hilton Suites 2006

Mandarin Oriental, London here and here and here. 2006

Barona Resort and Casino (Robert and Gloria Chisley suing for bed bug bites at resort; 2005, still pending as of 2008)

BURL MATHIAS and DESIREE MATHIAS, v. ACCOR ECONOMY LODGING, INC. and MOTEL 6 OPERATING L.P. (2003)

Tenants

Cleveland law student sues Reserve Square landlord after having bed bugs in two units (and gnats in a third) in one building (Nov. 2008).

Capricia Osirus of 23-25 Temple St. in Nashua, NH. (Aug. 2008)

Richard Jebb of 23-25 Temple St. in Nashua, NH. (Feb. 2008) Case lost, tenant counter-sued for back rent.

Presidential Towers in Chicago here and here and here. 2007

Maya Rudolph’s case: press is here. 2007

Six tenants vs. AIMCO 2007

Brooklyn tenant sues 2007

Peter H. Young (Ludlow Street, NYC)

See also:

Landlords talking about bed bugs and How to Avoid a Bed Bug Lawsuit (for lawyers)

Hotel lawyers talking about bed bugs here and here and here.

Your rights as a tenant and how to organize.

This won’t ever be comprehensive, but there are obvious gaps, so feel free to post comments below with additional links I might add.

Can you help me find a lawyer?

No, sorry. We are not a legal service, we’re not lawyers, and we haven’t sued.Similar Posts:

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