Sleeping with the enemy: of bedbugs and collapsing beds

Hotel & Motel Management, Oct 4, 2004 by Anthony Marshall

We've got a problem," a maintenance worker called in. It was grand opening night of Universal's Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, and Michael W. Sansbury, former regional v.p. of parent company Loews Hotels, was getting an earful. "I'll never forget those words," he told me recently, with a voice still edged with trauma.

The box springs and mattresses on their guestroom king-size platform beds were collapsing. Thirty-six beds, complete with their occupants, had collapsed to the floor by the end of that first week. Across the street at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, visitors were paying $50 to be thrilled by a sudden, heart-stopping drop on the Dr. Doom Death Fall ride. Some guests at the elegant Portofino Bay Hotel were getting it as a free amenity. The hotel was lucky to escape with only one injury claim.

"At $1,400 per bed, I wasn't about to take this disaster lying down," Sansbury said, "So I phoned the Canadian manufacturers and demanded they immediately fly to Orlando and fix the problem."

Upon first inspection, they discovered some of the bed support slats were "slightly" short. A few restless twists in the night would result in the box spring, mattress, bed covering and rudely awakened guest suddenly plopping onto the floor.

"Measure twice, cut once," an annoyed Sansbury admonished his bed builders. They quickly followed his advice, replaced the slats and eliminated any future collapses.

"So, is there a lesson here?" I asked Sansbury.

"Hotels should inspect all furniture, fixtures and equipment before use," he advocated. "If I had scheduled staff members to spend a preview night at the hotel, chances are we would have discovered and fixed the problem before opening night."

Legally, I would advise not to be caught napping when it comes to bed safety. Document safety inspections to satisfy the common-law requirement mandating hotels to exercise "reasonable care" for guest safety. Routine safety inspections of FF&E are smart risk-management practices. Hotels are not liable for all guest accidents, only those for which they are at fault. And "fault" can be defined as any failure to exercise reasonable care for guest safety. A jury might well find a hotel negligent for not having made any bed checks.

"Bed checks?" my friend and Florida hotelier, Mark Gardner, said. "The last time I heard 'bed check' was when camp counselors checked at night to see if we were back in our bunks."

"And Tony," he bemoaned, "I don't have a collapsing bed problem at my properties, I have a bed war problem. Competing hotel companies are upgrading. Five years ago, Westin introduced its Heavenly Bed. Now there is Sheraton's Sweet Sleeper Bed, and Hyatt's new Grand Bed. I use to worry about just putting heads in beds. Now I have to worry about the types of beds under their heads!"

Listening to Gardner whine about beds, I couldn't help but pile on. "Do a bed check," I warned him. Furniture inspections throughout the hotel should be routine.

Bedbugs bite

"There is another type of bed war going on," I added. "Bedbugs." A recent article in The New York Times reported that bedbugs are back on the attack. They were prevalent before World War II, but a concerted frontline of DDT wiped them out soon after the War. Today, immigration and international travel have brought the little buggers back, the article reported. Most hoteliers have never seen one and don't know what to look for. I don't either, and I'm in no particular hurry to find one.

What do bed bugs look like? Cimex lectularius are one-eighth inch long and brownish in color, with flattened bodies. They don't fly but can move quickly over floors, walls and other surfaces. This blood-sucking parasite emerges hungry at night. But there is encouraging news, according to the article, "Bedbugs have never been shown to be able to transmit any human diseases." The bad news is that, "Getting rid of the mattress and box spring doesn't guarantee getting rid of all the bugs." Professionals claim only top-notch pest-control companies have the expertise to rid hotels of bedbugs. And, of course, it isn't cheap. But a guest lawsuit over a bedbug might take an even bigger bite out of a hotel's budget.

In a recent case, a hotel's failure to provide reasonable care in eradicating bedbugs cost it a bundle. Ecolab discovered bedbugs in several hotel rooms and recommended to management that all rooms be sprayed. Management didn't bite, but the bugs did. A guest who was bitten and injured sued and won.

If a hotel knows, or should have known of a bedbug infestation, it must exercise reasonable care to eliminate them, and/or to warn guests of their presence. If you need bottom line legal advice for bedbugs, that's it. Imagine a front-desk associate telling an arriving guest, "Welcome to the TuckMe Inn, we're so glad you're here. And did I mention the hotel is currently experiencing a massive bedbug infestation? Enjoy your stay!"

Most hotels instruct housekeeping to routinely inspect guestroom FF&E for safety hazards. Don't forget bedbugs. That type of inspection will require training because few employees have ever seen one. The hotel's pest-control company should be of assistance.