Bedbug invasion hits New York City subways

by Jamie Rhein on

We don’t really have a bedbug fetish here at Gadling, but we’ve had something to say about these blood sucking critters on occasion. Here’s just one more that will make you think twice about sitting down on those fairly harmless looking wooden benches while you’re waiting for a subway in New York City. Wooden benches, like motel mattresses, can be a real bedbug hangout, according to this article in the New York Post.

These bedbugs are not happy just sitting on a bench minding their own business. Instead, they can jump on you for a ride on your business. A city authority on bedbugs admitted there have been sightings of these blood lovers down where the commuters wait for a ride. Exclamations like “That’s gross!” have been heard.

All subway stations aren’t involved in the invasion. To my dismay, the Union Square station, the one that is closest to where my brother lives, is mentioned twice. It’s one of those sprawling stations that goes every which way, so I have no idea which benches you should avoid.

Bedbugs have also been sighted at the Fordham Road stations and the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station in Brooklyn. Maybe they’ve become tired of their hotel digs.

Other Gadling bedbug stories:

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Dogs cracking down on bed bugs in New York hotels

by Anna Brones on

To avoid an infested hotel bed, the next time you visit New York, you might just want to ask if your hotel room has been inspected for bed bugs by… dogs??? Last year the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development received nearly 7,000 bed bug complaints. The Department’s answer? A team of six dogs to sniff out bed bugs in hotel rooms and apartments across the city.

Radar the beagle and Taz the Australian kelpie are part of a new team called Advanced K9 Detectives. These hounds aren’t out to find drugs, they’re around to make sure you have a good, bug-free, night’s sleep. Although it might seem strange to use dogs to track down bedbugs, business is going well; according to Carl Massicott, the company’s mastermind, a lot of the company’s clients are top-end hotels.

The best part about using dogs for hotel inspection is that you can be sure they will never sell out. “A dog’s nose is cutting-edge technology,” Massicott said. “Our animals are 100% honest, and trained to work for food and love instead of profits.”

Better ask for the canine cleared room next time you are doing your New York bookings.

Hypoallergenic Hotel Rooms

by Iva Skoch on

Most stories are about how bad hotels rooms are, but here’s good news for many. The NY Times just ran a story on some hotels that go to great lengths to clean their rooms.

The Premier Hotel in Times Square, for example, uses ozone, tea tree oil, dust-mite covers, and other methods to create the “Pure Room.” And they aren’t the only ones. The article lists a host of other hotels making similar changes. Some charging premiums of five to ten percent over a ‘normal’ room, some not.

The process is not cheap. It often requires ripping out carpets and drapes, throwing out mattresses and duvets, and installing new equipment, such as air purifiers, filters, and maybe even wooden blinds and hardwood floors.

Aside from the physical changes, cleaning changes can also be made, including swabbing doorknobs and phones with germ-killers, misting surfaces with antimicrobial agents, and four-hour ozone treatments.

But watch out. What might make things clean doesn’t necessarily help those with allergies, and vice-versa.

Photo: Mussels

Don't Let the Bedbugs..or the Attorneys…Bite

by Erik Olsen on

We
posted about the rather unsavory epidemic of pestilence
occurring around the globe with bedbugs. Seems the wee little vermin are infesting even some of the nicer hotels 
around, and some folks are getting fed up with it.

One woman, reports the
Chicago Tribune, has gone so far as to sue the hotel where she stayed with her husband in the Catskills. How much
are a few bedbug bites worth? Apparently some $20 million. The woman, Leslie Fox says BOTH her body and mind were
scarred after she suffered some 500 bedbug bites (OK, that’s more than a few) while staying at the 700-room Nevele
Hotel  last summer.

A quick commentary? Well, $20 million seems a bit much, and my guess is she’s not
gong to win the whole amount. It’s not like she spilled McDonald’s coffee on her lap or anything. And you do have
to question frivolous lawsuits…not that this is frivolous…but certainly all hotels should fumigate and do what they
need to do to eliminate bugs. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, but in the meantime, my suggestion
is to pack your toilet paper and a can of Raid.