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.

It's not clear, I read it as if the OP had burnt the desk intentionally as she was pissed off with the hotel... surely nobody would do that though?

I never stream from hotel WiFi. I always download movies and box sets when I'm at home so they are available for watching (before I go to sleep).
Hotel WiFi can't be relied on.

Also, what straighteners do you have? My old GHDs have molding around the plates so wouldn't be able to burn a desk when put down.

I'm surprised any can do that, do you usually have to use a heat mat?

Bullseye

I would ask to speak to the manager regards the wifi and other situations, this happened to me previously, we were offered a free nights stay.

I would not mention the burn unless they approached me about it. The burn could have been from previous people who had stayed there.

Classy very classy.

Don’t tell em Pike.

I flooded a posh hotel bathroom a few years ago. The water came gushing out of the bathroom and it was boiling so couldn’t get my hand into the bath to unplug it.
Someone came to ‘ check we were okay ‘ as it was leaking into the room below. By this point I was feeling like I was about to have a heart attack.
They never charged us, apparently they have insurance for that type of thing.
In my defence it was soooooo hungover ( it’s no defence )

I’d probably fess up tbh and hope they took pity on me.

Apologise profusely and they’ll probably be sympatheyptic.

I would say it to them about the burn, I doubt they will do anything or charge you. It was an accident.

I'd have insisted on changing rooms during that wedding situation and certainly I would off the back of the wifi issue. As staff mentioned changing rooms if the router reboot didn't work, which it ultimately hasn't done, I'd go back now and get put in a new room today. Whether I'd mention the burn mark would come down to my moral scruples in that moment. I probably would if it was so bad they'd instantly see it, but if not then maybe I'd figure insurance would cover it and not say anything. Depends whether the rest of your hol would turn into Crime and Punishment with your dread of getting found out. Regardless, I'd be changing room, and not raving about the hotel so much. Sounds far from great to me with shit wifi, noisy weddings and building work.

The issues have nothing to do with each other.
Also the suggestion to complain about the noise and WiFi (which you already did, snd they took reasonable steps to rectify it) after the fact is a bit useless too.
You damaged the desk. It happens. Tell them and they will most likely let it go.

I’d confess to the damage. However if they asked me for financial compensation I’d then push the Wi-Fi issue and say it messed up my work responsibilities. No excuse really for poor/zero Wi-Fi these days (especially when mobile signal can’t be relied on in remote areas) and it’s false advertising to list it and not provide it.

The hotel did everything they could to accommodate you and your minor complaints are separate to the damage you caused so why out them together? Because you are excusing yourself?
I don't know why you can't just be open about the damage,you don't need to repeat your many complaints to the staff,I'm sure they are already very aware of you.

I would do two things.

1. tell them about the damage and tell them if they send you the invoice for repair or replacement desk you will cover it. They won’t do this because they have handy men etc that do it so no actual cost. They cannot charge for his salary. But you tell them and offer.

2. feedback re the stay in general. Tell them that the room is really poorly positioned when weddings are taking place and that what they should be doing is ensuring wedding guests stay in that room and move the smoking area away from the hotel Itself.

I don’t see what the wedding or Wi-Fi have to do with the burn. It doesn’t sound like either were in any way relevant.

My experience is that its quite standard in hotels for Wi-Fi to be painfully slow and incapable of streaming videos unless it’s specifically advertised as being high speed/ premium. Usually the internet is only good enough for browsing the internet or checking social media. Certainly in a Travel Lodge, Premier Inn etc you wouldn’t get high speed internet or you would have to pay an additional fee for it. How high-end is the hotel you’re staying in? Unless Wi-Fi was advertised as being high speed or it’s a very pricey hotel I think your expectations on this are too high.

I feel like you’ve gone into a lot of unnecessary detail to justify what happened (it was an accident) or to justify not telling them

All of that detail wasn’t needed.

I once went to a posh hotel in Berlin on business . Went into my room and opened the curtains to admire the view but didn’t release the cord for the curtains / blinds had got a bit wrapped around a standard lamp which was made completely of glass . To be horror it fell and shattered into thousands of tiny pieces . Glass everywhere . I was going out shortly with colleagues and mentioned it to reception on my way out . When I returned - it was all cleared up and an exact same lamp replaced it ( though I almost wishes they hadn’t) . Also had some floor tiles crack once ( some one elses fault not mine )- the maintainence guy was up pretty sharpish with some spare tiles and they were replaced swiftly . Also had a door handle break ( no ones fault - they turned up with a new door . Never been charged at all . I think they expect this sort of stuff to happen and keep spares if they need to replace stuff . Good luck .

Yes. It's very much "look over there; your kid's drawing on the wall".

Complain:

About the room proximity to smoking area.
Bad Wifi
...and to top it off room could do with some updating due to damage to furniture 🤭

I absolutely wouldn’t complain about anything. You can’t be shocked that a posh hotel had a wedding on on a Saturday in June. The wi-if is mildly annoying but often happens in Country locations.
I would check out and say ‘I’m so sorry, I’ve left a mark on the desk from my straighteners. I only left them there for a second. It’s not too bad but wanted to mention it.’ The receptionist won’t give a shit.

I don’t see what the wedding or Wi-Fi have to do with the burn. It doesn’t sound like either were in any way relevant.

She's trying to justify it by bringing up the negatives of the stay to alleviate guilt. I personally wouldn't feel guilty or raise it, it's a straightener burn, it happens, these rooms get heavy use 🤷‍♀️

The "weddings guests one" isn't difficult at all. If you've got a wedding booked then you warn other prospective guests about it before booking. I had this happen to me once and found it beyond infuriating. I'm an insomniac at the best of times and if there's thunka-thunka music and smoking until silly o'clock I bloody well expect to be apprised of it. (They wouldn't even move us once we'd caught on in spite of the place being half empty - no housekeeping staff at night, yada yada. Did get a refund but what's the bloody use of that when you've lost an entire holiday day to zero zleep.)

What do you want to happen? They can't give you your weekend back so you can watch your stuff/do your training/ have some sleep. So do you want compensation for the lack of sleep etc? Sounds like you complained about the WiFi and they did their best, but not about the other stuff. If you don't mention it while it's happening, they can't sort it. So I wouldn't bother complaining.
Re the desk, of course you have to tell them, both so that they don't have the next guest commenting about shit furniture but also for your own clear conscience. Fess up and say you're awfully sorry. Offer to pay. I'm sure they won't charge you. Hopefully they will have someone who can sand it down and re-stain it.
I broke a hotel shower once. Confessed, and they said not to worry about it.