Couple endure hellish Travelodge stay as they wake up to dozens of bed bug bites
A couple were left traumatised after being bitten by bed bugs during their stay at a Travelodge.
James Jalalian, 37, and Amelia Colley, 35, forked out more than £100 for professional cleaning services when they discovered their suitcases had been invaded by the insects. The couple had travelled to London for a concert and had booked a room at the Stratford branch of the hotel chain.
They requested a room change due to excessive heat in their initial room on Thursday August 24 but when they woke up they made the horrifying discovery that their bed was crawling with bed bugs.
James and Amelia, altogether, suffered almost 80 bites from the bugs (Derbyshire Live/BPM Media)James told Derbyshire Live: "We went straight to the front desk and asked if we could change rooms to get changed and showered. I showed a photo to the manager and he said they were bed bugs but he would need pest control to confirm it before a refund was issued."
The couple, from Long Eaton, Derbyshire, were undecided about checking out early and switching hotels but on entering a new room, they were appalled to find that the bugs had infiltrated their suitcases and clothes. James and Amelia were left nursing numerous bites from the unwelcome guests.
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James said that he and his wife were bitten nearly 78 times by bed bugs during their stay at a hotel. "I think we found around 48 bites on me and 30 on my wife. We also take our own pillows when we go away to hotels and they have been left riddled with them [bed bugs]. We are now having to dry clean everything in order to kill the eggs that they've laid," he said.
Despite assurances of a full refund, it took almost three weeks for the couple to receive an offer. The manager explained that pest control had to confirm the presence of bed bugs in the room before issuing a refund.
James said: "It was ridiculous, to be honest. We were told pest control couldn't come on the day they had planned to. They then checked the original room we were in which was too warm and said they couldn't find any bed bugs. That wasn't the room where we found them. We feel they have delayed it so long to therefore say we haven't found any bed bugs." James, a self-employed small business owner, claimed he lost work opportunities as he had to follow up with Travelodge afterwards.
A spokesperson for Travelodge has since issued an apology and said: "We are sincerely sorry to hear about Mr Jalalian's and Ms Colley's recent stay with us. On this rare occasion we failed to meet our normal high standard of service.
"We operate a robust cleaning process which includes training housekeeping colleagues to spot signs of bed bugs and this training has been reintroduced to the team at London Stratford Travelodge to ensure it does not happen again.
“Mr Jalalian and Ms Colley have been issued a full refund and, as a gesture of goodwill, we have issued an e-voucher for a future stay. We hope that we can welcome them both back and reinstate their faith in our brand.”
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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