Vacations are a time to unwind with family and friends. However, unsafe conditions at a hotel can interrupt this time by presenting risky or dangerous circumstances. If you experience an injury while staying at a hotel, it is important to know who or what may be at fault so that you can support a potential premises liability claim.
For the owner of any property — including a hotel — to be accountable for an injury, you must prove that negligence was involved. Hotels have a duty of care to provide a safe and clean environment for guests. Negligent behavior can be any act that violates this duty of care for those staying on the premises.
As a guest of any hotel, you are entitled to a high degree of care for your wellbeing. A hotel that responsibly and reasonably exercises care for guests will take proactive measures to identify and fix problems in a timely manner. For example, acting in accordance with duty of care would mean that spills are quickly cleaned up, uneven surfaces are repaired and any potentially dangerous hazards have warning signs on display for guests’ safety.
When the duty of care is breached
Should hotel staff fail to uphold a reasonable level of duty of care and you become injured as a result, the hotel may be found liable for not correcting the dangerous situation. In this case, you may be able to file a claim against the owner of the hotel property and seek compensation for injuries suffered. However, it is important to know that you must be able to prove your injury came about as a direct result of the hotel’s negligent behavior.
If you have been injured at a Florida hotel and would like to know more about your legal options, contact a dedicated Bradenton personal injury lawyer with Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh.