The Canfield Hotel in Dubuque. (Photo by Google Earth)
In recent weeks, a Dubuque hotel has been cited for more than two dozen health-and-safety violations, including bed bugs, cockroaches and hallways strewn with garbage.
A city inspector visited the 98-year-old Canfield Hotel at 36 W. 4th St., Dubuque, on Jan. 14 and cited the business for 14 regulatory violations – an exceptionally large number for a hotel. Two weeks later, the inspector cited the hotel for 12 additional violations.
Among the problems reported by the inspector on Jan. 14:
— Vermin: The hotel’s “infested rooms” had not been adequately treated to eliminate infestations of roaches and bedbugs, the inspector reported. Rooms 323 and 322 had bed bugs and were in use at the time of the inspection. Room 524 also had a roach infestation.
— Hallways: The hallway walls on several floors were reported to be damaged, and litter and garbage had accumulated in some of the hallways. The “housekeeping closets” on various floors were visibly dirty,
— Room garbage: In Room 322, the inspector reported finding damaged walls and an accumulation of garbage in the shower, as well as “litter throughout room.” Room 524 was “not maintained,” the inspector reported, and there was “garbage in the room.”
— Bedding: The bedding in Rooms 323 and 322 had not been kept clean, and guests were not furnished with clean sheets. In addition, the toilet in Room 323 was not clean, and the sink in Room 524 was broken.
— Guest records: The staff was unable to locate guest registration records from June 2024 through October 2024, and the existing records did not provide the city and state of residence for registered guests.
At the time of the Jan. 14 inspection, City Inspector Tim Link reported that he spoke to the owner and discussed the need to keep all bedding clean and in good repair, specifying that “there shall be an under sheet and top sheet for every bed. Pillows shall have pillow slips and be kept clean. Each guest room shall have a clean towel each day.”
Link also reported that he advised the manager that “owners and managers are expected to keep hotels clean and pest-free. Any room or article which becomes infested with vermin shall be cleaned or treated.”
The inspector also indicated the Canfield Hotel had guests registered for weekly, biweekly and monthly stays — and he noted that those individuals were not receiving linen service or housekeeping services as required by regulations.
On Jan. 24, Link reported that he had conducted a “follow-up inspection to check progress” on the issues noted 10 days earlier. “Met pest-control firm on site,” he reported. “All floors have been treated for pests … Progress has been made in janitor closets on each floor. Manager states hallways now are being regularly cleaned and vacuumed.”
Link reported that before completing his inspection, he gave the manager advance notice of a planned “room-by room inspection,” which Link said would take place at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2025.
Second inspection, more violations
As planned, Link returned on Jan. 28 and then cited the hotel for an additional 12 violations, some of which were tied to issues left uncorrected since Jan. 14. Among the problems noted at that time:
— Disrepair: Rooms were not being maintained in good repair, and there was an unspecified “accumulation in several rooms,” the inspector reported — an apparent reference to garbage or debris of some kind. Inside one guest room, “multiple beds” were found stored inside.
— Hallways: Hallways were not being maintained, with the fourth-floor hallway marred by peeling plaster. “Floor near radiator has insects and is soiled,” the inspector reported. “Fifth-floor hallway has roaches outside of room 524.”
— Vermin: “Evidence of pests,” the inspector reported. “Room 223 (has) roaches by the door. Roaches in second-floor electrical room. Room 323 (has) active bed bugs on box spring. Room 617 had “pest-control powder” in many areas, and the inspector found evidence of bed bugs in the mattress and box spring.
— Drapes and bedding: The drapes in “many rooms” were reported to be visibly dirty, and the bedding for guest rooms was “not maintained clean,” the inspector reported. “Many rooms which were not occupied does not have clean bedding.”
— Water supply: Room 516 had no hot water, and Room 421 had “very low” hot-water pressure. One guest room had what the inspector called “a dry toilet,” suggesting the water supply wasn’t working.
— Bathrooms: Several toilets in guest rooms were not being maintained, kept clean or kept in good repair. Peeling paint was found in Room 615, Room 421, Room 215, Room 223, Room 321 and Room 225. Some light fixtures didn’t work, there was mold inside one toilet, and the bathroom floor of one guest room was damaged. Several bathrooms were reported to be visibly dirty.
— Room rates: The room rates posted in guest rooms did not match the rates provided to city health officials.
Link, the city inspector, wrote in his Jan. 28 report: “In speaking with owner by phone he stated he plans to hire housekeeping staff. During inspection, guests stated they are getting clean sheets and towels.”
Routine hotel inspections eliminated
Details of some of the other regulatory violations found in January, such as plumbing problems, are spelled out in attachments to the city’s published inspection reports. In response to the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s request for those attachments, Link said he would have to check with his supervisor or the city’s public information officer before making them available.
State records indicate that prior to the January 2025 visits, the Canfield Hotel was last inspected in June 2023, immediately prior to the building reopening under new ownership. The initial inspection this year was prompted by a “non-illness complaint,” although the published inspection report gives no indication as to the precise nature of the complaint or whether it was deemed verified.
City assessment records indicate the 54-unit hotel was built in 1927. It was purchased in June 2023 by Krupa LLC, a company that is managed by Mihir Patel. Since 2023, when Patel took over the hotel, the net assessed value of the property has dropped from $923,700 to $717,700.
Patel said Monday he has hired four new housekeepers, stepped up pest control in the building, and hired a general contractor to address the issues cited by the city inspector. He said there are roughly 25 people living in the building, with most of them paying rent on a week-to-week basis.
In 2022, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing acknowledged that for the previous eight years, it had violated a law requiring the routine inspection of Iowa’s hotels and motels.
By law, the agency had been required to inspect all hotels within its jurisdiction at least once every two years. The department was instead conducting preopening inspections and complaint investigations, and any others were based on an agency risk assessment.
Last year, the Iowa Legislature approved, and the governor signed into law, legislation that codified the department’s long-standing practice. The bill repealed the requirement for biennial inspections.
Under current law, Iowa’s hotel and motel inspections are to be conducted “upon receipt of a verified complaint signed by a guest of a hotel.”