I picked up bedbugs at a UK airport hotel, and lost hundreds of pounds

After a long, often intense, year of work, the annual family holiday was finally in sight. Two blissful weeks in the south of France, with just food, drink and books (and children) to think about instead of the daily grind of the political news agenda. Or at least that was the idea. Sadly, all my best laid plans of existing on cheese, wine and sunshine were upended before we had even boarded our plane, due to a new rising tide of creepy crawlies – bedbugs. Shorts In a doomed attempt to make our holiday more serene, my wife and I decided the family would stay in the Great Hallingbury Manor Hotel in Bishops Stortford. Being close to Stansted Airport, it would mean we could catch our 6am flight without having to wake at 2am. It turned out to be a big mistake. We checked out of the hotel just before 4am and sailed through check-in for our flight, but by the time I had found my seat on the plane my hand was beginning to itch. Not the kind of itch you get from a mosquito bite, but something way more intense. I shrugged it off and we landed in the south of France, picked up a hire car and arrived at the villa where we’d be staying with a group of friends. It was then that the itching became unbearable, having moved to both hands, across my back, up my legs and all over my face. According to experts, people can react differently to bed bug bites, with about 30 per cent not noticing them at all. Others, however, can have fairly serious allergic reactions, resulting in welts and blisters. It appeared I was in the latter group, meaning my bites took on the look of smallpox. People can react to bedbug bites differently. Richards’ bedbug bites turned to blisters My skin was covered in goosebumps as the intense itch tingled across my body – but that was not the worst of it. There was the fear I might have brought the little critters into the villa, potentially spreading them beyond their Hertfordshire home, as they are known to be “expert hitchhikers”. I kept our luggage in the bathtub as per online advice. I washed all our clothes at 60°C, which is supposed to be the most effective way to eradicate them. My year-long dream of sitting by the pool with a glass of chilled rosé had been replaced by a fresh hell of undertaking mountains of laundry, punctuated by frantic trips to the pharmacy to try and get my allergic response under control, while desperately trying not to scratch my skin off. Clothes were ruined by the high heat wash or just thrown away in a bid to be safer rather than sorry. Hundreds of pounds’ worth of gear, gone. Thankfully, the drastic action appears to have ensured no one else was affected by the bugs, but it spoilt the remainder of the holiday. I contacted the Great Hallingbury Manor and its operator, Surya Hotels. The initial response from the hotel manager was a refund and a “complimentary night’s stay in another of the group’s hotels”. I pressed for a better response to cover my costs and was told by the hotel that it was not prepared to go any further. I have since been passed onto the group’s insurance company. Around a month on from my stay, the insurer sent me a letter in which it said that the hotel group had admitted liability for the incident. It stated that it accepts I sustained injury as a result, but that the extent and value of the injury remain to be determined. The letter continues: “The next stage of the claims process is for us to obtain medical evidence regarding the injuries that you attribute to the incident.” It suggests “a medico-legal examination with a suitably qualified medical expert”. “The medical expert will discuss the symptoms you experienced, any treatment received, the impact the injuries have had on your day-to-day activities and whether any symptoms remain ongoing.” As to what this would mean for me and the losses I have incurred, I am still in the dark. My case is certainly not an isolated one. Incidents of bedbug infestations have become commonplace in recent years, including one earlier this month involving Hannah Stephenson, a 31-year-old from Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire, who woke to bites across her body after staying in a Cambridge Travelodge. In that instance, Travelodge paid Stephenson £2,000 in compensation after she was forced to raise the issue on TikTok. Earlier this year, a tourist launched a $50,000 (£36,638) legal suit against Disney after being bitten by bedbugs at one of the hotels at its Disney World Resort, Florida. According to the British Pest Control Association, the ideal temperature for bedbugs to thrive is between 21°C and 32°C – so summer is their time. But Tommy Bull at Bed Bug Specialist UK said the effect of outdoor weather conditions on bedbugs is indirect, pointing out that people are more likely to travel during the summer, increasing the “dissemination of infestations from one location to another”. “Travellers are particularly vulnerable due to the nature of bedbug infestations. Bedbugs do not live outdoors,” Bull added. “An infestation typically originates from the introduction of bedbugs into a property, often via infested luggage.” The “continuous influx” of people in hotels, hostels and holiday rentals can spread the bugs more widely, he said. Bull said preventing an infestation can be a “considerable challenge”, adding that precautions during hotel stays, such as keeping your luggage away from the bed and checking mattresses, bed frames and furniture for bugs, may fall short as “even a single fertilised bedbug in your belongings can lead to an infestation within your home”. For me and my family, we have to cross our fingers and hope we have done enough to avoid bringing our holiday hell into our home.