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Ew ew ew bedbugs. For the last year or two, we've been seeing a resurgence in the pests, probably thanks to the rising popularity of bed ownership or something. Even a classy joint like the Hilton isn't immune, apparently: Consumerist reports that the one on Kearny presented one customer with a delightful bouquet of bites and itching. The customer says that they complained to the folks in charge, and two days later hadn't heard back.
In fairness to the hotel, it can be hard to keep those pests under control, especially when you associate with folks whose hygiene can best be described as "casual," such as Paris. Ha ha ha ha ha! The girl's dirty, is what we're trying to say.
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Actually its apparently a resurgence in their populations as people tend to spray less toxic bug spray. The populations of bed bugs went down considerably in the decades after WWII when people weren't as concerned (or didn't know) about the side effects of spraying poison on everything in site. It's taken the little buggers 20 years to come back, but come back they have.
This may be attributable to this particular hotel, not Hilton overall or some national bedbug resurgence.
It used to be a Holiday Inn (in a weird location that seems more Holiday Inn-ish than Hilton-ish). Ever since the changeover, I've seen some sketchy reviews of this place on Yelp and Tripadvisor.com. SF's other Hilton, near Union Square, is probably the better way to go. That's how it is with big chain hotels...some locations are superstars, others are dogs.
Actually, the resurgence has not occurred over the last 30 years or so since DDT was banned, it has really taken hold, especially in multifamily dwellings and hotels because of the change in management of roaches, and this has been just in recent years.
Regular preventative spraying for roaches was once par for the course, even up to 5-10 years ago. An added, if un-noticed benefit was the consequent reduction in bed bug populations. In the last decade, roach control has moved away from these "need it or not" spray programs to a combination of baiting and spot spraying for severe infestations.
Particularly in San Francisco, where there are relatively restrictive (and IMHO, generally good) pesticide regulations, the wholesale spraying for roaches, and cessation of said spraying, can partially explain the resurgence of bed bugs.
The City will now need to take another look at their IPM policies and come up with a new approach that allows preventive and less restrictive repeat spraying for bed bugs, particularly in hotels and SROs.