Insects and Rodents A Problem at Methuen, Massachusetts Emergency Shelter

Fall River Reporter has obtained exclusive photos that give a look at deplorable conditions inside one of the Massachusetts hotels being used to shelter migrants.

The photos show insect and rodent issues at the Days Inn, located at 159 Pelham Street in Methuen. A homeless family staying at the hotel, that wishes to remain anonymous, says conditions have been unsanitary dating back to 2023 and have continued to deteriorate.

Despite storing food in totes and sealed containers, rodents have eaten through walls and baseboards in their hotel room, leaving debris where they have breached the room.

The family has found mice in trash cans in their room and even nesting areas in shoeboxes in their closet where they have found newborn mice.

The family says the rodents continue to be an issue, with mice eating through clothing and shoes, leaving droppings around the room as well as on counters and desks.

The family says insects and roaches have plagued the hotel for the past two years, with traps around the hotel not making an impact on the problem.

Outside the hotel, a large dumpster is partially full of trash and open.

The family says mold issues in the bathroom are unmanageable and staff do not make repairs. At one point, conditions inside the hotel were allegedly so bad, a pregnant family member was told by her doctor she needed to relocated. A copy of the letter, provided to the state on behalf of the woman’s doctor, says she should be transferred “quickly to an apartment” but she was not.

The Days Inn first began housing migrants in October of 2022 and the site has remained an emergency shelter location since. Speaking with Gene Walsh, the acting Methuen Building Commissioner, the property had been inspected by his office when the migrants first arrived but they have not been back to the property “in over a year.”

The Methuen Director of Public Health, Caeli Tegan Zampach, tells Fall River Reporter that the property was last inspected by her office on August 15th of this year and that there has been a persistent rodent and insect problem at the location. Zampach says the most recent complaint to her office about the Days Inn was just over two months ago and it was for insect infestation. They alerted the hotel of the complaint and they managed it from there.

Zampach says that the hotel management has a monthly remote meeting with City officials for a “surface” meeting with updates for the property. The acting Mayor of the city has recently called for the Healey Administration to close down the hotel after what he says has been well documented health and safety code violations at the location. Governor Maura Healey has stated her administration plans to phase out hotels as shelters over the next year and a half.

Conditions of the hotel lend to questions over who’s responsible for the problematic health code violations, with state contracted employees working at shelter locations but hotels being paid tens of thousands a month per room. Through the emergency housing program, Massachusetts is paying approximately $10,000 a month per migrant family, according to Senator Michael Rodrigues, of Fall River, who earlier this year said it was unsustainable. Shelter costs have exceeded $1 billion for 2024 and are projected to reach the same for 2025.