Can a hotel charge for soiled linen and mattress ?

pinkshoes

afghanChris said:

Basically hotel have informed us that the bed linen and mattress had to be destroyed and expect us to pay £300.....
We weren't aware of any problem at the time. But having spoken to the person who slept in bed they have said they had an accident 😐 
But can hotels charge such amounts? Do they not have mattress protectors on? 
I have cancelled my debit card in case they try to take money without my knowledge!
How do I go about this? They say they will pursue for costs of replacement, loss of earnings and interest! 
Can anybody advice what to do?
Many thanks

To be fair, even a mattress protector isn't going to save the mattress from that sort of accident! And no "nice" hotel will be using those plastic ones!

The £300 will depend on the quality and age of mattress. If it is a £280 mattress and £20 of linen that was brand new bought that week then yes the £300 seems reasonable. If the mattress was older then they cannot charge you for a brand new one as that would be betterment. How you are going to prove the age of the mattress I have no idea!

Perhaps offer them £100 as a good will gesture to close the matter?

Jenni_D

pinkshoes said:

Perhaps offer them £100 as a good will gesture to close the matter?

A goodwill gesture and in full and final settlement.  

Ditzy_Mitzy

Jenni_D said:

pinkshoes said:

Perhaps offer them £100 as a good will gesture to close the matter?

A goodwill gesture and in full and final settlement.  

The hotel might pooh pooh it...

MalMonroe

afghanChris said:

Basically hotel have informed us that the bed linen and mattress had to be destroyed and expect us to pay £300.....
We weren't aware of any problem at the time. But having spoken to the person who slept in bed they have said they had an accident 😐 
But can hotels charge such amounts? Do they not have mattress protectors on? 
I have cancelled my debit card in case they try to take money without my knowledge!
How do I go about this? They say they will pursue for costs of replacement, loss of earnings and interest! 
Can anybody advice what to do?
Many thanks

First of all, what do the hotel's terms and conditions say?

Secondly, everyone responding here appears to have just accepted that what the hotel is saying is true. i.e. the cost of replacing bedding and mattress, etc. Is it?

Thirdly, I'd never want to stay in a hotel that doesn't use mattress protectors, but that's just me.

Yes, they can charge for damage to property, if it says so in their T&Cs and you have agreed to them.

Personally, I'd want to get all the relevant information, in writing, before I did anything.

Such as - what exactly the damage was, what condition the mattress was in before it was damaged and how much it actually cost for the hotel to put right any damage that was caused. They need to itemise a proper invoice and present it in a professional manner.

They can pursue you all they like (and it will cost them to do so) but there's no need for them to be so aggressive because first of all, you need to request that professional itemised invoice so you can consider their request. Don't panic.

Also, I don't think the person who caused the damage should be made to feel any more embarrassed than they probably do already.

IvanOpinion

I am surprised the hotel wouldn't have insurance against this sort of thing.
Did 'the person' involved have any travel insurance?

On the other hand £300 for a mattress and linen is at the bottom end of expectations, so maybe they have discounted it for prior wear.

user1977

IvanOpinion said:

I am surprised the hotel wouldn't have insurance against this sort of thing.

I expect they will (against malicious damage anyway, I suspect involuntary "accidents" are just a hazard of the trade), but nobody's going to be making an insurance claim for £300. Their excess is probably well above that.

And even if it was insured, that just means the insurers would be chasing for the money rather than the hotel.

Thrugelmir

A member of your party has damaged someone elses property. Only reasonable that the cost falls on you. You'd expect the same if any of your property was damaged in some way by another person. Accidentally or not. Just because the other party is a business doesn't mean that they should bear the cost. 

DB1904

Jenni_D said:

Monsternextdoor said:

Then wouldn't it be down to the person who had the accident to pay unless they are a child ?

No, as mentioned previously it would be down to the person who made the booking and paid. It would then be for them to reclaim it from the "soiler". 💩

How can you apply a Premier Inn policy to an unknown hotel?

neilmcl

MalMonroe said:

afghanChris said:

Basically hotel have informed us that the bed linen and mattress had to be destroyed and expect us to pay £300.....
We weren't aware of any problem at the time. But having spoken to the person who slept in bed they have said they had an accident 😐 
But can hotels charge such amounts? Do they not have mattress protectors on? 
I have cancelled my debit card in case they try to take money without my knowledge!
How do I go about this? They say they will pursue for costs of replacement, loss of earnings and interest! 
Can anybody advice what to do?
Many thanks

First of all, what do the hotel's terms and conditions say?

Secondly, everyone responding here appears to have just accepted that what the hotel is saying is true. i.e. the cost of replacing bedding and mattress, etc. Is it?

Thirdly, I'd never want to stay in a hotel that doesn't use mattress protectors, but that's just me.

Yes, they can charge for damage to property, if it says so in their T&Cs and you have agreed to them.

Personally, I'd want to get all the relevant information, in writing, before I did anything.

Such as - what exactly the damage was, what condition the mattress was in before it was damaged and how much it actually cost for the hotel to put right any damage that was caused. They need to itemise a proper invoice and present it in a professional manner.

They can pursue you all they like (and it will cost them to do so) but there's no need for them to be so aggressive because first of all, you need to request that professional itemised invoice so you can consider their request. Don't panic.

Also, I don't think the person who caused the damage should be made to feel any more embarrassed than they probably do already.

Firstly, the hotel's T&Cs are irrelevant.

Secondly, due to health & safety I'm pretty sure that the mattress and linen would indeed be replaced, in fact I think you hope it would be, and £300 sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Thirdly, unless the hotel uses plastic mattress protectors, and what guest would want to sleep on one of them by choice, then even a normal protector isn't going to prevent soiling from this sort of "accident".

Jenni_D

DB1904 said:

Jenni_D said:

Monsternextdoor said:

Then wouldn't it be down to the person who had the accident to pay unless they are a child ?

No, as mentioned previously it would be down to the person who made the booking and paid. It would then be for them to reclaim it from the "soiler". 💩

How can you apply a Premier Inn policy to an unknown hotel?

On the basis that pretty much all hotels have a similar policy. And something called common sense 🙄