“BED BUGS”
I hate to leave this review because I know the implications of it for Imani Eco Stay and Van, but there is a SERIOUS BED BUG INFESTATION here. This property and little hut are truly magical and special. I am forever grateful for the peace and nourishment of the time spent my first week here in countless ways. I planned to stay two weeks. I checked for bed bugs when I got in to the best of my ability but the sheets are dark and futon mattresses are colorful, very worn, damaged and patterned so it was hard to tell. I started noticing bites on my body after the first few days but assumed they were flea bites from Van’s six dogs that are non‑stop scratching themselves because of the extremely heavy presence of fleas that they have. Uncomfortable but not so serious, I would just avoid being near the dogs. Around half way through the trip I started noticing more specifically which bites were new each day and the linear patterns they were more clearly forming in. This caused me to thoroughly comb through the bed with a flashlight in daytime. I calmly and immediately alerted Van when I found two bed bugs within minutes that afternoon. She didn’t react at all except to bring me new sheets. I explained to her that this would not help or fix the problem and then reiterated pretty constantly then and over and over again the next few days the seriousness of the issue, the impact to her rental business if it wasn’t fixed and the level of work and treatment that would need to be done to solve it. Unfortunately, I never felt that any of that moved her attitude or willingness to do anything about it. I ended up finding bed bugs in all different stages over the next few days, indicating a very developed presence. I spent every waking minute the next three days boiling water in an electric kettle, submerging all of my belongings multiple times in boiling water and moving them carefully to the other side of the property to dry and pack up in a very systematic way so I could feel comfortable leaving without spreading to others in shared spaces I would inevitably need to be in. Though our interactions had been really positive before all of this, during this time Van behaved like she was frustrated and annoyed—sometimes completely ignoring me when we would be in shared spaces and I would try and initiate conversation. She never checked in on how things were, offered help, or apologized. When I moved my trip back to Hanoi to an earlier date she was reluctant to refund me for the two days I would not be staying there saying that my reservation those days prevented others from being able to book. Again, making it clear that her priorities and understanding of this situation were way off from where they need to be for me to feel comfortable that she will adequately handle this. I really hoped to move her attitude so I could feel that this would be appropriately addressed and not have to leave this review. I explained the real impact it was having on me, my trip, and how it would affect other guests in the future. I told her I didn’t think she was taking it seriously enough and that I wouldn’t be comfortable not warning other people about this in a review. Again, no movement or response. I ended up spending the entire second half of my Vietnam trip dealing with this, even after getting back into the city— from morning until night every day, keeping everything separated, re‑bagging and re‑sanitizing constantly, submerging EVERYTHING in boiling water (and ruining a lot of things), sending all my washable belongings out to professionals, and combing through and throwing out anything I couldn’t be 100% sure about. My time at Imani was magic and I’m so grateful for it and for the week of meditation that kept me calm and centered throughout this unfolding but this situation has been ALOT and, based on the feelings I got from our interactions I ultimately just don’t feel comfortable not sharing it publicly.
Ellie2 bulan lalu