Bedbug ‘crawls over baby’s head’ in Hellingly Travelodge

Lorina Sherraton said a bedbug crawled over her son’s baby when they woke in the night at the hotel on the Boship Roundabout.

Lorina, from Rainham in Kent, booked the room for her son, Anthony, and daughter-in-law, Kai plus their six-month-old baby and two-year-old daughter who were down from Suffolk for a family party in Eastbourne on Saturday (February 8).

She said, “The baby woke for a feed at 3am and, after feeding him, my daughter-in-law laid him on the bed to change his nappy.

“And that’s when she saw it – a bedbug crawled right over his head.

“A look around the bed confirmed there were more.

“They had no choice but to pack their bags, get the children out of bed, leave the hotel and make the journey home which was horrendous in view of the weather.”

Lorina said the hotel receptionist said it could have been a woodlouse and offered the family an e-voucher saying when they stayed next time to ask for a room on a higher level.

She described how her son remained calm in view of his very young children but when he got home he had to leave potentially contaminated luggage outside and make sure everyone showered.

When she rang to complain, Lorina said she was told to ‘take a deep breath and calm down’ but was angry the only access to the complaints department was via the group’s booking site.

A Travelodge head office spokesperson said, “We would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Sherraton for her recent experience whilst staying at our Hellingly Eastbourne hotel.

“We have taken immediate action and brought in experts to address this isolated issue, which is now rectified. We are in dialogue with Ms Sherraton and are fully supporting her.”