Friends claim they were left with 200 bites from bed bugs after a night in a two-star £170 Blackpool hotel
- Marian Pearson and Sharon Haslam woke up to find themselves in a red rash
- The two friends also found blood droplets on their bedding at Hotel Calypso
A pair of friends say they were left with 200 bites from bed bugs after a night in a Blackpool hotel.
Marian Pearson, 60, and Sharon Haslam, 65, fled the Calypso Hotel after they woke up to find themselves covered in a red itchy rash.
They had made a ‘last minute’ booking at the hotel for two nights, from September 9 to 10, so they could join eight other pals for a birthday bash in the seaside resort.
But when they got up the next morning, they found droplets of blood covering their bedding and a live bed bug crawling around next to them.
A spokesperson for the Calypso Hotel admitted they’d received previous complaints about ‘bug issues’.
Marian Pearson and Sharon Haslam fled the Calypso Hotel after they woke up to find themselves covered in a red itchy rash
The two friends say they were left with over 200 bites during their stay
They say they also woke up to find droplets of blood on their bedsheets while staying at the two-star hotel
Sharon (left) and Marian (right) travelled to Blackpool to join eight other friends for a birthday celebration
And Marian said the ‘cheap and cheerful’ two-star guest house seemed clean when they checked in to their twin room, which set them back £170 in total.
The pair changed their hotels the same day but said the bite marks on their arms, legs and bodies had kept reappearing.
And last Friday (Sept 15), Marian claims she had to rush to A&E during the night where she was given strong antibiotics after still being left in agony – one week later.
The grandmother-of-two said: ‘It was terrible. It was horrible due to the amount of bites on my body.
‘They are very itchy. I’ve rubbed my skin off – that’s why I went to the hospital. I couldn’t stand it any longer.
‘I’ve been to India, Mexico, Australia, and I’ve been to a lot of hotels in the UK, and I’ve never seen bedbugs in my life. It’s the first time in 60 years.
‘It’s medieval. It’s something from my grandmother’s day when they were quite popular – but not today.
Marian, from Bolton, Greater Manchester said they’d booked the hotel. close to Blackpool’s famous promenade on September 8 before they checked in a day later.
Marian (pictured) has been prescribed strong antibiotics and antihistamine tablets, and says her partner took her luggage to the tip when she came home
The friends said that the lobby and their room were clean and that there was no sign when they arrived that the hotel had a bed bug problem
When the pair arrived, she said the lobby and their room seemed clean and tidy – with no indication there could be a bed bug problem.
Marian said: ‘When we first arrived we thought, ‘it’s ‘cheap and cheerful’. We stay in lots of hotels, and we’d previously come from Chester before we came to Blackpool.
‘We thought, ‘We are only here for two days.’ The beds had crisp clean white sheets. They didn’t have any indication that we were going to end up having a rash.’
Marian said she and Sharon had gone out for some drinks with their friends during the night, before returning to their room during the evening.
But when they woke up, they found a disturbing amount of blood in their sheets before realising they had in fact been bitten by bed bugs.
Sharon said: ‘When we woke up, my friend pulled her sheets back and noticed there was blood. We thought ‘Where has that come from?’
‘Then we found mine also had specs of blood all over the sheets as well. It took us ten minutes to work it out.
‘We started to look around the floor and found droplets of blood, and then I found a live bed bug. I captured it in a little cup.
‘I got to the reception and presented them with the bug in the cup.’
Marian said they had immediately left the hotel and doused themselves in bug spray, before finding alternative accommodation to stay in for their next night.
But when they got home, she said the bite marks had kept reappearing, and they now fear they could be left nursing their rash for weeks to come.
Grandmother-of-two Marian (right) said she had never seen bedbugs in her life, despite trips to India, Mexico and Australia
Calypso Hotel said an inspector from Blackpool council had found no evidence of bed bugs just two days before Marian and Sharon’s stay
Marian has currently been prescribed strong antibiotics, antihistamine tablets and creams – after doctors feared the bites could lead to an infection.
She added: ‘As soon as I arrived home, my partner took my luggage to the tip.
‘We tied up the clothes in air-tight bags and then opened them in the washing machine and washed them.’
Calypso Hotel said an inspector from Blackpool council had found no evidence of bed bugs just two days before Marian and Sharon’s stay.
They said: ‘We have had few complaints about the bug issues. We take any complaint regarding bed bugs very seriously and deal with it immediately.
‘Most of the times customers complain just to get refund. A few weeks ago we had had two rooms complaining about the same and when we checked with a UV torch no evidence was found.
‘I believe same customers complained to council and we had a visit from 2 EHOs(Environment Health Officers) on 7th September 2023.
‘They found no evidence of that either in the rooms.
‘Whenever we get any complaint regarding bed bugs, we use Death the pest company to get the room treated.’
‘Any room with complaint gets treated in three ways, 1) Vacuum and steam at 100 degrees plus 2) Chemicals by Death to pest 3) If Death to pest advice, we change everything from flooring to beds, mattresses and curtains.
‘We have been advices by Death to pest to use heat treatment and have ordered commercial pest control heater that holds room temperature over 50 degree Celsius.’
Marian said she and Sharon were still waiting for a full refund, which staff had told them would be processed by Booking.com, which they used to secure the room.
Booking.com and Blackpool Council have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
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