Help required - broken item in hotel

Tinker009

Hi, I would appreciate any advice on this.

We are currently on holiday and this morning my 2 year old accidentally knocked over and broke a glass ornament in the main reception. I was with her at the time however it happened so quickly I didn't have time to stop it. There was no one else about at the time.

While I was cleaning up, the owner (it is a very small independent hotel in Portugal) saw me, realised what had happened, and said she would expect payment for the ornament. She said she was very upset because it was part of a set which was hard to come by. Of course I was going to offer to pay, however felt that she could have handled it better, she made me feel awful about it.

Anyway, I expect she will charge us when we check out in a couple of days. How will I know if what she is charging us is reasonable? I have had a look online and can't find anything similar to what was broken. I want to reimburse her however also don't want to be ripped off. I have emailed my travel insurance company, I hope this would be covered under personal liability, my excess on the policy is £100.

Thanks for your help.

z1a

If it was valuable or hard to replace & valued by the owner, she shouldn't have left it in a public area. I would apologise but not pay.

gettingtheresometime

i guess you could ask her what the set was called, who it was made by etc so you can help source a replacement with the hope that you can find one to ether replace or check the true price.

Alternatively you could ask her for a receipt when she bought it.

Tbh it sounds as if you're going to have to leave this one to the hope that she doesn't take advantage.

gettingtheresometime

z1a wrote: »

If it was valuable or hard to replace & valued by the owner, she shouldn't have left it in a public area. I would apologise but not pay.

I bet that's one way of getting the owners back up and her possibly taking further action ....would you really want to run that risk??

Ms_Chocaholic

Surely the hotel owner has insurance to cover for eventualities such as this. Could you offer to pay the excess instead.

z1a

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I bet that's one way of getting the owners back up and her possibly taking further action ....would you really want to run that risk??

Yep, I would.

Tinker009

thanks all for the responses, I will have a chat with her and see if perhaps there is a way we could find a replacement for it. My feeling, given her reaction, is that it is probably worth more in sentimental value than in cash terms.. agree she shouldn't have left it out especially when the hotel has young children running around.

tacpot12

I think a really rare and valuable item should not be out in a public area especially where a two year old could reach it. But it is reasonable to have ornaments that might cost say £100 in public areas, but not much more. If the entire set was on display, it would be more reasonable to recognise the value of a set, but if the owner has just one item on display in the public area and the rest away in private, I would value it as a single item.

A hotel is a business and some damage to furnishings is to be expected. I would get an 'generous' offer in early, say 50 euros. (£42'ish) and hope she sees the benefit of getting something quickly and easily. At least if she accepts it, it will allow you to relax on your last day. If not, well, that's what you have insurance for.

interstellaflyer

Sentimental value and rare my backside, if it had been any of those, the item would've been in her private accommodation or office, she's extracting the urine, exaggerating the items value to (hopefully) make a nice healthy profit out of you.

peachyprice

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I bet that's one way of getting the owners back up and her possibly taking further action ....would you really want to run that risk??

It's the owners responsibility to ensure public areas are safe from hazard, they have failed by putting a glass ornament that a 2yo is capable of knocking over in a public area.

What 'further action' do you believe the hotel can take when it's their fault?

photome

peachyprice wrote: »

It's the owners responsibility to ensure public areas are safe from hazard, they have failed by putting a glass ornament that a 2yo is capable of knocking over in a public area.

What 'further action' do you believe the hotel can take when it's their fault?

Spot on, it could have hurt the child therefore shouldn't have been in display, OP IMO you have no liabilty