The D.C. Attorney General on Thursday moved to shut down a New York Avenue hotel after a young customer allegedly contracted scabies and city inspectors found bugs in the linens, blood splatters on the walls and a used condom in the stairwell.
Attorney General Linda Singer requested a D.C. Superior Court judge to close the President’s Inn, at 1600 New York Ave., NE, because the city says the hotel is operating without a business license or a valid certificate of occupancy.
Managers of the hotel did not respond to attempts by an Examiner reporter to reach them Thursday.
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs officials began investigating in May after a woman complained that her daughter contracted scabies after a five-day state at the inn, an eight-story landmark for drivers along New York Avenue.
The daughter developed severe itching and pimple-like bumps on her skin, possibly from the hotel linens, sheets, a mattress or towels, according to the complaint.
Investigators inspected nine of the 15 rooms that were supposed to be ready for new guests. They found living and dead bugs under the bed linens, an enormous amount of dried blood on a mattress, rat droppings, splattered blood on the wall and a broken toilet, officials said.
They also discovered a crack pipe and makeshift bed in a storage room.
Owner Deepak Bhatnagar told the inspectors that he was unaware of the poor conditions of the hotel, according to the complaint.
Bhatnagar could not explain to officials why the hotel did not have a basic business license or certificate of occupancy.
Five months after the investigation began, the owners still had not obtained the appropriate licenses and certificates, according to the attorney general.
