Bed bugs! New York's Ritz-Carlton hotel has some unexpected guests

By Ellen Connolly

One of New York's swankiest hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, has had some very unwelcome guests - bedbugs.

Hotel management confirmed it found the bedbugs in one of their rooms on Sunday following a complaint from a guest.

A worker at the hotel, where a midweek room can start at $695 and soar to $4500 for a suite, said that a guest in Room 1005 produced a specimen of the pesky bug, a wingless six-legged bloodsucker before checking out on Sunday.

Pesky bloodsuckers: The general manager at New York's Ritz Carlton confirmed a bedbug had been found in one of its rooms, adding 'bedbugs are inevitable'

Hotel management said it subsequently called an exterminator to rid the room of the creepy crawlers.

Guests in rooms next to the infested area, as well as those above and below it, were transferred to other accommodations and hotel workers received bedbug training, reports the Times.

'Bedbugs are inevitable,' said Scott Geraghty, the hotel’s general manager.

'They’re brought in by guests and come in on luggage or things of that nature.'

He said the problem had been remedied.

A worker at the Ritz, Rosanna Polanco, a room attendant, told The New York Times she was asked on Monday to service the room next to 1005 but was not told about the bedbugs. She found out only when she encountered a worker from Ecolab Inc., a company that supplies cleaning products and pest elimination services.

'He was the one who told me: ‘Be careful. There’s a lot of bedbugs in there,’ Polanco said, referring to Room 1005.

'Management didn’t tell me. I found out myself.'

Bedbugs with expensive taste: A midweek room at the Ritzfor a midweek night starts at $695 and can soar up to $4,500 for a suite

The Ritz isn't the first New York luxury hotel to be paid a visit from the wingless, six-legged creatures.

Three people have separately accused the Waldorf-Astoria of harboring the critters-- one woman even claimed the bites caused her some severe trauma.

Bedbugs have been found at a slew of Gotham landmarks recently. The Empire State building, Abercrombie & Fitch and the AMC Empire 25 Theatres all have had their problems.

One Brooklyn school was attacked by the bugs 31 times in 2011. And even the headquarters of the city's Department of Housing isn't safe!