Family sues after vacation ends in the emergency room for bed bug bites
Manuel Grullon and his family were hoping for a relaxing beach vacation. But after the New York family spent their first night in a North Myrtle Beach hotel, Grullon realized something was wrong.
Grullon, usually a sound-sleeper, spent the night tossing and turning. When he woke up he noticed he had developed a rash. The next morning, after more restless sleep, he noticed welts on his body, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Horry County Court.
He headed to a nearby urgent care and was diagnosed with bedbug bites and immediately treated with injection steroids and was prescribed antibiotics, steroids and topical cream, according to court documents. The lawsuit only details Grullon’s experience with bed bugs, it is not clear if he was the only one to be affected by them. He was traveling with his wife, their three children and a guest of the family.
When Grullon returned to North Beach Resort and Villas, located at 100 North Beach Blvd. in North Myrtle Beach, he lifted up the bed skirt and saw the bug infestation. He took pictures and showed them to the man at the front desk. The lawsuit states he responded with “skepticism” and sent a maintenance worker to check the room.
The worker confirmed bed bugs and the hotel offered to treat the family’s luggage and move them to another room. In the second room Grullon could tell that the room was in “disrepair” and asked for a cleaner room, according to court documents.
In the third room, hotel management called the family and apologized while offering a free extended stay. The family accepted and were told they had to move rooms again because of an incoming reservation on their room. They inspected the fourth room they were taken to and found it also had bed bugs, the lawsuit said. Hotel management went to see the room and apologized by offering another room, the suit contends.
In their fifth room, the family saw no signs of bugs but were so emotionally drained from dealing with the bed bugs and the repeated room changes that they denied the rest of their extended stay and headed home, according to the lawsuit.
Messages seeking comment by The Sun News were left with the resort.
The lawsuit alleges that the hotel was negligent in it’s housekeeping practices and that they should have detected the infestation before the family stayed in the rooms. The family suffered bed bug bites, physical discomfort, emotional distress and economic losses, the suit claims. The suit also asks for an unspecified amount of damages.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 6:58 AM.
