London

We got off the plane (February 17, 2019) and headed to one of the priority pass lounges that had showers. It was a small cute lounge, and the showers were clean. It was nice to get refreshed and have some snacks. They actually served a breakfast at the lounge with eggs and meat, but we had already eaten and didn't want more.

Hot chocolate in the lounge

The coolest vending machine!

Around 9am we decided to go to our hotel to put our bags in storage while we went to the city. We booked tickets for the Tower of London, where the crown jewels are located, and didn't want to have to lug our bags with us. Luckily the hotel had a room available and just checked us in 6 hours early. The Premier Inn at Heathrow is quite nice and cheap, I'd definitely recommend it to people.

Once we were settled in, we decided to head to the Tower. On our way, we also decided we wanted Meat Market in Covent Garden. We had lunch first. Hunter and I both got Hippie Burgers and a fry to share. It was delicious and I don't think we realized how hungry we both were. We headed to the Tower, got our tickets, and began a tour with a Beefeater. There are only thirty seven of them and ours was extremely funny. Each must have served at least twenty two years in the British military. There's also a special detachment of soldiers to guard the crown jewels. Ours was in the Royal Marines. We started outside the Tower in the moat before moving up into the layered defensive walls of the complex. Overall the Tower was fascinating and well worth the visit.

Covent Garden - lots of street performers

London Transport Museum at Convent Garden near Meat Market

The hippie burger

Beefeater

As the day progressed I became very very sleepy. I was almost falling asleep standing up, so Hunter and I decided to go back to our hotel for a nap and then go back out for dinner. We had a long train ride back to the hotel near the airport, and I slept some while on it. Once we got to the airport, we stopped at a Boots and picked up a meal deal. For £3.99 you get a main, drink, and snack. We got a ham and egg sandwich, a soda, and 3 baby bell cheeses. Once we were back at the hotel, it wasn't long before I was asleep.

We woke up at around 9:30pm, oversleeping what we wanted to as always, but we definitely needed some rest. We decided to try a pizza from the hotel restaurant, so Hunter went down to order it, however, it turned out they had no more crusts so pizza was a no go. The Chef felt terrible about it. Instead of pizza, we decided to try their quesadillas and as a kind gesture, the chef also gave us some fries and chicken he was having for his dinner and they didn't charge us any different than what a pizza would have cost. Hunter brought up our food and we ate while watching some TV. Blades of Glory was playing and I forgot how silly that movie was.

Then the worst thing ever happened... We saw a bedbug. 

It was a horrifying moment that I'd never imagined would happen to me, however, it is a reality and can happen to anyone. As I debating not telling people that we saw a bedbug in the bed we just slept in, I want to be real in my blog and let people know nothing is always perfect. Even the cleanest hotels with great ratings can sometimes have problems. The hotel was very apologetic and moved us immediately to a different floor and they didn't try to deny it being a bedbug. With all of this happening at 12am, I think they did a good job at handling the situation. They also gave us free breakfast and are going to refund our stay.

The horrifying bug

We are hoping it to be an isolated incident. When we first arrived to the hotel, Hunter did look for signs of infestation and didn't see anything alarming. We even looked more after finding the bug and couldn't see any hints of more bugs. We made sure when we moved rooms to keep our bags in the bathroom away from furniture and check all our things for bugs. I repacked our suitcases and didn't see anything, so hopefully there are no further problems. Neither of us have red bites on us too, but I'll be sure to put all my things into the laundry immediately when I return home. Did you know you could also freeze your clothes to prevent any bedbugs from living.

All in all, while I am completely disgusted and terrified I have bugs all over me, for all the times we have traveled, and to some sketchy places, having this be the first time it's happened is not the worst thing in the world. I definitely have learned some new things from this experience I will be doing from now on when we travel, like putting luggage in the bathroom away from furniture and checking the corners of the sheets and mattress.

While I probably won't stay at that hotel ever again because of our little experience, I would still recommend it. It was a nice spot with great helpful staff who definitely tried hard to make your experience the best they could.

Date: February 17, 2019