There have been many articles in the news and reports on TV about unwelcome guests crawling into hotel beds. I wrote Marriott International to see how they were handling this issue…

Dear Marriott Guest Relations:

When it comes to hotels my wife and I always choose Marriott. We understand that when guests stay in hotels these days, they may not be the only ones in the room. There appears to be an increasing risk of sharing your bed not only with whomever you’ve checked in with, or a stranger you’ve met in the lounge, but also with bed bugs. Can you confirm this or is the media just looking to stir things up on slow news days?

I’m not accusing Marriott of having bed bugs, although my wife did wake up one morning during a stay covered in bites. While I wasn’t with her, she is not prone to hallucinating and doesn’t travel with an entomologist, so it remains an unsolved mystery. In any case, she’s healed and I’m the only thing that apparently bugs her now in bed.

Since bed bugs are hard to see, how do you know if they’re in someone’s bed before a guest comes flying into the lobby to tell the front desk? What is Marriott International doing to keep bed bugs from checking into rooms?

A Corporate Liaison from Mr. Marriott’s Office responded with:

Thank you for your letter of January 23 regarding Marriott’s Housekeeping standards.

We have the greatest concern and respect for every guest’s experience and Marriott takes hotel hygiene and cleanliness very seriously. As a result, Marriott has established very strict standards of cleanliness for all hotels that either meet or exceed public health department regulations, including pest control. On a regular basis we have a licensed laboratory check our hotels for pest control, cleaning, sanitizing and food safety handling to insure the highest levels of cleanliness in our hotels. This is in addition to our ongoing and regular staff training.

Please accept our sincere apologies for your wife’s inconvenience. We would like to follow up with the hotel if you can provide us the name of the hotel, the name on the reservation, and the date of her stay.

Thank you for your inquiry. We look forward to welcoming you soon.

Final Thoughts: This response sent a message that Marriott International is committed to cleanliness and hygiene. Equally as impressive is they took this inquiry, which was sent to Guest Relations, so seriously that it went all the way to the top and was responded to by Mr. Marriott’s Office. Plus, they showed concern by offering to follow-up with the hotel where my wife stayed.

Since my wife had already spoken with the Manager there, who took immediate action, there was no need to pursue this matter further. He reported back to her that there was no evidence of bed bugs, so she has no idea what bit her. Besides, the focus of this inquiry was to ask what Marriott is doing to keep bed bugs from checking into rooms. In this case, Marriott demonstrated an understanding that customer service is about giving the customer confidence in them as a company as well as showing they care enough to find a resolution.

They say, “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” I am convinced that Marriott wants to comply by making sure nothing crawls into their beds other than their guests. So, for your next trip, definitely check into Marriott. But if anything about a place or product ever bugs you, speak up and Write The Company.