Hotels owe guests duties to maintain safe premises throughout their properties—from lobbies and hallways to rooms, pools, and grounds. Slip and fall accidents at hotels can result in significant claims against lodging establishments.
Common Hotel Slip and Fall Hazards
Lobby and entrance areas with wet floors from rain, cleaning, or tracked-in water create slipping hazards. Transition areas between exterior and interior surfaces are particularly risky.
Bathroom hazards including slippery tub and shower surfaces, wet tile floors, and inadequate grab bars cause many guest room injuries.
Pool and spa areas with wet deck surfaces, inadequate drainage, and slippery pool surrounds present obvious hazards requiring proper safety measures.
Hallways and stairways with worn carpet, poor lighting, or damaged flooring create trip and fall risks.
Exterior grounds including parking lots, walkways, and entrance areas with uneven surfaces, ice, or poor lighting.
Hotel Duty of Care
Guests are business invitees to whom hotels owe the highest duty of care. Hotels must inspect for hazards, remedy dangerous conditions, and warn guests of risks they cannot immediately fix.
This duty extends throughout the property—common areas, guest rooms, amenities, and grounds must all be maintained safely.
Guest Room Liability
Hotels maintain control over guest rooms and are responsible for hazards within them. Defective shower surfaces, loose carpeting, broken fixtures, and other room hazards create hotel liability.
Housekeeping staff should identify hazards during room cleaning. Failure to detect and report problems suggests inadequate inspection procedures.
Swimming Pool Safety
Hotel pools must comply with health and safety codes. Required safety features typically include slip-resistant deck surfaces, adequate depth markers, proper fencing, pool drain covers meeting anti-entrapment standards, and adequate lighting. Failure to meet pool safety requirements establishes negligence when those failures cause injuries.
Third-Party Events
Hotels hosting events, conferences, or weddings may face liability for hazards in event spaces. Whether the hotel or event organizer bears responsibility depends on who controlled the space and created or should have addressed the hazard.
Evidence in Hotel Cases
Hotels have extensive surveillance systems. Cameras cover lobbies, hallways, pool areas, and other common spaces. This footage can prove hazardous conditions existed and how long before the hotel addressed them.
Other evidence includes maintenance logs and work orders, housekeeping inspection records, prior incident reports for similar hazards, and guest complaints about conditions.
Reporting the Accident
Report your fall to hotel management immediately. Request a copy of any incident report created. Document the hazard with photographs before it's remedied. Note the names of any staff who responded or witnessed the incident.
Your room key or check-in records establish your guest status and presence at the time of the accident.
Chain Hotels vs. Franchises
Major hotel brands often operate through franchises. The local property owner may be a separate entity from the brand name. Identifying the correct defendant requires investigating the ownership structure.
Both the franchisee (property owner) and franchisor (brand) may bear responsibility depending on who controlled the conditions that caused your injury.
Pursuing Your Claim
Don't accept quick settlements from hotel management or insurers. Hotel chains have risk management departments experienced in minimizing payouts. An experienced premises liability attorney can preserve evidence, investigate the hotel's safety practices, and pursue full compensation for your injuries.