N.C. family members say they were bitten by bed bugs at Myrtle Beach hotel
A North Carolina woman says she and her children were bitten by bed bugs while staying at a Myrtle Beach hotel last summer, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Horry County court.
Andrea Baisden and her children, Johnny Worth and an unnamed minor, are listed as defendants in lawsuit. Baisden and Worth filed the lawsuit against Atlantic Paradise Inn, LLC; and Withers Heights Management, LLC, the corporation that operates the aforementioned hotel.
Baisden and her children, who live in Rowan County, N.C., were staying on June 17 -18 at the Atlantic Paradise Inn and Suites on 1401 South Ocean Boulevard when they were bitten by bed bugs, according to the lawsuit.
A phone number listed online for the Atlantic Paradise Inn had been disconnected.
On the first night of their stay, Baisden, Worth and the minor were “attacked” by bed bugs and bitten across their bodies, according to court documents. They reported the incident to hotel management but were denied a refund, they said.
Bed bugs had infested the room and were in the mattresses, bedding and carpet in the hotel room, the lawsuit states.
The suit alleges “negligence, recklessness, carelessness, willfulness, wantonness, and gross negligent conduct” on the part of the operator, which directly caused Baisden’s and her children’s injuries and emotional distress, they said.
The lawsuit claims the hotel operators knew or should have known that the rooms in which Baisden and her children stayed were infested and should have been treated before they were bitten.
Trevor P. Eddy, an attorney based in Columbia, S.C., represents Baisden and Worth in court.
Baisden and Worth asked the court for an unspecified amount of money in damages.
An Horry County woman sued a Myrtle Beach hotel this month, claiming she was bitten by bed bugs during a stay there in October.
A Florida couple sued another Myrtle Beach hotel, claiming they were bitten by bed bugs during their stay and that the bed bugs traveled back to Florida with them, infesting their home. That suit was filed in December in Horry County court.
In 2020, pest control company Orkin ranked Myrtle Beach among the 50 worst cities for bed bugs in the country.
