Stay in a Ventura hotel and becomes a multimillion-dollar jury payment[d] From bed bug bites, according to court records.”
Friday's jury ordered Shores Inn to pay $2 million to Alvaro Gutierrez and Ramiro Sanchez, possibly one of the largest known bedbug-related jury awards.
“The bed bug locks on the plaintiff while sleeping, sucking blood until it is swallowed and resists eradication,” the complaint said.
Shores Inn representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attorney representing the hotel lawsuit also did not respond to a request for comment.
The case originated from Shores Inn visiting Ventura in 2020.
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According to their complaints, Gutierrez and Sanchez were “exposed to painful and disgusting bed bug infestation” and suffered physical, emotional and mental pain due to their physical and mental health on February 7, 2020.
“The management didn't take good care of the place,” said Brian Virag, a lawyer for Gutierrez and Sanchez. “It turned out that they had a long experience with bedbugs at that hotel.”
Located near Highway 101, this hotel is just steps from Ventura Beach, with convenient parking and close to Ventura Quay and Ventura Harbour.
The complaint was filed in December 2021, accusing the two of them of renting a room in the hotel and immediately began experiencing bed bug bites.
The lawsuit also claims that hotel managers must have been aware of the bug problem, as several online comments on Google and Yelp warned guests about the bugs at the Ventura South Seaward Ave.
Despite knowing the problem, management failed to eliminate pests from the hotel, causing harm to guests.
Villagg said Gutierrez and Sanchez left the hotel one night and had to seek medical treatment for the bite.
On May 23, a jury awarded Gutierrez $400,000 in compensation for past and future pain, disfigurement, sadness and emotional distress. Sanchez received $600,000 in damages, according to court records.
The jury also compensated two men with punitive damages of $500,000.
In 2022, Disneyland Resort agreed to pay a lawsuit to a hotel guest at the resort during a 2018 visit to settle her bite by a bed bug. The following year, the UK travel represented by Virag won a $375,000 award and a $375,000 award, which was notorious in the Hollywood Hills Home.
Virag, an Encino lawyer who specializes in bed bug cases against hotels and apartments, said the $20 million jury award was the largest in bed bug-related cases of his career.
