Traveler calls on KSL to investigate bed bug problem at Murray hotel


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SALT LAKE CITY — Looking for a hotel room? You might ask, "How many beds does it have? How many stars does it get? Does it have bedbugs?"

If that's not a question on your list, maybe it should be. Health inspectors say bedbugs didn't used to be a big issue in Utah, but the problem seems to be multiplying.

Bedbugs are the stuff of nightmares for many travelers, but for Joseph McClain, they were more than a bad dream.

"I moved here from Minneapolis, Minnesota," said McClain.

He came to Utah a few months ago. While looking for apartments, he checked into the Baymont Inn in Murray. It was affordable and Hotels.com gave it a decent rating. No problem, except one.

"I thought that this was a little unusual," said McClain. "I've never seen insects inside of a hotel room."

McClain claims he took cellphone video that night of a bug crawling on his sheets. He now believes it was a bedbug.

"Saturday morning when I woke up, I had welts all over me," McClain said. "They were on the top of my head, on my arms, legs, in between my body."

McClain said he had about 30 bites total. When he went to get them checked out at InstaCare, he said the doctor confirmed they were bedbug bites.

"I was just in pain," McClain said. "It was just torture."

McClain complained to the Baymont Inn. They reimbursed him for his two-night hotel stay, but he also wanted reimbursement for medical expenses and the items he had to throw out. The total amount he asked for was $198. But despite repeated calls, he said the staff ignored him. That's when McClain called the KSL Investigators.

We looked into the Baymont Inn and found out it's no stranger to the Salt Lake County Health Department. Out of 155 hotels and motels in the valley, 17 percent of lodging complaints in the past year were from Baymont.

KSL spoke with the Salt Lake County Health Department about the complaints. "Is that a concern when you see 17 percent of complaints come from one hotel?" asked Mike Headrick.

"Absolutely," said Dale Keller, bureau manager of the Environmental Health Division. "After reviewing those records, it intrigued me enough that we certainly will give them some unique regulatory oversight here in the near future."

Keller has worked for the health department for more than 25 years. He said bedbugs didn't used to be an issue in Utah, but that's changed.

"Different cities have different levels of problems," Keller said. "In Salt Lake City, we're getting a bigger problem it seems every year."

That seems to be the case for the Baymont Inn, where some complaints cite "bedbugs in room," "bites from bedbugs," and "scores of bedbug staining."

A man who claimed he was bitten by bedbugs at a Murray hotel contacted the KSL Investigators after he says his concerns were ignored. (KSL TV)
A man who claimed he was bitten by bedbugs at a Murray hotel contacted the KSL Investigators after he says his concerns were ignored. (KSL TV)

So after taking a close look at Baymont's records, KSL Investigators rented three rooms and took a close look at each one. We pulled back the covers, examined every inch of the mattresses, and checked curtains, headboards and nightstands. Then we turned off the lights to see if bedbug trails could be spotted with a black light.

Experts say bedbugs hide during the day but come out at night, and if you find even one, there are bound to be many more. Another thing, spraying for bedbugs can work, but sometimes it just scatters them. So we checked the rest of the room as well.

While the black light revealed some unpleasant spots, KSL Investigators did not encounter any bedbugs. Since McClain's stay, Baymont is under new ownership and new management. When we spoke with the new manager over the phone, she admitted they've had quite a few problems with bedbugs in the past.

"I see it's a big issue and I want the hotel to be improved," said Fapoi Brown, Baymont's new manager.

Brown said she's aggressively trying to clean the hotel up and has it sprayed for bedbugs on a regular basis now.

"My goal is to eventually get this place going and to get it taken care of so that we can eliminate all these issues that our guests are complaining about," Brown said.

And good news for McClain, Brown called him up and reimbursed him. Hopefully, he can now get that rest and relaxation he was looking for — minus the bugs.

Health inspectors say bedbugs can be found anywhere, even in 5-star hotels. Here's how to check for them:

  1. Don't unpack right away. Put your luggage in a bathtub until you've inspected the room.
  2. Pull the blanket and sheets off the bed. Check the seams and the corners of the mattress, where bedbugs like to hide. You're looking for bugs or dark brown blood spots.
  3. Bedbugs like dark places, so also check the furniture, curtains and grooves in the headboard and nightstand.

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Tania Mashburn

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