TULSA -- A woman's fear becomes her reality after she says her hotel room was infested
with bed bugs while she was celebrating her son's birthday at a south Tulsa Holiday Inn Express.
Although the hotel has refunded the two-night stay, 2 Works for You problem solver Katie Wisely explains how the mother of three wants the hotel to be held accountable for reimbursed for everything ruined.
A picture shows a raised red welt near a child's jawline.
"He had a knot on his forehead," mother Marie Barclow said. "His eyelids were swollen and his mouth was swollen real bad."
Barclow claims her son had multiple welts after one night on the third floor of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites near 102nd and Memorial.
"You could see them all on the spreads and on the box springs," she said. "It was everywhere."
It's two words you never want to hear, bed bugs.
"They latch on to stuff and travel," Barclow said.
She booked a two-night stay February 4th and 5th so her son could swim for his birthday.
"I had to throw all my stuff away," she said.
Hotel staff moved the family to a different room for the second night, but also on the third floor. The next morning the mother discovered more bites. Barclow's fiance raised the mattress and saw the insects.
"I was real mad by this time," she said.
The mother says management told them to leave before check out because pest control was coming. She claims she never saw the exterminator. The hotel did reimburse the family for their stay.
"They should have to cover my kids medical bills," Barclow said. "They should have to be helping me find somewhere else to go."
The manager called Barclow while 2 Works for You was there for our interview.
"He didn't care about my kids," Barclow said. "My baby's face is swollen."
2 Works for You confronted the general manager.
"We have asked her to file an insurance claim, which every sensible person would have to do that," the manager said.
After the general manager refused to do anything else, we reached out to corporate. They offered the family a two night stay at any IHG hotel. Now, Barclow has to file an insurance claim for other compensation. For the future, Barclow questions whether a stay at hotel is worth it.
