My mother and I just returned from the 8-day French Riviera trip through Gate 1 travel. The last two hotels we stayed at were the Hotel Mercure des Papes in Avignon and the Grand Hotel Aston in Nice. We began to feel very uncomfortable and itchy during our plane ride home. Upon arriving at home, we went straight to another family member who is a doctor and were diagnosed with bed bug bites all over our bodies. We live in separate residences in Chicago and we hadn't even spent a night back at home, which means that we contracted these bites at some point on our trip. It has been quite some time since either of us have traveled and the only time we were together was on this trip.
I contacted the hotels as well as Gate 1 travel to initiate investigations. As of now, both hotels claim that they do not have bed bug problems and Gate 1 has washed their hands of this issue because we did not report this to the hotels during our stay there. I'm very disappointed that none of the parties are willing to take any responsibility for this and that your "window" to report such incidences ends the minute you step out the door of the establishments. The hotels can claim that they do not have bed bugs as much as they want but we have the photos and the scars all over our bodies to prove that it did happen. Not to mention, we are still recovering over a week later. Since nobody is willing to take responsibility, all I can do is forewarn future travelers to definitely check your beds the minute you walk into either of these hotels. And do not book with Gate 1 travel ever! read more