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Tampa Woman Sues Orlando Inn, Says It Let The Bedbugs Bite

Photo from KIMBERLY ANN DeROCHE

The night left scars on her legs and torso and has caused extreme embarrassment, Kimberly Ann DeRoche's attorney says.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 30, 2008

Updated: 07/30/2008 10:12 am

Kimberly Ann DeRoche says she was chewed up by bedbugs.

TAMPA - A Tampa woman says she carries a constant reminder of a stay at an Orlando hotel two years ago and that the memories aren't pleasant.

Kimberly Ann DeRoche is suing Rodeway Inn International on International Drive, saying she was chewed up by bedbugs during a stay there two years ago. The night left scars on her legs and torso and has caused extreme embarrassment, her attorney said this morning.

The lawsuit, filed last week in circuit court in Orlando, names Rodeway Inn and its owner, Rosen Hotels, and seeks a minimum of $15,000 in damages.

The complaint states that DeRoche stayed at the Rodeway Inn at the end of April 2006 in Room 512. While there, the complaint says, DeRoche was bitten "a multitude of times by bedbugs, causing severe, significant injury to her person."

The complaint states that the hotel was negligent in not preventing "the entrance and the breeding on the premises" of bedbugs.

The result was that DeRoche required medical treatment and was scarred by the bites, which left dime-size marks, said her attorney, Stephen Igou of Orlando.

"This isn't your average bedbug bite," he said from his office this morning. "Each and every bite … [developed a bacterial infection], and each bite left a permanent scar. She had 30 to 40 all over legs and stomach. It's there forever."

The lawsuit was filed July 24.

Rodeway Inn officials, contacted this morning, said they would offer a comment later today.

Hotels and motels are inspected regularly by the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation. According to an inspections log posted on the department's Web site, the Rodeway Inn has been inspected five times since August 2006, and the inspections include checks for vermin.

None of the inspections shows any violations along those lines.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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