nkob

interesting opinions
when I break my leg my health insurance pays
when i got the virus my travel insurance take care
A cruise ship in lockdown pay everything, give a total refund and a discount for the next trip to his passengers.
I dont have the possibility to pay 2 weeks ALL IN
at a Hilton .it would be around 6000 euros for 2 persons
and off course i do understand the Hotel !!
greetings
cornelis

Annalisa12

Because you don't want to be there. Why should the hotel make a profit forcing you to stay there.

Annalisa12

What if someone saved their pennies all year for a 2 night stay at a super rich hotel and it was their only treat for the year as it cost so much. How would they be expected to pay for 2 weeks of that level of accommodation?

nkob

The hotel is a victim too
Its the Governement which orders the lockdown
greetings
cornelis

Scots_Al

If you need surgery (and you are somewhere where this entails payment), then you have a choice as to where you have that surgery. You even, ultimately, have the choice not to have that surgery if that’s what you really want.

In the scenario being discussed here, you have no choice, no options. I fail to see how the consumer can be liable for that.

jmastron

This is the distinction as I see it:

If *I* break a leg or get sick and *I* have to stay in a place for longer than planned, then of course I expect to pay, potentially via whatever insurances I carry to cover things that happen to me.

If the *entire hotel* is locked down and I am prevented from leaving because the hotel allowed an infectious disease on site (which may or may not be their fault/negligence, but certainly isn't mine), there is a 0% chance I will pay the hotel extra.

Yes, there were posts (perhaps joking, was hard to tell) at the beginning wondering what rate the Diamond Princess passengers would be charged for their quarantine. Of course that was a ridiculous idea too, and Princess not only didn't charge extra, but refunded the entire cruise (which had been mostly complete by that point). A hotel that tried to do the same would be (rightfully) widely roasted on social media and probably in court.

arttravel

I do not think the hotels are forcing people to stay it is the local authorities.

It is an interesting question.

Should the hotel be out money for the forced quarantine? Should the Tenerife hotel bill the tourist who came and later was diagnosed and was the source of this quarantine action?

jpdx

FWIW, a friend of mine works at a hotel in Taipei. They had a guest checking in a few weeks back who informed them that he's arriving from Wuhan. Per Taiwanese government regulations, he was forced to quarantine and stay in his room for 14 nights. He was aware of it and expected it. They forced him to pay (he used points IIRC), but cut him a deal of sorts on food (he was also an elite member, but obviously couldn't avail of lounge benefits, so they gave him room service breakfast and a light dinner for free). Probably a fair arrangement since it was "by choice," although TBH these hotels have ridiculously low occupancy, but are not lowering their rates, so there is an argument to be made that it's unethical to charge full rates to quarantined guests.

Now, if an entire hotel went into lockdown, I don't know if the people who are stuck there due to no fault of their own should pay the full rate. I suspect the hotel would certainly try to charge them.

RetiredATLATC

Interesting that he got out considering Wuhan was locked down somewhere around January 23 I believe

etch5895

Well, if I'm dead it's fair to say that I'm not suing anyone. Who is going to pay the staff? The hotel, but I'm also assuming if you are quarantined there isn't going to be regular housekeeping. I don't have any idea how the hotel industry works but I wonder if the hotel's insurance policy would cover any of these costs. It is a business interruption. For that matter, what happens to someone with a non-refundable room who now can't check in because the hotel is quarantined?

Lots of questions and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

But again, I don't believe I should have to pay if I'm forced to remain quarantined in a hotel past my planned check out date against my will. I don't see a jury awarding a hotel damages against a customer who can't pay in this instance, either (if it came to that).

ft101

The "extraordinary circumstances" get out will remove any right to compensation, but it doesn't remove the duty of care obligation.

Whether it's applicable here is another issue.

Global Adventurer

Hotel staff and locals in New Orleans for instance worked for free at hotels to have a place to live and eat after hurricane Katrina. These were Marriott hotels. I was there. That's what happened. They accommodated these folks to have them help get the hotel back in working order so emergency services personnel had a place to stay while enforcing laws and providing help. Practically, all the hotels were looted for their linen, towels, bath and cleaning supplies, etc. It was a mess. I'm sure eventually, everybody received a paycheck too when things got back to normal. But, they let the hotel staff's entire family live there as long as the staff member helped until things calmed down.

MSPeconomist

Some hotels might try to charge rack rate in such circumstances. That would be unfair.

ADDED: BTW, during the later stages of Katrina, some hotels were bringing in staff from other locations (sister properties) and putting them up on certain floors of the hotel in order to have qualified staff after many of their former employees had left town. For example, the Windsor Court "imported"/"borrowed" employees from other Orient Express hotels in the USA; I don't know what their financial arrangements were.

WestCoastPDX

Reasonable point. I would agree with that - a hotel charging rack rate would be gouging at that point (especially if their hotel is not full due to cancelations).
But, of course I’m going to pay. I’m using the room for 2 weeks, who else would I expect to pay?

—
Maybe my broken leg analogy doesn’t make sense to people. But the point is, often times things happen that we don’t want.
Sometimes insurance covers things (car accidents, travel delays, health insurance). But, sometimes not.

We’re ultimately responsible for ourselves. So, if I am locked up in a hotel for 2 weeks, I’d love a discount/bulk rate. But, I’m paying willingly without any complaints.

nrr

For many European countries pax are covered under that countries National Heath Insurance, as long as it wasn't (say) elective health care.