In a story that definitely won’t get Turismo de Portugal’s seal of approval, the UK’s Sun newspaper has exposed a “bed bug hellhole” in Lisbon where a young British couple’s plans for a “romantic holiday” went distinctly pear-shaped.
In fact, 20-year-old Nicola Stone was so badly affected by bites from what the Sun described as “flesh-eating bed bugs” that she “was forced to sight-see in long-sleeved tops and couldn’t wear flip flops as her feet were so badly bitten”.~
The story – appearing this week – must relate to some time during the summer, as anyone sightseeing in a short-sleeved top and flip-flops this month would have been at risk of hypothermia.
But the Sun goes into great detail over the horror, taking place it says two nights in to the couple’s stay at Hello Lisbon Santos Apartments.
After the two nights, “Nicola developed a pin prick on her arm, which she ignored”, said the paper. “But the following morning she woke up with the aching bites and a bed covered in blood and bug poo”.
Speaking to reporters back home in Edinburgh, Nicola is quoted as saying: “It was only after we saw the chemist that we realised little black dots which kept appearing on the sheets was bed bug excrement.
“There was also blood on the sheets which they had dripped as they walked around the bed.
“We decided to check Tripadvisor to see if it had happened before. A guy who had been there a few weeks before us had the same problem,” she said.
Itching to nail the culprits, Nicola apparently lifted the mattress to discover “several dried out bug skeletons”, added the Sun.
The good news is that the couple have been fully reimbursed for their stay by booking agent Lastminute.com “after contacting Citizens Advice” back home in Scotland.
A Hello Lisbon spokesman is also quoted as having said that the couple was “immediately accommodated in another property” after the bedbug hellhole was brought to the company’s attention.
“There was a problem identified in one of our properties”, said the spokesman, adding that the “property is closed until the end of the month to solve the situation without causing harm to more guests”.
