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How Hotel Security is Responsible for Your Safety

By Butler Prather LLP on November 14, 2022

When you check yourself or your family into a hotel, you expect to be safe. Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, hotels and their employees owe you a duty of care. This duty extends to various aspects of your safety when you are on hotel property. Here, we want to explain the various ways that hotels are responsible for your safety and examine what you can do if you are harmed as a result of negligent security practices.

Hotel security responsibility to your safety

What Hotels are Responsible For

Hotels have to keep guests safe. If they can’t, they will not have guests for very long. In fact, hotels that continuously display that they cannot keep patrons safe could be shut down under Georgia nuisance laws.

There are various safety precautions that hotels have to take to keep guests safe. However, we do want to say upfront that not every hotel will need to take the same safety precautions. For example, if Hotel A is in a relatively high crime area and Hotel B is not, it is likely that Hotel A will need to take additional security measures to ensure the safety of their guests.

However, every hotel will have basic safety measures that they must take to keep any person who has a right to be on their premises safe. This includes ensuring that:

  • All door locks work appropriately
  • There are no unguarded or poorly secured entrances into the hotel where trespassers can come in
  • Security cameras properly monitor the outside and inside of the building
  • Ensuring that walkways, parking garages, parking lots, and other entrances are clear and appropriately lit

Depending on the crime rate or history of a hotel’s location, management may need to hire dedicated security guards who patrol hotel premises to ensure safety. This can include patrolling parking lots to cut down on assault and property crime and patrolling inside of a hotel for areas that are known for trespassers.

Types of Issues That Arise Without Adequate Hotel Security

Without adequate security at a hotel in Georgia, guests are put at risk of various types of crimes. At the very least, inadequate security increases the likelihood that vehicles will be broken into and either stolen or have their contents robbed. 

Additionally, and more importantly, proper hotel security can help prevent crimes against other persons. This can include violent crimes such as assault and battery, assault with deadly weapons, sexual abuse and rape, etc. 

How Can You Recover Compensation?

If you or somebody you care about has been injured at a hotel and you believe the injury occurred due to inadequate security measures, reach out to an attorney immediately. Negligent security claims fall under the umbrella of premises liability claims. Individuals who sustain harm may be able to file a civil personal injury lawsuit against the alleged negligent party.

Proving that a hotel’s security was inadequate can be challenging, but an Atlanta premises liability lawyer will fully investigate the claim, enlist security experts to help evaluate the situation, and work diligently to recover compensation for their client.

Victims in these cases may be able to recover a wide range of types of compensation, including coverage of their medical expenses, lost wages if they cannot work due to their injuries, loss of quality of life damages, and compensation for emotional and psychological trauma.

Posted in: Personal Injury


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