When you book a hotel stay, you expect a time of relaxation and enjoyment away from daily stresses. Unfortunately, accidents can quickly turn your peaceful getaway into a painful ordeal. Slips on wet lobby floors and falls on poorly lit stairways are just some of the common mishaps that occur at hotels. These can leave you with disrupted vacation plans, serious injuries and mounting medical bills. When faced with such overwhelming circumstances, can you actually hold the hotel responsible?
What makes hotels legally responsible
Hotels owe their guests what the law calls a “duty of care.” This means they must take reasonable steps to keep you safe during your stay. This duty exists because hotels actively invite you onto their property for business purposes.
Beyond making sure your room is safe, a hotel’s duty of care extends to:
- Regularly inspecting the entire property to identify potential hazards
- Promptly repairing potential dangers like wet floors, torn carpeting or broken stairs
- Installing adequate lighting in hallways, stairwells and parking areas
- Maintaining proper security measures to protect guests from criminal activity
- Warning visitors about known dangers through proper signage
- Ensuring pools and recreational areas meet safety standards
- Following health codes in restaurants and food service areas
- Training staff to respond appropriately to emergencies and safety concerns
When hotels neglect these responsibilities and you suffer an injury as a result, they may be legally liable for your damages.
The path forward after a hotel injury
Dealing with the pain and stress of an injury while you should be on vacation can be frustrating and overwhelming. A premises liability attorney can serve as your dedicated advocate during this time. They know exactly what responsibilities the hotel has toward its guests and can identify when those duties were not met in your case. Your lawyer also handles difficult conversations with insurance representatives, who would most likely minimize your suffering or suggest you were at fault. This legal support levels the playing field between you and large hotel corporations with their own legal teams.