After spending time in the pool at Kelowna’s Comfort Suites, Melissa Kennedy said her baby developed a severe rash.
The Revelstoke family had travelled to the city because their dog needed surgery. However, after splashing around in the water on Monday, Kennedy said her six-month-old daughter Jolene turned unusually fussy.
The next morning, Kennedy said she discovered her daughter was covered in a head-to-toe rash.
“It was red, it was swollen, it looked like a blanket — it didn’t even look like skin,” Kennedy said.
“It almost looked like welts.”
The mother said she then noticed that her own chest and torso were also covered in a rash.
“My bathing suit was still in the bathroom, and I looked down and it had like big bleach spots on it,” she said.
The mother said her frustration grew when she called down to the front desk.
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“She ended up hanging up on me,” Kennedy said.
She then walked down to show the front desk her bleached bathing suit and her baby’s rash.
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“They wouldn’t even look. They were just like, ‘Nope, it’s monitored every day, there’s no way that this could happen, and just completely dismissed me,’” Kennedy said.
“They didn’t want to go and test the water.”
Kennedy said she spent the day in tears and took her screaming baby to see the doctor.
“They also agreed that it looked like it was a chemical rash,” Kennedy said.
The mother believes the hotel might have cranked up the chlorine used in the pool because of COVID-19.
“I know that there’s a lot of hotels that aren’t running their pools and hot tubs right now,” Kennedy said. “I wondered if they double-dosed it because they don’t want that liability, maybe?”
In an email to Kennedy, Kelowna’s Comfort Suites said that it does check its pool and hot tub readings daily.
“Our mechanical systems were running as they should,” general manager Carla Carlson said.
The hotel had not received any other concerns about the pool, she added.
However, Interior Health said it did a pool inspection on Friday.
“The operator voluntarily closed the hot tub due to elevated flow rates,” the health authority said in an email.
“Recorded chlorine levels from the inspection and recent records for the hot tub and pool were high due to pool chemistry adjustment to meet the other requirements.”
The health region also said chlorine levels have since been adjusted to correct elevated chlorine in the pool.
“Interior Health will follow up on inspection reports to ensure compliance has been achieved.”
Comfort Suites declined an interview, but confirmed with Global News that Interior Health performed an on-site inspection.
“We have strict standards that either meet or exceed public health department and safety regulations as the health and safety of our guests is always a top priority,” Carlson wrote.
It’s been four days since the family was in the pool, but Kennedy said Jolene is still uncomfortable wearing clothes or being held.
“When you pick her up, it’s basically like hanging onto sheets of sandpaper,” she said.
Kennedy said she feels the hotel should have immediately closed the pool and investigated.
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