If you, or a member of your family have suffered an injury while staying at a hotel and you believe that the injury would never have happened if the hotel management had been more careful, then you should discuss the incident with an experienced personal injury attorney to see if you may be able to recover the cost of the injury by filing a claim for compensation.
Slip and Fall Hazards in a Hotel
There are a number of possible accidents that may occur in a hotel environment. Well run hotels continually monitor the state of their facilities to make sure that their customers are safe when they stay there. When an accident occurs which is avoidable it may lead to a personal injury lawsuit against the hotel management or owners of the hotel chain.
Of all accident possibilities, slip and fall or trip and fall type injuries are the most common, although occasionally electrocution and burns may occur if there are electrical faults in the way the hotel rooms and facilities are wired up.
In a hotel, slip, trip and fall accidents may happen when:
- floor surfaces are too slippery, which may happen when they have been cleaned but without warning signs put up afterwards;
- carpets or other floor materials are worn, torn or badly fitting;
- ice, snow or excess rainwater is allowed to pile up in and around the entrance to the hotel;
- staircases are poorly maintained;
Negligence And Slip And Fall Accidents
The hotel, or any other establishment, is responsible for providing a safe environment for guests. If they fail to do this they are being negligent and someone injured at the hotel may be able to file a claim against the hotel for medical bills and damages. You may want to file a slip and fall demand letter. Providing a safe environment means many different things.
It means that the hotel has to maintain safety systems like fire detectors but it also means that they need to inspect and fix thinks like ripped carpet, broken locks, cracks in the pavement, and so on.
It also means that the hotel is responsible for cleaning up spills and mitigating hazards as much as they can. They must clean up water on the floor and clear sidewalks of snow and ice and do anything possible to keep the hotel and grounds safe for guests. When they don’t they are being negligent.
Proving Negligence
In order to prove that Clarion Hotels, or any other hotel, were negligent there needs to be evidence of what caused the accident. You should try to get evidence as soon as possible after you are injured before the hotel can clean up the hazard. Some of the types of evidence that you may gather are:
Photos
Photos are the most important pieces of evidence because they show exactly what the area looked look and what the hazard was. If there was water on the floor a photograph can show that. If a tub in the bathroom had no safety rails or safety tread on the bottom of the tub photos will show that. Grab your smart phone and get some photos of the area immediately if you can.
Witness Statements
Getting statements from people who saw the accident is important too. Write down their statements or get them to give a statement on video and record it with your smart phone. Make sure that you get contact information for each witness. Witness statements corroborate your version of the events of the accident and make your case stronger.
Security Camera Footage
If the accident happened in a public part of the hotel there may be security camera footage of the accident. If there were cameras in the area ask the manger of the hotel or the head of security for copies of the security camera footage.
Talk to an Attorney as Soon as You an After an Injury in a Hotel
Successful personal injury claims depend on being able to prove that a particular injury happened when staying or visiting a hotel and that the accident happened as a result of negligence on the part of a hotel employee or the management.
Claims for compensation are best made as early as possible, when potential witnesses may still be contacted and may remember the details of an accident more clearly. It is best to contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as you can after an accident at a hotel.
In most cases you should find that the attorney will provide a free initial consultation and will work on a contingency fee basis if he or she thinks that the case is worth pursuing. This means that the attorney waives any legal fees until a compensation payment has been made.
*Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against the Clarion Hotel, or another party, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
