Country Inn and Suites By Carlson, Dayton South, OH

The bed bug I found beside me completely derailed our trip. We’d driven 6.5 hours to meet friends, then had to turn around and head home. I’m now trying to keep any possible stragglers or eggs from getting into my home. I didn’t find bites on myself, and after researching it, I thought the bug looked very flat, as if it hadn’t eaten recently. I can only hope it was one adult that somehow got into the bedding. I’m still shaken and will be quarantining my car and some belongings for months. I don’t want to hurt the hotel’s business; I’m trying to warn people and hope the problem gets fixed so nobody else deals with this. I took the photos on the hotel bedding, inside the room. They’re date and time stamped on my camera roll. I zoomed in for a clear picture and used another phone to shine light for some shots. I should have photographed the whole room, but at the time I was flustered and focused on getting a picture of what I wasn’t yet sure was a bed bug. I wish I’d run to the desk for a Ziplock bag and kept the bug as proof. I wasn’t expecting to be called a liar. I understand there are people who make false claims to get refunds, and I can see why the hotel might have reacted that way, but this did happen, and I’m dealing with the consequences. It’s mind boggling to be treated like I made it up while facing months of worry and cleanup. We’d booked two nights, then realized we only needed one. We told the hotel and hotels.com on check-in day, hours before arriving, that we’d leave after one night. This was a last-minute reservation made the day before, and our plans changed. The refund for the second night was approved by both the hotel and hotels.com. I regret that the change seems to have been used to question whether we’re trustworthy. We came downstairs only when we were ready to leave, because we all needed showers first, which we hadn’t planned on the night before. When we showed the woman at the desk the photos and asked what could be done, she directed us to contact the third-party site to escalate it, so we did.

The room was just okay. Staff were nice, the shower was clean, and the bed was comfortable. Breakfast wasn’t great. The waffles were good, though, so I’d go with yogurt or cereal for the rest.

The room was super clean, and the staff were really nice. But the pool area felt creepy because people could see in through all the windows, both from outside and inside the hotel. You could watch people walking by, going to the front desk, and down the hall, and they could watch us swim. We wanted to get in before the pool closed, but all the staring made us uncomfortable. Hopefully the hotel adds some privacy, maybe shades. They already have cameras in the pool area, so they don’t need strangers doing the creeping.

Breakfast was a letdown, with only a few choices, including make-your-own waffles. The pillows were tiny and hard, and the shower only ran lukewarm. Our air conditioner quit on the first day, then when we came back the next day the room smelled like chemicals or something burning. Not impressed with the room.