Bedbugs in Hotel Moderno Puerta del Sol Madrid, Spain

Are you certain they were actually bedbugs? They are tiny and generally not seen because they hide under the mattress at night. What looks like blood stains on the sheet are actually their feces ( grossing know).

https://www.orkin.com/pests/bed-bugs/what-are-signs-of-a-bed-bug-infestation

https://www.orkin.com/pests/bed-bugs/how-big-are-bed-bugs

What did the bites look like? Bedbugs usually bite in 3 places in a line ( commonly called breakfast lunch and dinner) as they try to get their fill. They often choose arms or shoulders. The bumps are raised, red and very itchy. At least mine were. And they last for a week or more.

There are other kinds of bugs that can bite. If these were actually bedbugs, you should have been very careful with your luggage snd contents to avoid bringing in them home, or spreading them to others on your tour. And the hotel should have taken your report seriously so they could treat the toom and eradicate the critters.

Where did you write your review that the hotel responded to?

I wouldn't be happy to see any sort of bugs in my bed!

I'm sorry the hotel management treated you so dismissively.

There are definitely bugs on the sheet on the third morning because we killed them and blood came out. Not being an entomologist, I thought they are bedbugs because: 1) they are brown in color, 2) they are about 3-4 mm round in size, 3) a cluster of itchy skin bumps appeared on our body, more so on my wife's, 4) they looked like the confirmed bedbugs that I encountered before. What else do you think they may be?

Wow. Sorry to see this in Rick Steves used hotel. Bed bugs are bad news. I'm glad the rest of your trip was wonderful.

bedbugs are not creatures of filth or poor housekeeping. They are brought in and spread by other guests. Other than a whole body and luggage search of all arriving guests, there's not much a hotel can do to prevent them. Heck, we had an infestation of bedbugs in the food court of our old airport terminal.

I did not say I thought they were something else. But you did not say anything about the size of the bugs or about bites, so it was an open question.

Bedbugs in a hotel room are a serious matter that can affect the hotel’s reputation and income, so people should not make the accusation without being sure. But your additional information shows that you knew what to look for and you had bites ( which you did not mention in your original post) . So you did encounter bedbugs and the accusation was valid.

It is possible the manager appeared to treat it lightly when you reported it to keep others from hearing about it. Hotels want to keep that quiet(which also might explain why they denied you were a guest when you posted your review). But maybe they went ahead and investigated and thoroughly cleaned the room so it wouldn’t happen to others. At least I sure hope they did.

You say you "recently completed" the Best of Spain tour...on 11/16 - 11/19? So, almost a year ago? I don't discount your experience, but wonder why you're posting here almost a year later about it.

The tour code is SPA101424, which would have started in Barcelona on October 14, 2024 and arrived in Madrid 2 days later. I think the dates in Madrid were in October, accidentally written as November.

Yes, it was a typo. It should be 10/16 - 10/19. As for the occurrence of bedbugs, what stan commented does make sense. Basically there is not much a hotel can do to prevent some travelers to bring them into the hotel. The issue is really at the hotel management's dismissive attitude and poor customer service. If they are serious about it, they should immediately come to our room to verify the incident (particularly if they care about their reputation) and determine if some measures should be taken quickly to eradicate the bugs (spraying, replacing the mattress, ...). Their attitude makes me wonder if they already knew the problem and just want to sweep it under the carpet (or mattress).

I had a bed bug experience at a hotel by the St. Louis, Missouri airport. I've been told that hotels by airports tend have more of a problem because people come from more of a distance, but bed bugs can be found anywhere. If there are bed bugs, you would definitely be able to see them. Lift up the bed sheet and look in crevasses in the mattress. My mother had the bites and the bugs were on her side of the bed. A few of them were 3 in a row. Unfortunately, she reacted badly to the bites.

When I discovered the bugs, I attached a couple to some tape. I went to the front desk and discreetly told the person at the desk. I also asked them to go and get my mother oral benadryl. There were lots of folks in the breakfast area and I didn't feel the need to let others hear the discussion.

When I got home from the trip, I left all my bags on my front porch and unpacked from there. There are various suggestions for getting rid of the bugs. I did not find any in my belongings, but to be extra cautious, I put anything that could go in a dryer in for about an hour. I didn't want to put my raincoat and other fragile items, in a dryer. Those, someone suggested, I put in the freezer for a few days.

Perhaps the hotel could not find your booking because RS had booked a block.

We got bedbugs from a random hotel in Virginia. Now we use a high intensity light to check our hotel bed mattresses.

Folks, you do not want bedbugs. My wife got widely bitten up after we got home, but we got some sort of bedbug spray from Wally World, sprayed the mattress, problem solved. Washed the sheets and blankets, of course, and ran the pillows through the drier at a high temperature.

The first incident occurred several days after returning home, and then several weeks or a couple of months later. We only stayed in one hotel room so it was easy to connect the dots. At first we thought it might be some allergic reaction to detergent or whatever. Nope. "Upon further investigation" we found the little SOBs.

I’m with Estimated Prophet and Gertrude Stein. A bug is a bug is a bug. Period. I’d be out in a flash.

Denny, of course. I'd advise to not put anything on the hotel bed until you've checked it the mattress, too. It only takes a minute or two.

we got some sort of bedbug spray from Wally World

Greg, I'd love to hear more details on this spray. I didn't think such a thing suggested. Thanks!