RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Waldorf Astoria is Haven for Bedbugs! Md. Tourist Third to Sue Famed Hotel for Bloodsucker 'Attack'

A Maryland woman is suing the Waldorf Astoria for $10 million because, she says, she awoke at the fancy hotel and found bedbugs all over her body.

Svetlana Tendler is the third tourist since last year to sue the famed Park Ave. hotel over a nasty encounter with the tiny bloodsuckers.

"I felt like I was eaten alive by bedbugs, which have attacked my body," she said.

Tendler, her husband, Jacob, and their two kids stayed at the hotel in August 2007, the suit says.

One morning, she awoke to a nasty bedbug attack.

Photographs released by her lawyer, Anna Carley, show bites on Tendler's arms and legs.

"The defendants did nothing to assist plaintiff, Svetlana Tendler, in treatment of ... bed bites or fumigation of [her] luggage," says the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Tendler, of Owings Mill, Md., initially filed a summons against the hotel in August.

She filed a new, detailed complaint this week.

A Michigan woman who says bedbugs attacked her during a family vacation sued the hotel in November.

The hotel also was sued in October by a woman whose 6-year-old daughter said she was victimized by bedbugs during a visit last February.

Hilton Worldwide, which owns the Waldorf Astoria, declined to comment.

Source = NY Daily News

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Click Image to Enlarge

Clutter = failure! That is rule #1 with bedbugs. EHS goes to great length to provide preparation sheets and even a bedbug preparation video so we can perform the most successful treatment possible. This picture shows you a unit that is “prepared” for treatment. Needless to say we could not do anything in this apartment because of all the clutter. Just look at the picture. If we were to treat how exactly could we? There is no possible way to successfully treat. In this picture alone there are a billion nooks for bedbugs to hide.

What amazed me was that the person was insistent that she prepared??? Once I explained to her that it was not prepared she defended herself by stating “where am I going to put all my stuff?”

I know that can be an issue & that has to be considered & dealt with but BEFORE the treatment date. I explained to her that eliminating bedbugs takes a team approach.

Not preparing for treatment delays the entire control process and can make matters worse by allowing bedbugs to spread.

Frank Diaz
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA