When you stay as a guest in a hotel or motel, you expect to have the same level of comfort that you find in your home. This means, among other things, that you are entitled to feel safe from unexpected dangers posed by dangerous people and dangerous conditions to the property. You have a right to feel safe because Virginia law imposes a number of duties on hotel owners and operators to ensure that guests, and the property and belongings of guests, is kept safe and protected from harm by others.
More specifically, personal injury claims against hotels and motels typically involve two types of dangers that result in injuries. The first danger involves injuries caused by third parties, such as when other guests or strangers to the hotel or motel commit assaults, sexual assaults, or similar criminal conduct that causes injuries to guests. To prevent these types of injuries to hotel and motel guests, Virginia law requires hotel and motel owners and operators to take “reasonable precautions” to protect their guests. Among other things, this means that hotel operators and owners are required to make sure that guest rooms have suitable locks on the room’s windows and doors.
A hotel or motel operator has a duty to protect his guests if he knows of, or should know of, a danger at the hotel or motel that could be reasonably removed. That duty to remove dangers applies to criminal acts of third parties, including dangers created by other guests, as a hotel or motel operator has a duty to protect guests from the reasonably foreseeable criminal conduct. Hotel operators that fail to satisfy this duty may face a personal injury lawsuit due to inadequate security or unsafe premises.
The second type of personal injury claim against hotels and motels typically involve dangers existing in the structure or layout of the motel or hotel. This could include slip and fall or trip and fall injuries caused by defective stairs or walkways that create trip hazards, dangerous railings at hotels that are too short or have insufficient protections to prevent children or even adults from falling, building or floor collapses, inhalation injuries or chemical burn injuries caused by dangerous chemical mixtures at hotels, motels, and resorts with indoor or outdoor pools, and serious burn injuries from fires at a hotel or motel.
The Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers of MartinWren, P.C. have experience pursuing injury claims on behalf of guests who have suffered injuries at a motel, hotel, bed and breakfast, inn, or resort. These include claims caused by violence of third parties to the hotel or motel, slip and fall injuries caused by hazardous conditions on the premises, or other types of injuries resulting from the hotel operator’s failure to provide a safe environment for their guests.
If you have a potential personal injury claim against a hotel or motel, please contact either Jonathan T. Wren or Robert E. Byrne, Jr. at (434) 817-3100, or Kirk D. Becchi at (540) 437-1243 to learn about how we can help you obtain compensation for the injuries you suffered.
You will not owe any legal fees unless we recover money for you.