Appropriate Policies Help Limit Hotels’ Liability

In an article published by Hotel Management Magazine, Partner William C. Buhay is quoted discussing policies hotels should implement to limit their liability, particularly in regard to lost or left-behind items.

Common law obligations vary by state, he explains, and hotel owners and operators must be sure they understand and comply with these laws.

“Innkeepers are in a unique setting because they owe a higher duty of care to their customer base,” Buhay explains. “You’re providing a place for people to spend the night and so it’s got to be reasonably safe, you’ve got to understand what laws apply and what protections there are for the guests and what protections there are for you.”

Beyond abiding by state laws, hotel managers should set up a lost-and-found program and policy.

“It’s essentially going to be your cleaning staff ,” Buhay says. “If they find anything, they should secure it and report it to management, and management should keep a log of what was found and tag it, if possible, with a tag that corresponds with the log.”

For the full article, you may click here.