Bedbug Infestation
During my September 2024 stay at the Roosevelt, my bed was infested with bedbugs. I was bit along my leg in a dozen areas. Large, red, itchy, seeping, and incredibly painful.
After changing rooms, I showed the bites to the on-duty manager, who displayed no empathy or concern. After I respectfully asked -- several times -- what should be done next, he reluctantly agreed to have the room checked for bedbugs, but said it wouldn't be done until the room's new residents checked out in a couple of days. I suggested he should A) conduct the testing immediately for proper containment, and B) relocate the new guests to a different hotel room, since they were at immediate risk of bedbug exposure. He dismissed this idea, which is a severe health code violation.
Despite the fact that I -- and all the belongings I brought to the hotel -- had been exposed to these bedbugs, the manager surprisingly did not provide any containment suggestions or recommendations for me to follow for the duration of my stay. Out of respect to the hotel and its patrons, I took it upon myself to spend the majority of my remaining stay in my room, to mitigate the chance of an outbreak.
A couple of days later, I needed to extend my stay. The same manager told me I could no longer remain in my current room, because they were gearing up to inspect it for bedbugs, along with the original room I stayed in. I asked him to simply wait until the day I checked out . He refused. Additionally, he said I wouldn't be allowed into a new room, since I could potentially spread the bedbugs there.
To recap: after contaminating me -- and possibly my belongings -- the Hollywood Roosevelt was now attempting to evict me from the hotel because of a bedbug issue they themselves caused. I was dumbfounded. The manager also refused to test my bag and belongings for bedbugs (or treat them). I couldn't take them home because my wife is immunocompromised, so I had no choice but to throw them out. Hundreds of dollars' worth of items.
Note that after the tests were allegedly conducted, the manager refused to show me the results, which I found incredibly suspicious.
I was a quiet and respectful guest for my entire stay at the Roosevelt. I was polite and friendly to all staff. I told no other patron about the bedbugs, even with more than one person asking, "Oh my God, what happened to your leg?" Despite doing my best to act professionally with the manager, it's upsetting to see this was not reciprocated. He made no effort to make my stay more comfortable in light of what I had been going through. Not even a simple, "We sent some bug bite cream to your room." A random Holiday Inn would have done more in this scenario.
Since my stay, I emailed several people at the Roosevelt (managers, the general info line) to seek a resolution to this issue. I reached out on their Facebook page as well. It's been weeks of emails, and yet nobody has ever returned my messages. After giving them so many chances to address this issue, I'm finally sharing my story here.








