Bed bugs discovered in Wilmington hotel, guest left to pay thousands
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On Dec. 6, 2023, Floridian resident Kelly Lehman was staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott Landfall with her family.
Lehman said she noticed nothing out of the ordinary until she returned home with bed bug bites. Lehman then contacted the hotel about the bites on Dec. 14. Emails from the hotel provided by Lehman confirm that the room was infested with bed bugs.
“The general manager actually called me the morning of the 15th and told me,” Lehman said. “She took ownership, she said that there were in fact bed bugs, and she apologized profusely, offered to refund the stay, which to me I feel like should be a given.”
The New Hanover County Health Department inspected the room more than a month later on Jan. 19, 2024. According to an internal report provided by the health department, the room was still infested at the time of inspection.
“We were able to verify that there were bed bugs in that particular room, and of course we alerted the property owner that they need to go ahead and contact their licensed pest operator,” NHC Environmental Health Supervisor Jeff Suggs said.
Now in back Florida, Lehman was trying to figure out how to pay for her and her daughter’s home to be cleared of bed bugs.
“When I explained that to the general manager, she said to submit all receipts for testing and treatment and that they would reimburse,” Lehman explained.
Yet, after spending more than $6000 of her own money, Lehman said that the hotel only covered about half of the cost.
“Over $6000 on the credit card right before the holidays was not an ideal situation for us and the only thing that made me feel somewhat okay about it was that we had been told and I had gotten an email that we would be reimbursed,” Lehman said. “So, when we got those bills and they moved the goalpost on us it was very disappointing.”
WWAY contacted the Residence Inn Landfall but were told by the general manager that they could “not provide comment” at this time.
