2 upscale hotels call in pest control experts after guests serving stay-home notices complain of cockroaches in rooms

• Hotel guests serving stay-home notices at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront and Swissotel The Stamford complained of cockroaches in their rooms
• Some said they were moved to other rooms repeatedly, but found roaches there as well
• Both hotels told TODAY they are calling in pest control experts to address the problem
• STB said dedicated facilities for people on stay-home notice must adhere to cleaning, disinfecting and infection control protocols

SINGAPORE — Two upscale hotels have brought in pest control experts after guests serving stay-home notices there complained of cockroach infestations in their rooms.

Guests at both the Grand Copthorne Waterfront and Swissotel The Stamford posted photos of the roaches on Facebook groups for those sharing information about hotels and their experiences being quarantined.

Some guests told TODAY that they were shocked to find the roaches crawling on snacks, on their beds and elsewhere — and faced the same problem even after changing rooms.

Responding to TODAY’s queries on Monday (Nov 30), a spokesperson for Grand Copthorne Waterfront said that the hotel is taking the complaints seriously.

“Our hotels maintain a strict cleaning regime that adheres to the necessary stay-home notice protocols of disinfecting and cleaning. Grand Copthorne Waterfront has engaged a pest control specialist to conduct a thorough check and fumigation of the premises.

“The hotel is also intensifying the frequency of its cleaning procedures for all rooms, including a thorough disinfection of hard-to-reach areas.” 

A representative from Swissotel The Stamford said that “certified specialists have been called in immediately once we were alerted, to solve the issue and mitigate the occurrence of similar cases”.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and carefully to ensure comfort and peace of mind for our guests,” the spokesperson said.

This is not the first time that complaints have arisen about these facilities. In September, guests serving their stay-home notice at Park Hotel Alexandra complained about poor hygiene standards in their allocated rooms where toilet bowls were not flushed or there was urine on the floor.

ALLERGY TO COCKROACHES

On Nov 25, Ms Shveta Venkatram, 28, posted a plea in a private Facebook group for people intending to travel into and out of Singapore. This was after she had been placed first in one, then a second room, at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront. Both were roach-infested, she said.

She asked for advice on how to get a hotel transfer quickly.

Ms Shveta, a Singaporean who works in the technology field, told TODAY that she landed in Singapore on Nov 24 and reached the hotel at 2am.

“I woke up and that's when I saw roaches on the table, the wall, on the bed and on the floor as well. A total of five that I was able to see. And then I started developing allergies to it. I was just itching a lot and scratching a lot.” 

She asked the hotel to get her transferred to another hotel because she suspected that the problem could be building-wide.

When she spoke to someone on the hotline for stay-home notice guests, she was told that her request could take five to seven business days to process.

Ms Shveta was moved to another room at 3am on Nov 25, where she spotted another cockroach despite asking hotel employees to spray insecticide throughout the room before she entered.

“I called the hotel and told them this was unacceptable. I was pretty upset about the whole thing and they sent someone to vacuum-clean the room. They said that they didn't see any other roaches,” she said.

At 8am, Ms Shveta called the various authorities including the Ministry of Health, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), which she said helped to escalate the matter to the relevant team in charge of stay-home notice matters.

The team contacted her to say that the only way for her hotel transfer to be approved was by providing supporting medical documents.

Ms Shveta scheduled a telemedicine consultation to obtain a doctor’s note for the redness she was experiencing on her arms, legs and face.

By 3pm, she was moved to Swissotel The Stamford.

‘DON’T FEEL SAFE’

Another woman on quarantine, social media manager Jisoo Lee, 27, a permanent resident, said that she has changed hotel rooms five times. Ms Lee started her Grand Copthorne Waterfront stay at the same time as Ms Shveta.

In a public Facebook post on Friday, she wrote about being relocated repeatedly over two days. She said that she saw cockroaches crawling around her snacks, in the doorway, on the walls and on tables in the various rooms.

Ms Lee called the hotline for stay-home notice matters many times, only to be told that there was nothing that could be done. The personnel merely informed her that they would help her speed up the process of getting a hotel transfer. She has also submitted an online form and sent across a doctor’s note but her request has not yet been granted.

Ms Lee is now in a service apartment-style room that the hotel recommended to her. It is “much brighter so it should be better” and is one of their biggest rooms, they told her.

“I don't feel safe being here and I do have an irrational fear of cockroaches, so I haven’t been able to sleep well and I sleep with the lights on at night,” she said.

Ms Lee’s employers called the team in charge of stay-home notice guests, the ICA and the Ministry of Manpower to see what can be done. Her boss even went to ICA last Saturday and was told to fill out a form and wait.

Ms Lee said that she has since received a call from the team in charge of stay-home notice matters as well as from a separate care line that checks on the well-being of stay-home notice guests.

“I basically told them that I'm already at the seventh day and at this point, I don't think there's much (point) in switching. I told them that I wish they had contacted me, like, five days ago.” 

INSECTICIDE BY HER BEDSIDE

Over at Swissotel The Stamford, logistics and customs manager Azlina Zainal, 37, a Singaporean, has had three room changes since starting her stay on Nov 27.

In her first room, she said that she saw cockroaches crawling on her handbag that she had placed in the pantry. In the second room, she saw them on her ceiling and in her third room, they were on the curtains.

“By then, I thought to myself that there’s no point moving to another room. I’m sure it’s going to be the same thing. I just killed it myself with a bottle of insecticide. I’m exhausted,” she said.

“I don't know if it's because the hygiene standards have been reduced because housekeeping is not allowed for guests serving their quarantine, but I think they should do some kind of pest control every time a person vacates the room.”

Ms Azlina said she noticed that used containers of food placed along the corridor after mealtimes are not immediately cleared and are taken away just once a day.

For now, all she can do is sleep with a bottle of insecticide by her bedside, she said.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Ms Geraldine Yeo, director of the Stay-Home Notice Operations Division at STB, said: “Stay-home notice dedicated facilities must adhere to proper security arrangements, strict infection control measures, rigorous cleaning and disinfecting regimes.

“We will continue to conduct regular checks on the facilities and work with our hotels to ensure that facilities adhere to the required hygiene and service standards to ensure a safe environment for both guests and hotel staff. We will also work with the respective hotels to address any feedback received.”

Ms Shveta has not seen any critters in her new hotel, but she said: “Grounds for cleanliness is just such a basic thing especially when we're trying to keep people safe with Covid-19 and when hygiene is so important. It's really ironic.

“On one hand, hygiene is important and on the other hand, you're okay locking people up in rooms that are roach-infested for 14 days.

“We’re just shocked that this is how things are.”