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BED BUG CLAIM EARNS GUEST £630

By County Press Reporter - Friday, November 23, 2007
A DISGRUNTLED guest who claimed his experience at a Sandown hotel ruined his break has won £630 in compensation.
Keith Clack, from Brighton, took legal action against The Carlton Hotel, on Sandown Esplanade, claiming his room and bed were infested with bed bugs.
The case was undefended after the court received a note the night before the hearing on Tuesday last week, saying the directors of the hotel were ill. Deputy District Judge Parkes decided to go ahead in their absence.
Mr Clack, who checked out of the hotel after only one night’s stay in April, told Worthing County Court he witnessed a waiter cleaning knives and forks with his own saliva on a cloth napkin.
He said he sent letters to the hotel but did not receive a single reply and no apology. However, the hotel did offer over the phone to refund £100.
Mr Clack, who claimed compensation for shock, loss of enjoyment, cleaning and the inconvenience of having to find alternative accommodation, submitted to the court a report from the IW Council’s environmental health department, which carried out a spot check of the premises in May following his complaint.
The report stated that during the visit, the officer was presented with a document that showed there had been three other reports of bed bugs in April and that the hotel had taken immediate action to rectify the situation in contacting its pest control contractor and treating the affected rooms.
It noted another officer dealt with a similar problem last year.
In a subsequent letter to Mr Clack, the council said his request for assistance was justified.
It said the hotel had been strongly advised to undertake a specific risk assessment for bed bugs and the manager had confirmed all staff had been rebriefed on food hygiene procedures.
Stuart Love, the IW Council’s director of environment and neighbourhoods, said environmental health team members who visited the hotel found no bed bugs but advised that, as a precautionary measure, the room should be treated and the bedding disposed of.
The Carlton Hotel management declined to comment.