WATCH: A cautionary tale on why you should always read online reviews.
TORONTO – A Calgary man who booked a discount hotel through a popular travel website says he was subjected to filthy conditions and bed bugs.
Len Lewin booked a two-night stay at the Knight’s Inn location on Kingston Road in Scarborough over the weekend. From the minute he checked in, Lewin says it was obvious the hotel was dirty and in disrepair.
“I was so appalled just by walking up the steps, everything was in disarray, there was dirt everywhere,” said Lewin, who was visiting Toronto for his daughter’s birthday.
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Lewin says he had to scrub down the bathroom the night he checked in because there was no housekeeping service. But on the second night, Lewin says he and his companion woke up to bed bug bites. He says there were multiple bugs beneath the pillow when he lifted it.
“This is awful,” Lewin said. He added the hotel initially denied the problem, offered him a sub-par alternate room and later refused to give his money back.
The Knights Inn, an independently-owned franchise of the national chain, acknowledged to Global News that the third floor room had a problem with bed bugs. General Manager Tushar Shah showed the room where Lewin stayed: bedding on the floor, freshly sprayed with chemicals by a pest-removal company.
“Yes, sometimes it happens like this,” said Shah, referring to bed bugs at the hotel.
Lewin booked the room through the travel site Expedia. He did not read any online reviews about the hotel in advance of paying about $55 per night. If he had searched out reviews, he would have found mostly negative ones under headlines like “disgusting”, “terrible” and “great room except for the bed bugs.”
Lewin said the hotel refused to issue a refund three times. When Global News contacted Knights Inn, we were told Lewin would be issued one — in addition to a complimentary night. Lewin said he raised an alarm about the hotel’s conditions not to get a refund —but to make others aware.
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