Bed bugs – Review of Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel …

I have already lived through a very pricey bed bug infestation in a former apartment, and I have become somewhat of an expert in knowing what to look for. Because of this, I am particularly leery of staying in hotels anywhere. Unfortunately, the Sheraton Centre Toronto seems to have a bed bug problem on its hands.

I did my normal mattress and headboard search in my room and came across numerous black dots on the mattress corners. These are in fact the droppings of blood-fed bed bugs. There was also a discarded skin shell inside the white plastic corner protector of the mattress. Bed bugs shed their skin when they grow after feeding. After having pulled the bed away from the wall, I noticed a fine line of white powder running along the carpet where it meets the wall. This is probably an extermination or containment effort of some kind, perhaps diatomaceous earth. Since I was sharing the room with a friend, we immediately requested another room. The front desk staff was quite accomodating, excusing themselves several times. The second room, on the same floor, had all of the same signs. Exasperated, but late for a dinner appointment, we left, leaving our suitcases in the bathtub of the second room, and explained to the front desk staff that we would be back to discuss the issue.

Upon our return, the lady at the front desk had alerted the manager, who came out quickly to meet us. He was quite friendly, though strangely he refused to admit that the hotel had a problem, even though I am well-versed in the signs of an infestation and asked several times if he was aware of the problem. Could this be for legal reasons? I even offered to show him the proof, but he said it was not necessary. I mentioned several times that I in no way wished to embarrass the hotel or alarm other visitors, but that I was unable to sleep in a room with bed bugs due to my former experience. The manager assured us that "housekeeping" had been made aware of the problem. He moved us to a third room in another (the other?) tower. The beds seemed clear of bed bugs or their droppings and I told the manager this when he called to check up on the situation.

Unfortunately, I later discovered bed bug droppings and blood stains along the edge of the wall where it joins the carpet behind my bed. My collegue noticed more of the white powder behind his bed. Being as it was quite late, we decided to make due with the room since it was already the third that we had tried. At least the signs weren't in the bed, or at least on the exterior of the mattress.

If you have never bed bugs at home, it is pehaps difficult to imagine the scope of the problem and the insuing stress and loss of sleep that follows. To avoid this problem to the best of your ability, I highly recommend keeping everything off of the floor in hotel rooms and for God's sake, don't put anything on the beds! I keep all of my bags closed on the suitcase stand in the bathroom, or even in the shower when not in use. Always pull the bed out from the wall and tuck in any linen that touches the ground. Lift the mattress and look for the bed bug's characteristic droppings: tiny black dots, like those from an ink pen. The black dots are blood from past meals and will smear if on a surface such as baseboards and wooden or metal bed posts. If an infestation is really bad, you might actually find live bed bugs just scurrying around. Upon returning home, one should wash all of one's clothing and store suitcases in large, sealed plastic bags if possible. I found giant Ziploc bags in New York which do the job quite nicely. Don't forget that, depressing as it seems, bed bugs can live for up to 18 months without eating blood. They just wait patiently for their next meal.

I don't blame the hotel for the problem as a bed bug infestation has nothing to do with cleanliness or quality. I still feel obliged, however, to make this problem known to potential future customers so that they can take the appropriate preventive measures. There are several other reviews of this hotel which speak of much more horrific experiences than mine (i.e. live bugs on top of the bed).

The staff was helpful with my complaints, but once a hotel of this size is infected, even on a small scale at first, it seems nearly impossible to fully control the problem without spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Since the average person is still unaware of bed bugs, or doesn't seem to care until they start biting at night, it is unlikely that many hotel chains can or want to take the costly but necessary steps to eradicate this problem, including educating and advising their guests about safety precautions as well as being upfront about the hotel's bed bug infestation status. Caveat emptor.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

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Bed bugs - Review of Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel ...