Hotel Negligence – What You Need to Know

If you or somebody you love sustains an injury while staying at a hotel, you should be able to recover compensation for you losses. That is, however, if you can prove that the hotel was negligent.

Determining hotel negligence can be challenging, particularly when insurance carriers and legal teams get involved. Here, we want to discuss what you need to know about hotel negligence and why it is so important for you to work with an attorney for these claims.

What is the Hotel Responsible For?

There are various responsibilities that hotel owners and operators have in terms of safety. There are common responsibilities that include ensuring that rooms, hallways, and the lobby are well lit. Other common duties include keeping pathways, stairs, and steps dry and free from any hazards so that guests have easy access. Additionally, hotel operators must repair any defects to the building or property.

Other general duties for hotel owners and operators include controlling possible insect infestations, ensuring the doors and locks work appropriately, maintaining security to avoid any stealing or assault on the property, background checking new hires, preventing pool injuries, maintaining elevators, and more.

How to Prove the Hotel was Negligent

If you or somebody you love sustains an injury on hotel property, securing compensation will be easier if you can prove that the hotel was negligent in some way. Proving negligence can be challenging, but if you are a guest or sanctioned visitor, then the hotel does owe you a duty of care. There are various ways that the hotel can breach this duty of care, including having faulty items in the hotel room, failing to maintain stairs, failing to hire adequate staff to maintain safety, not dealing with bedbug infestations, and more.

For example, if a hotel fails to provide adequate security or check-in procedures and trespassers get onto the property and assault you as you are leaving your room, this may constitute a breach of duty on the hotel’s part. If you sustain a physical injury due to the negligence of the hotel owners or operators, you should be able to recover compensation.

What Kind of Compensation Can You Receive?

There may be various types of compensation available to individuals who are injured because of their hotel’s negligence. This typically includes a range of economic and non-economic damages, such as:

• Coverage of any emergency medical bills
• All follow up medical care
• Prescription medication or medical devices
• Lost wages if the victim cannot work
• Physical pain and suffering damages
• Emotional and psychological distress

The total amount of compensation available in these situations will vary depending on a range of factors, including the severity of the injuries, whether or not there are any short- or long-term disabilities, and the overall level of pain and suffering a person experiences.

Proving hotel negligence is challenging, and we strongly encourage that you work with a trusted attorney as soon as possible. A Portland premises liability lawyer will use their resources to fully investigate the claim, gather any evidence needed to prove negligence, and handle all communications with insurance carriers and legal teams on your behalf.