By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
July 18, 2016
Wisconsin Dells - On Thursday, Katie Madaus of New Berlin posted on her Facebook (FB) account that she had a bad case of bed bug biting while she stayed as a guest with a group of girls that attended a dance camp at the Chula Vista Resort on July 13. Madaus had an allergic reaction to the bed bugs bites and had to seek medical treatment.
Once the hotel management learned of the bed bug infestation, she and others were moved to another room. She posted multiple photos and said that her roommate, Katie Campbell Gatlin suffered bed bugs bites too, but did not have an allergic reaction as she did. Both Madaus and Gatlin are Varsity Dance Team Coaches.
Gatlin posted in her FB account that the Sauk County Health Department inspected room 2449 at the Chula Vista Resort and had confirm that there was a bed bug infestation and Pest Control treated the room.
Clarissa MaRae Shaw who attended the dance camp too wrote on her FB that "Chula Vista posted "share your story" so I posted the picture of some of my 98 bed bug bites and "told my story". They apparently didn't like it since they deleted it immediately and blocked me from writing a review. But I'll just leave it here:
"This place is disgusting. Dried blood on the pillows and left with 98 bed bug bites. We were treated poorly by management when we brought it to their attention and they went from originally admitting it was bed bugs, to saying they didn't have them a few days later, to not returning any of my calls. Don't waste your money and don't risk it! I was sick and miserable for days due to an allergic reaction to so many bites!""
Madaus posted, "YES! These are pictures of BED BUG bites. If you are planning on traveling to the Dells, or anywhere for that matter, PLEASE READ! This week (Monday, July 13th through this afternoon, 2015) was UDA dance camp for our wonderful dance team. It was held at the CHULA VISTA RESORT in Wisconsin Dells. I normally don't post messages like this, but I am so angry about our experience there that I think it's making me physically ill! It started out on Monday afternoon when we were told our rooms were ready. I went into my room to find that the room had not actually been cleaned from the guests who stayed there prior to us.
"I was not too angry because I understand that mistakes happen, right?! No big deal! But when I called room service, the person on the phone (I learned after this to always take names!) acted as if I was inconveniencing her. She asked what I would like her to do. I said, "Ummm…. Clean our room?" she responded by saying, "Hold on, I'll see if there's anything we can do." Then put me on hold for 5 minutes, and then hung up on me.
"After I hadn't received a call back, I called again. Eventually someone came to clean the room. I got over it in 5 minutes. This was Monday. Tuesday was a busy day, the second day of dance camp is always the craziest… sometime in the afternoon I started feeling itchy on my left arm, assuming I had a mosquito bite or something because that's what it felt and looked like. So I went to bed that night, still itchy but still not thinking too much about it.
"I woke up early Wednesday and had these "mosquito" bites all over my arm, my forehead, chest and even on my eyelid! How could I have this many "mosquito" bites when I hadn't gone outside since I arrived Monday morning? I went down to the lobby and asked if our room could be checked. I TRULY thought that I was just going crazy though. But the housekeeping supervisor, Jessica, who was the ONLY pleasant, apologetic and helpful employee at this establishment confirmed by looking at the fecal matter pictured, that we indeed had a room infested with bed bugs and we were immediately moved into a Jacuzzi suit.
"Jessica also carefully inspected our dance team's rooms and cleared them of bed bugs. Jessica was great. She also informed us that hotels have to have staff trained to inspect bed bug cases, and if you request to have your room checked before your stay, the hotel legally has to do it. SO KEEP THIS IN MIND WHEN YOU TRAVEL! But the rest of the hotel management: AWEFUL. There was no sense of urgency or empathy when this had happened. It took for us to complain to at least a handful of upper management staff, including the director of operations, to get them to give us our money back for the room.
"We asked Mark, the director of operations, and Lindsey, the front desk manager, to have a copy of the incident report ready for us before we left. They assured us that an incident report was written, and that if we were to bring these bed bugs home with us that the hotel's insurance would cover any type of extermination. BUT they couldn't show us or give us the incident report and they couldn't give us any type of written documentation.
"They refused.They confirmed their hotel room (room 2449) had bed bugs and apologized for the inconvenience- as if it were comparable to a clogged sink or something- but absolutely wouldn't give us anything writing- it was "illegal." They said that Phil, Director of Safety, who apparently wasn't in at the moment, was the only person that could release the incident reports to us. Phil was supposed to give us a call "in a bit," but it's 10:30 p.m. and we still haven't heard from him. As soon as I got home this evening, I went to the doctor because the itching and pain from the bites was getting worse (my roommate also had bites but didn't have the same reaction to them as I did). The doc said that she had never seen such a bad case of bed bug bites and thought at first glance I had a severe case of poison ivy.
"I had an allergic reaction to the bites and was given medication and a topical cream. Now I am not on here whining or complaining about the bed bugs. Yes, it's gross, but I understand that that's a risk you take staying in a hotel and would never publicize something in this manner if it was handled properly. What makes me irate and what I want the public to know is the awful response by Chula Vista Management. No one checked up on us or offered any kind of compensation. We had to fight for the little we received out of this when ALL we really wanted was a piece of documentation stating that the incident happened in their hotel and they would take care of us if these bugs were brought home with us! Awful customer service from day one. On the bright side, however, I did have so much fun with my amazing, beautiful dance team who always cracks me up! And, of course, my co coach and one of my closest friends,Katie, who always has my back! Love you guys!!!"
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