morepointsplease

Thanks for your advice

emma69

I'm afraid I think this comes down to personal responsibility in my book. Sorry.

morepointsplease

Mm...not quite what I hoped for anyone else? I am checking out in an hour so need to have some idea how to respond..would have thought hotel insurance would cover for accidents, this wasn't malicious..

will2288

I tend to agree, but the issue is somewhat complicated by the non-working overflow device.

Without knowing the extent of the flood it is hard to say, but charging $200 for the cleaning seems a bit steep, if all they used were towels. I think it is fair for you to be responsible for damages, however.

Perhaps they can be flexible on the cleaning fee, but you ought to pay for any damage caused.

jabbered

The $200 is pretty universal for smoking - so they likely just used that as the base for your water damage. You may be looking at a bill for much more than $200, but I wouldn't expect the bill to be lower than that.

If higher, be sure and get a detailed report stating the costs and damages.


The room likely won't be rented (if you checked out) due to needing to let the carpet dry (depending on the amount of water). The room below (if one) may not be rented either and have damage.


If still there, take pictures of the tub. While there likely won't be a drain in the floor for overflow, there likely should be some type of drain/mechanism to try and help overflowing water, but even then, that's of limited use. I don't think any tub/sink drainage system can clear water faster than what the faucet is putting in.

FirstInFlight

if you are asking whether you are legally obligated to pay - you do not provide sufficient information. The location of the hotel will establish the governing law. Even if we assume that you are at a hotel within the United States the law will vary between states. You may be liable - or you may share liability with the hotel due to the lack of overflow protection - or the hotel may be exclusively liable. The hotel almost certainly has insurance to cover such events.

If they charge your card you can dispute the charge. Again - depending on state law - rhe hotel probably cannot turn to what is known as self-help until the hotel establishes a legal obligation to pay and an amount owed.

i would suggest waiting to see what they charge - then if it seems an unreasonable amount you can elect to refuse to pay and the hotel will turn the matter over to its insurance company - which will in turn seek to recover the cost from you. You can then negotiate with the carrier.

jerry305

For the hotel to make an insurance claim, the damage will have to be in the thousands; the hotel's deductible on a claim will be at least $1000 and probably way more. You really think insurance covers stuff like this without any ramifications to the company making the claim?

You may have something in your homeowners policy, and that deductible will be your responsibility of course.

If there was no damage to the suite below you, and water somehow didn't get into the walls, you're very lucky.

morepointsplease

I am in Australia.. Thanks

No there isn't damage to below. Although the carpet was very wet last night now it is just damp and doesn't feel like it will take too much to dry out

dchristiva

Based on the facts as written in the OP, I agree with this. ^

Hard to say without knowing more details, but getting the carpet dry was probably the primary focus, so whatever they had to spend to avoid the potential for mold and mildew was probably necessary. I am not sure $200 is out of line since it was somewhat time sensitive.

MSPeconomist

The hotel may want or be required to have a professional mold inspection before the room can be used again.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

If the over flow drain in the bath tub it not functional I would say that both the guest and the hotel have equal responsibility. Before checking out I would get someone from the hotel to document everything with both the guest and hotel in agreement.

Tchiowa

^^

His fault. He pays.

milepig

I gotta go with this. You should have realized "this is filling really fast" and not wandered away to leave it unattended.

SpannerSpinner

Assuming there is no water staining of the carpet or other visible damage, your mistake was telling them you'd flooded the room. If you'd just asked for more towels, hung the no service/DND sign on the door, cranked the AC up the next day and dealt with it yourself you would probably be $200 better off.

Ultimately, you messed up, you get the bill.

industry_killer

Own up. It was your mistake and I think really $200 is possibly getting off very lightly.