Damage in hotel room - I’m an idiot

[HotelWoes]

Been staying at a really lovely 4* hotel for the last two nights. Breathtakingly beautiful place, staff are all so lovely, great facilities. Had a really stressful few weeks so went away with DP to unwind.

There have been a few issues - we didn’t realise when booking that this is also a wedding venue, and there was a wedding here yesterday. Which was fine, didn’t really affect us except that we are on the ground floor very near to the area where the wedding guests would go and smoke, and drunkenly shout and screech at each other. We had our windows open as it was too warm to close them, so could hear it all loud and clear. This went on until just before 2am so didn’t manage to get to sleep until then. Then got woken up early this morning by heavy machinery that had arrived to do some work on the grounds driving around, again close to our window.

Also, the wifi is shite. Don’t know whether it’s just our room but when I say shite I mean you literally can’t use it for watching stuff online, and that’s something that DP and I spend most of our time doing when we go away (sad as it sounds). We haven’t been able to do that at all, and there’s not even any phone signal to hotspot from. I was also planning to spend a bit of time doing some online training that I have to do before Monday, but haven’t been able to do that. I have mentioned it to reception 4 times now, they kept saying they’d send someone over to boost the signal, but it didn’t make any difference. The manager did say to us at 10pm tonight that she’d reset the router and if that didn’t work she could move us to another room, miraculously it did help, and we managed to watch a whole film before it dropped out again, but as it was now getting on for midnight we just gave up.

Anyway, sounds like a lot of moaning there 🤣, but other than that the place is great. But this evening I did something really daft. I put the hot hair straighteners on the wooden desk and left a burn mark on the desk. I have never damaged anything in a hotel room before and now I feel sick worrying about it. I’m going to have to fess up in the morning I know, but worried we’ll be charged hundreds of pounds. Has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing? Can’t sleep (again) for worrying about it.

I wouldn’t mention it.

Do fess up, or you'll feel guilty forever. But I'm fairly sure they will have insurance and you won't have to pay.

Oh I definitely have to fess up, there’s no chance of them not noticing it and the last thing I want is for DP’s card to be charged with however much they would charge for the damage.

I’m not sure I’d bother, they’ll either charge you or they won’t.

But either way I’d get in an email on your various issues. They shouldn’t put non wedding guests above the smoking terrace, if the Wi-Fi is terrible then they need to state this is a place to relax and go offline. If you have an email moan they’ll be less likely to charge you for fear of a (justifiably critical review.)

If you're honest about the damage up front it'll go better than if you try to hide it. It was an accident. If they start getting uppity about charging you for it, you can always mention how you weren't going to make a fuss, but actually the wedding guests were noisy and kept you awake, the wifi was unusably bad, heavy machinery was noisy, etc.

They can’t charge you unless they replace the desk, and they are very unlikely to do that. By all means mention it but you haven’t stopped the deal from working so I doubt they’ll be that worried.

I would explain the problems to the manager re the wedding noise and wifi and request a refund for one night’s stay.

Id apologise re the straighteners. But assume the hotel expects some wear and tear.

I’d complain loads first but then later would mention the burn and accept no refund for my complaints due to the burn.

That would make it look like she did it on purpose in some kind of weird revenge

@GoodChat my thoughts too.
Charm and goodwill go a lot further than negative complaints imo

What's the WiFi advertised as? Ours is patchy and we know it, but that's because it's an old and odd shaped building with some really thick walls that can inhibit the signal and so we say we have WiFi in some rooms and don't charge for it.
If someone particularly wants WiFi we'll move them to a room with decent signal if possible, but we don't guarantee it everywhere.

The wedding guests is a difficult one because people are generally, not bothered about being considerate towards others. Our smoking areas are well away from the bedrooms but that doesn't stop people collecting where they want, in non smoking areas and telling me I can't tell them what to do to fuck off when I ask them to move away and out of the area. Is it a designated smoking area or did you raise it with reception/a member of staff at the time? If it's a designated smoking area then no, it shouldn't be near rooms because of the smoke and noise.

The heavy machinery early in the morning isn't acceptable, early in the morning and disturbing guests.

As for the straighteners, we'd be more likely to overlook it and not charge you for a replacement (if that's what's needed) especially in light of the issues you've experienced, if you mentioned it on check out. I would say there was a chance you'd be charged once the damage has been looked at, because you never know when people say they've damaged something what level that is, but I wouldn't do it if it were minimal damage, and clearly an honest accident.
And I really don't think a hotel would claim against their insurance for something like this unless it's an antique and worth thousands - this kind of thing happens all the time and you would constantly be claiming and increasing your premium if you did!

Tell them the issues rationally and calmly at reception and be honest and see what the response is.

Don't mention it.

Not.getting your aibu tbh, there was a wedding which was a pain in the hole but you damaged the room which had nothing to do with that?

TBH I would be annoyed if I wanted a peaceful weekend away and all that happened to me.
I don't go away that often and if I'd known it's a wedding type venue, I probably wouldn't have gone there. The WiFi issue would have majorly pissed me off. I would give them this feedback

I am not sure I would tell them about the burn, depends how glaringly obvious it is.

Please post picture of burn - I am sure I have seen lots of these if mumsnet agrees not as bad as you think I would leave it. Cleaner unlikely to notice it’s a new burn unless it’s massive.
also you are too nice - I would have been jumping up and down the first night if I was kept up to 2am!

Businesses like this do not, and usually cannot claim for damage such as this as they usually have a large excess and any minor claims lead to huge hikes in the premium far in excess of any claim

Do you have time to try to remove the burn marks?

Lemon juice and ash from a cigarette.
Or toothpaste and baking soda.

If its a deep scorch mark use linseed oil mixed with a soft wood polishing compound, mix equal parts rub on and leave it for 15 mins and then rub in the direction of the grain.

Somewhere buried in the small print of whatever 'I accept the terms and conditions' thing you signed, it should say what your liability is for damage to the room.

Tell them but keep it separate from your complaint about noise and smoke.

My daughter once smashed a side lamp in a fancy hotel accidentally.
We immediately told them and the manager said it was so unusual for guests to admit damage it was fine and no charge

Did you not complain about the smoking at the time? They would have done something about it if you had. As a PP has said, I think a lot of us have seen marks like you've probably made in hotel rooms and not thought anything much about it, so hopefully it'll be find.

literally can’t use it for watching stuff online, and that’s something that DP and I spend most of our time doing when we go away (sad as it sounds). We haven’t been able to do that at all, and there’s not even any phone signal to hotspot from. I was also planning to spend a bit of time doing some online training that I have to do before Monday, but haven’t been able to do that

Are you at least doing stuff out of your room during the day?! Sounds crazy to spend money on a hotel when you could just do that at home but maybe that's just me!

So,your whole list of issues which makes up the majority of the post is in some way supposed to offset the fact you’ve damaged the desk?

some of it sounds odd. Like you go away to unstress to a beautiful place but wish to spend the whole time watching streaming on your phone. Aye.

it reads to me like you’re trying to find as many issues as possible as you’re hoping you can then use them so you don’t need to pay.

I thought this. I think the OP's point was that she could use the wedding as leverage against the damage caused. If not, there was no point mentioning it here!

The vast majority of hotels cater for weddings it's a big part of their income, so it's something you should have expected. You should have asked to change rooms as soon as you were aware you were ground floor with patchy WiFi. And sorry, but who goes to a swanky hotel with lovely grounds to stay in their room watching shite on the laptop? You sound a bit precious tbh, I doubt you'll be charged for the damage, but the staff will probably be glad to see the back of you.

Yes. The OP goes on and on about complaints but minimises the damage she made to the hotel furniture.

Yes, 80,percent of the post is about complaints, and only the very brief last paragraph mentions she’s burned the table.

and some of it is not really believable or incredibly petty. It reads like she’s trying to find a way to justify getting out of paying. I’m struggling with we went away didn’t realise it was a wedding venue and we wanted to spend “most of our time” watching streaming shit and doing online training in the room. And did the room not have air con, why was it so hot?