Bed Bugs Crash Coachella Festival

Coachella Festival 2018 was attended by over 100,000 people, many stayed in hotels/motels. 

The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Southern California is one of the most popular and well known musical events in the world. This year featured performers such as Beyonce, Eminem, The Weekend, and many, many more.

However, out of town guests returning from their trip may have ended up with some unwanted guests in their luggage. Although many attendees of the festival choose to camp, those who chose to stay in one of the hotel or motel rooms in the area have reported a massive bed bug problem.

One such unlucky hotel guest was Lillian Almario, who was staying at the Palm Springs Motel 6 with a couple of friends. They discovered bed bugs in the room when they woke up the next night. Not only were they covered in bites, but they also saw the bugs themselves which the hotel staff claimed to have missed.

Motel guest Lillian Almario provided these pictures of bugs and bites to NBC4.

"The very first night we woke up with bites. It was painful. We were scratching a lot,"
- Lillian Almario

To make matters worse, they couldn’t change rooms as the entire hotel and all others in the area had been booked up for the festival. Lilian and her friend chose to sleep in their car rather than risk further exposure. However, they were refunded by the motel for their stay.

It’s no surprise to Southern California residents that bed bugs have become an increasingly common problem to travelers. There has been a huge increase of bed bugs in the area over the last ten years and it’s beginning to look like an epidemic.

If you or anyone you know have accidentally brought bed bugs into your home or business, give us a call at (818) 510-0629 or click the link below to learn more about how to deal with a bed bug infestation.

To read more about this story by Joel Grover and Josh Underwood-Davis of NBC4, click here.