Staying in a five star hotel in Morocco and there are COCKROACHES - normal?! I’m freaked out!

[Diamonddiamond]

We’re staying in a luxury horel in Morocco with our kids and there are cockroaches in our room. Noticed one dead one yesterday, then another fell off the ceiling(!!!), then when we came in and turned the light on today saw three more. They’re massive and they can fly!

Am I overreacting to be horrified? Should I complain? Or should I expect cockroaches in Morocco? This hotel is very expensive.

Terrified they’re going to stow away in my luggage (I hate cockroaches!)

Tell us what hotel it is, so I know to avoid it.

But if they fly as you say....then how can they be expected to keep them out?

I think they probably can’t keep them out, which is why they’re still not doing anything.

I feel really bad to name them - a lot of local people rely on the hotel for a job. And I don’t know if cockroaches are as “aaaaaahhhhhh!!” as I think they are, coming from the cosseted uk, as people have said above.

Not impressed though, they have barely raised an eyebrow, let alone offered to move us - let alone made a token effort to keep them out. We were contemplating going home a day early!

For the person suggesting a cat ... our flat in Hong Kong was quite high up, flying cockroaches would come, well, just flying in, until we eventually invested in fly screens. Are there any fly screens you could pull across?

The cats would torture play with them til they had pulled off all the moving parts, then just leave them to be found often in the shower cubicle (bare feet, ugh)

We Stayed in a riu hotel in Marrakesh and there were cockroaches. I assumed it was just a thing there. Didn’t bother us tbh. As a pp said I think they just view them as a bit of an annoying insect like ants or moths or something. I was MOsT bothered about all the frogs! There were millions of them and I am TERRIFIED of frogs

I live in a Middle East country, clean my house every single day and I can say, it’s just the time of year for them. It’s hotter out and they make their way to cooler places aka your lovely A/C’d room.

They are horrible things but not something you can avoid in certain counties. However - I would not be ok with them spraying the room and you sleeping in it after - I’d demand a change of room

Yeah I was going to say I'd be more worried about breathing in whatever they're going to spray than the cockroaches.

I don't think you can expect them to be that bothered then op

Going to other countries means experiencing different ways. Just because we are horrified by them in the uk doesn't mean every other country is going to be

Even in a hot country (I live in a place with cockroaches and up to 40+ degrees in summer) it's NOT acceptable in a five star hotel. It really isn't. A five star hotel should have policies and procedures in place, frequent spraying and treatment of drains and so on to make sure guests aren't seeing them. Seeing 10 in your room in the space of a day means they basically aren't controlling a cockroach infestation.

It's not acceptable.

I'd be terrified of getting out of bed for a wee in the dark in the middle of the night in case I stepped one! Horrible things.

It’s the last couple of days of Ramadan, the staff will be really be suffering. The heat must be crazy as I presume you’re in Marrakesh. not saying that’s excusable reason but might explain the staffs behaviour a bit.
Other cities in Morocco aren’t like Marrakesh

Op why can't you name it! This isn't TripAdvisor.. A little thread tucked away on mumsnet.

There is no way I would stay in room that's been sprayed with chemicals to kick cock roaches...

Don't worry OP: the scorpions or lizards will get them once it's dark.

Op it's not the cock roaches that's bothering me it's this hotels response.

I don't know why you can't name it, it's hardly big holiday destination. However if we decided to splash out on pricey hotel we couldn't afford to stay somewhere like this. Ie can't sort out problems and doesn't treat guests well.

We have flights booked for feb, I’d really love to know the name of the hotel to attempt to avoid when booking.
Like PP ^^ says it’s not the cockroaches, it’s the hotel’s handling of the situation.

Honestly this is not acceptable for a five star hotel even in a country with a climate like Morocco. You can't 100% prevent them but you can minimise them.
I don't know if this is the case in Morocco but in Egypt, there's a little drain cover near the toilet. Sometimes cleaners remove it when cleaning the floor. Cockroaches will come in if you don't make sure it's placed properly. Just a thought.

I've seen them in all kinds of hotels in hot countries. To be honest I wouldn't even think of telling reception for the odd one. Ten is quite a lot though...
I'd be terrified of getting out of bed for a wee in the dark in the middle of the night in case I stepped one For this reason I always keep flip flops by the bed on holiday.

If the property is expensive you should had complained ! And they had to get your payments back if it was directly booked ! Also if it was via a website or an agency travel you should done the same

If it was one or two I would suck it up. Ten would indicate there’s a problem.

Just seen this thread is from 2018!!

🤮 argh, the thought of them makes me go wobbly! I’m unsympathetic when people fear spiders but I’d do anything to avoid a cockroach, can you get a flight home OP?!

Hmm they’re not the mammoth wood eaters OP.

I grew up in Algeria and our kitchen was cockroach central. Even as a teenager I’d think twice before getting up at night to raid the fridge, cos as soon as I got in there and turn the light I’d be confronted with a dozen or so scarpering to all corners of the kitchen. Gross. We had cats, made no difference. They are inevitable in hot countries.