'Breakfast, lunch and dinner': Multiple guests launch lawsuits against 2 Las Vegas Strip hotels, claiming they were 'massacred' by bedbugs — how to avoid sleeping in an infested room

“The hotel operator has a responsibility to make sure that that room is bedbug-free,” Brian Virag, an attorney representing the guests, told the local broadcaster in a story published May 12.

Here are the details behind the story, and what you can do if you’re ever in this situation.

Bedbug lawsuits

One lawsuit involves California woman Teresa Bruce, and says she stayed at the hotel Treasure Island last June. According to 8 News Now, Bruce’s lawsuit alleges staff confirmed the presence of bedbugs in her room. After switching rooms, she noticed further bites, and staff allegedly once again found bedbugs.

Illinois residents Courtney and Stephen Gully have sued the Luxor Hotel after Courtney allegedly had a reaction to bedbugs in their room in which she felt like her throat was closing. Per 8 News Now, the lawsuit states staff had to send an EMT to her room and an ambulance took her to the hospital where she was seen in the parking lot and given narcotics. Luxor refunded the resort fee following the incident last June.

The final guest, Brianna McKenzie of Washington, stayed at the Luxor when the hotel allegedly confirmed the presence of bedbugs in her room last July, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Virag shared photos with the broadcaster of bite marks he says were from his clients. Every hotel guest, he says, regardless of how nice an establishment, should be protected from bedbugs.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re paying $60 a night for a room, or $600 a night for a room. The obligation on the hotel operator is the same — you have to keep the guests safe,” he said.

Journalists reached out to MGM International, owner of the Luxor, and Treasure Island for comment but did not immediately get a response.

This isn’t the first time Las Vegas hotels have been accused of bedbug infestations. Last fall, 8 News Now published a story on guests reporting bedbugs at four other hotels over a six-month period, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.