Hotels are usually places we go when we’re traveling, carefree and enjoying the time away from home. Most of us don’t expect for any problems to go wrong, and we especially do not anticipate suffering from a serious injury caused by the hotel itself. However, hotel injuries happen far more than often than people realize. When a person suffers an injury as a result of the hotel’s negligence and/or failure to uphold their responsibilities to their guests as a hotel, that person can qualify for a personal injury claim against the hotel. What does this mean? In other words, if you suffer an injury that you believe the hotel caused, the hotel may be held liable and you could receive compensation for your injuries.
What Are My Hotel’s Responsibilities?
Each and every hotel you go to has a responsibility to their guests, from adequate and well-maintained rooms to ensuring a high level of security in order to create ensure safety. While the rules may vary from state to state, and even country to country, there are certain commonalities among the rules that you can almost always assume will be upkept. Some of the most common responsibilities a hotel has include (but are not limited to):
- High security
- Control of insect infestations (such as “bed bugs”)
- Properly functioning stairs and elevators
- Functioning locks to every room
- Hiring adequate hotel staff to the best of their ability
- Serving safe, uncontaminated food
While these responsibilities may seem obvious, injuries still occur in hotels every year as a result of a failure to uphold them. In fact, these are just a select few examples of the duties a hotel has to you, a guest.
Where Do Most Injuries Occur at Hotels?
Most of the time, the injuries that occur, occur as a result of the hotel’s negligence. However, there are certain areas of a hotel and ways in which injuries result much more frequently. Some of the most common ways injuries can occur are from:
- Hurting oneself near/in a swimming pool or jacuzzi
- Injuring oneself on broken furniture
- A slip and fall accident
- Burns from unmonitored water
- Assault from criminals that have access into the hotel
- Reactions to bed bugs and other insects
It is important in all of these cases to collect evidence in order to build your case. The more photos and videos you have proving the hotel is at fault, the more likely you are to win a case. It can also be helpful to speak to witnesses nearby if there were people that watched you suffer your injury.
Injuries are an emotional and financial burden. Nobody should have to deal with juggling legal paperwork and medical bills on top of their own injuries. If you feel that you are entitled to compensation as a result of a hotel injury, do not hesitate to reach out to Cohen & Cohen and we will be more than happy to set you up with a skilled hotel injury lawyer on our team.
