Hotel Liability for Guest Injuries

cartwrightlaw - April 27, 2023 -

When you check into a hotel (or even when you are visiting a guest staying on the premises), you expect to be safe. Certainly, you do not expect to suffer an injury at the hotel. Sometimes, your home away from home can turn dangerous in an instant, especially when the hotel staff does not properly do its job. 

Whether you were injured in your room, a common area, or the parking lot, you may recover financial compensation when the hotel was responsible for your injuries. If your injury happened in or around Discovery Bay, CA, discuss your options with a premises liability lawyer today. 

Common Examples of Hotel Injuries

Hotel guests can suffer injuries in a number of ways, including:

• Slipping and falling in their room or a common area because of a hazard that is in their path or poor lighting
• They were attacked by someone else while on hotel property
• Being injured in a fire at the hotel
• They were bitten by bed bugs
• Being injured in the hotel swimming pool
• They were electrocuted by faulty appliances or outlets in the room

Hotels Can Be Liable When You Have Been Injured on Their Premises

Hotels can be held legally responsible for injuries that their guests suffer under premises liability laws. A hotel assumes a duty of care to its guests because they have invited you onto their premises. While the hotel cannot prevent each and every single injury, they must act as a reasonable hotel owner would. 

For example, the hotel must do the following:

• Not create any hazards in the guest’s path and promptly remove dangers that other people create
• Provide adequate security on the premises, especially if they have reason to believe that there may be a danger
• Provide reasonably clean and safe premises, free of things like bugs and toxins
• Inspect and repair hotel elevators and escalators if necessary
• Ensure that the hotel has sprinklers and fire extinguishers

These are just some of the actions that a hotel would need to take to keep guests safe. What is reasonable depends on the particular circumstances. 

How to File and Win a Premises Liability Lawsuit

If the hotel does not exercise the appropriate level of care, you can sue them in a premises liability lawsuit. In order to win your case, you would need to prove that the hotel was negligent. In a personal injury lawsuit, negligence is a legal term that has a defined meaning. If the hotel does not act reasonably, it could be liable. You have the burden of proof to show negligence in a personal injury case. 

If you are suing a hotel for personal injury, you could use the following as evidence in your case:

• Eyewitness testimony from people who saw what happened
• Company logs that show what maintenance the hotel did or did not perform on the property
• Security camera footage from the hotel
• Pictures of the scene of your accident
• A police accident report (cannot be used at trial)
• The hotel’s own incident report
• Testimony from an accident reconstruction expert

It is not always easy to gather this evidence, and some of it may be in the hotel’s possession. Your attorney could both build your case and obtain the necessary evidence in discovery. 

Corporate Defendants Could Be Involved in the Case

When you are suing a hotel, chances are that you are suing a company that owns the building. It could be a small chain or a large conglomerate that owns many hotels. Regardless, the hotel likely has a large insurance policy because they do not want you coming after their own assets. Each hotel will have commercial general liability insurance coverage. They may also have an umbrella policy to cover serious incidents. 

You may be dealing with their insurance provider, which would be legally responsible for paying your claim. The insurance company has a duty to defend the policyholder in personal injury cases. If you sue the hotel in a lawsuit, you may be dealing with the insurance company’s defense lawyers. 

Your Damages in a Hotel Injury Lawsuit

It is hard to say what your case is worth without speaking to you at length. You have the legal right to be paid your full damages when the hotel’s carelessness was the cause of your injuries. Your damages in a hotel lawsuit can include the following:

• The costs of all your medical treatment
• Money that you could have earned on the job (whether you are unable to work or cannot do the work that you did before you were injured)
• Pain and suffering for what you have been forced to endure since your injury
• Embarrassment and humiliation from your injuries

You Will Need to Fight for Every Dollar You Get

Given the large amount of money at stake, you can expect a legal battle before you can get your money. Everything that the hotel and its insurance do is aimed at minimizing their potential legal liability. They may contest your claim in the first place, or they may try to offer you a paltry settlement to make their own legal liability go away. 

Insurance companies often take a very skeptical view of slip-and-fall accident claims because it is in their own financial interests to do so. They will certainly force you to come up with detailed proof before they even consider making you a settlement offer. 

Similarly, the insurance company makes any type of premises liability case as difficult as it can. They may try to blame you for your own injuries, or they may use any one of a number of tactics at their disposal. 

Call a Discovery Bay Premises Liability Attorney Today

The attorneys at The Cartwright Law Firm do not let insurance companies get away with it when they try to evade their legal obligations. We will take the fight to them and the hotel that they insure when you have been injured on hotel property. All you need to do is call one of our lawyers for a free initial consultation, and we will do the rest. To speak with an attorney, you can send us a message online or call us today at (415) 851-6486.

When you check into a hotel (or even when you are visiting a guest staying on the premises), you expect to be safe. Certainly, you do not expect to suffer an injury at the hotel. Sometimes, your home away from home can turn dangerous in an instant, especially when the hotel staff does not properly do its job. 

Whether you were injured in your room, a common area, or the parking lot, you may recover financial compensation when the hotel was responsible for your injuries. If your injury happened in or around Discovery Bay, CA, discuss your options with a premises liability lawyer today. 

Common Examples of Hotel Injuries

Hotel guests can suffer injuries in a number of ways, including:

• Slipping and falling in their room or a common area because of a hazard that is in their path or poor lighting
• They were attacked by someone else while on hotel property
• Being injured in a fire at the hotel
• They were bitten by bed bugs
• Being injured in the hotel swimming pool
• They were electrocuted by faulty appliances or outlets in the room

Hotels Can Be Liable When You Have Been Injured on Their Premises

Hotels can be held legally responsible for injuries that their guests suffer under premises liability laws. A hotel assumes a duty of care to its guests because they have invited you onto their premises. While the hotel cannot prevent each and every single injury, they must act as a reasonable hotel owner would. 

For example, the hotel must do the following:

• Not create any hazards in the guest’s path and promptly remove dangers that other people create
• Provide adequate security on the premises, especially if they have reason to believe that there may be a danger
• Provide reasonably clean and safe premises, free of things like bugs and toxins
• Inspect and repair hotel elevators and escalators if necessary
• Ensure that the hotel has sprinklers and fire extinguishers

These are just some of the actions that a hotel would need to take to keep guests safe. What is reasonable depends on the particular circumstances. 

How to File and Win a Premises Liability Lawsuit

If the hotel does not exercise the appropriate level of care, you can sue them in a premises liability lawsuit. In order to win your case, you would need to prove that the hotel was negligent. In a personal injury lawsuit, negligence is a legal term that has a defined meaning. If the hotel does not act reasonably, it could be liable. You have the burden of proof to show negligence in a personal injury case. 

If you are suing a hotel for personal injury, you could use the following as evidence in your case:

• Eyewitness testimony from people who saw what happened
• Company logs that show what maintenance the hotel did or did not perform on the property
• Security camera footage from the hotel
• Pictures of the scene of your accident
• A police accident report (cannot be used at trial)
• The hotel’s own incident report
• Testimony from an accident reconstruction expert

It is not always easy to gather this evidence, and some of it may be in the hotel’s possession. Your attorney could both build your case and obtain the necessary evidence in discovery. 

Corporate Defendants Could Be Involved in the Case

When you are suing a hotel, chances are that you are suing a company that owns the building. It could be a small chain or a large conglomerate that owns many hotels. Regardless, the hotel likely has a large insurance policy because they do not want you coming after their own assets. Each hotel will have commercial general liability insurance coverage. They may also have an umbrella policy to cover serious incidents. 

You may be dealing with their insurance provider, which would be legally responsible for paying your claim. The insurance company has a duty to defend the policyholder in personal injury cases. If you sue the hotel in a lawsuit, you may be dealing with the insurance company’s defense lawyers. 

Your Damages in a Hotel Injury Lawsuit

It is hard to say what your case is worth without speaking to you at length. You have the legal right to be paid your full damages when the hotel’s carelessness was the cause of your injuries. Your damages in a hotel lawsuit can include the following:

• The costs of all your medical treatment
• Money that you could have earned on the job (whether you are unable to work or cannot do the work that you did before you were injured)
• Pain and suffering for what you have been forced to endure since your injury
• Embarrassment and humiliation from your injuries

You Will Need to Fight for Every Dollar You Get

Given the large amount of money at stake, you can expect a legal battle before you can get your money. Everything that the hotel and its insurance do is aimed at minimizing their potential legal liability. They may contest your claim in the first place, or they may try to offer you a paltry settlement to make their own legal liability go away. 

Insurance companies often take a very skeptical view of slip-and-fall accident claims because it is in their own financial interests to do so. They will certainly force you to come up with detailed proof before they even consider making you a settlement offer. 

Similarly, the insurance company makes any type of premises liability case as difficult as it can. They may try to blame you for your own injuries, or they may use any one of a number of tactics at their disposal. 

Call a Discovery Bay Premises Liability Attorney Today

The attorneys at The Cartwright Law Firm do not let insurance companies get away with it when they try to evade their legal obligations. We will take the fight to them and the hotel that they insure when you have been injured on hotel property. All you need to do is call one of our lawyers for a free initial consultation, and we will do the rest. To speak with an attorney, you can send us a message online or call us today at (415) 851-6486.

Our successful case results are a reflection of the values and virtues we believe in and uphold at Cartwright Law Firm. Nothing stops us from pursuing justice on behalf of those who need it.

Robert E. Cartwright Jr.
Founder and Managing Partner