SAN ANTONIO — In what some people would call a nightmare, a family found bed bugs in a Stone Oak area hotel. A mother found the blood-sucking parasites crawling around in a bed where her children were sleeping. An Austin family in town over the weekend visiting a loved one in the hospital had their own health scare.
A Drury Hotels spokesperson told KENS 5 one room is being treated, and they're sorry for the inconvenience.
Kali Powell, along with her mom and two kids were staying at Drury Inn & Suites North Stone Oak location on Friday. She was the last person to go to bed. The mother said she turned on the flashlight on her phone when she saw the bed bugs on her kids.
"It was many of them, and the ranged in all different sizes," she said. "They were on them. Especially my daughter, they were in the sleeve of her jacket that she fell asleep in."
Powell said the hotel moved the family to a different room. She said the hotel even offered them to cover their laundry costs, and relocate them to another location, but she declined. The next morning she said they were out of there. Powell said they threw away a lot of their belongings.
"Clothes, new undergarments, toothbrushes," she said. "I threw out a lot of stuff because I didn't even want to chance it."
Powell said it has been traumatizing for her kids. The Austin mom said they stayed at this hotel three weeks prior and everything was fine. She said you can't be too careful.
"It is worth it. Just take that extra time, because nothing can take back that traumatic experience," she said ."It is horrific. I keep itching. I am not even sure we brought them back or not. I hope we did everything we could."
Drury Hotels San Antonio released the following statement:
"The safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority. No hotel can prevent bed bugs from being introduced, but we are extremely vigilant and take proactive steps to check on a daily basis and treat any issues as soon as they are discovered.
We are currently treating one room in our hotel. Surrounding rooms and areas have been thoroughly inspected and no evidence of bed bugs has been detected.
Upon finding out about the incident we immediately moved the guest to another room and did not charge for the stay. We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused our guest."