A commercial pilot is suing a downtown Denver hotel after a bat allegedly sunk its teeth into his foot, leaving him with a bite he claims cost him more than $100,000 in medical bills.
The alleged August 2025 incident happened while the pilot was staying on the 22nd floor of the Sheraton Denver Hotel Downtown. The pilot, who has not been publicly identified because he fears professional repercussions, alleges he was awakened in the middle of the night by bats flying through his room, CBS Colorado reports.
“[He] was sleeping and he woke up to a commotion, and he woke up and said there were bats flying around,” his attorney, Ed Lomena, told the broadcaster.
Lomena said his client immediately contacted hotel maintenance, but workers failed to remove all of the animals and did not relocate him to another room. Hotel staff never sealed a hole beneath the room's air conditioning unit, where the bats are believed to have entered, the pilot claims, according to the station.
“So the next morning, he gets up, and that's when he sees, hanging from the curtain rod, a bat hanging upside down,” Lomena said. As well as that, the pilot claims he was bitten on the foot.
“He was bit by a bat,” Lomena said. “He was scared he was going to die and leave his family without a father.”
Denver Animal Control later removed the bat for rabies testing, which ultimately came back negative. Still, because bat bites can expose people to rabies, a disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms develop, the pilot underwent emergency medical evaluation and a full course of post-exposure rabies treatment.
The medical treatment resulted in bills totaling nearly $100,000, though insurance covered much of the cost, the complaint states, per CBS Colorado reports.
In addition to seeking compensation for medical expenses, the pilot is asking for damages related to emotional distress, injuries, attorney fees and court costs. He has requested a jury trial.
“We believe the evidence will show that this incident was preventable and that the hotel's response fell well below what any guest should expect. No one should have to worry about being exposed to bats while sleeping in a hotel room,” the Lomena Law firm told The Independent in a statement.
“We attempted for months to resolve this matter before filing suit. Despite providing medical records, photographs, and other supporting evidence, Marriott's settlement offers did not reflect the seriousness of the incident or the harm suffered by my client. As a result, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit,” the statement continued.
Lomena said the encounter has had a lasting psychological impact on his client.
"He's always staying in hotels because of his job, so now anytime he goes to a hotel he's constantly searching around the room, looking for openings, looking for ways wildlife can get into his room," he told CBS Colorado. "(It's) hard for him to sleep."
The Independent has contacted the hotel's parent company, Marriott International, for comment.
