In Spain - friend issue with hotel room

[RosaMoline]

Morning lovelies
we’re day 3 on our holidays.
On the morning after our first night, my friend was making a cup of tea in her room, and the ceiling collapsed by the bathroom, leaving a large puddle of water on the floor. She was shaken but uninjured.
So yesterday, she had to repack her case and they moved her to another room (of the same standard)
My friend doesn’t articulate herself very well, and gets very anxious, so I’m her official spokesperson, so to speak.
The manager wasn’t available yesterday, but today he’s back - we’ve yet to speak to him, but what do you think is fair to ask for due to the inconvenience and disruption? I was thinking a refund of the first night’s stay (about £160)
AIBU?

Me too! I’m like your friend though and wouldn’t ask for it but ‘they couldn’t help it’ really isn’t a justification for you to potentially have been in danger then had to take time (you’ve paid for) out of your holiday to move. I think a hotel in this situation would usually quickly do a freebie like a spa voucher to hope you don’t post a bad review

I'd ask for a different room with a double bed - if you specifically booked a double bed in the first place. I don't think a refund is necessary.

I don't understand why you would expect any compensation for your friend if she was moved to another room promptly and none of her belongings were damaged. It might be a nice gesture if the hotel gave her a bunch of flowers or a bottle of wine, but I don't think thst is necessary.

Mad responses.

Yes I would expect some sort of compensation. The shock and disruption must have been awful.
She so easily could have been hurt and sometimes that knowledge is quite traumatic.

I don't honestly know what I would expect but it would be something and not having a double bed is also not on and needs to be resolved. I think a refund on the first night is fair

Me too !
You'd think they would have given her a room upgrade at least, but perhaps there wasn't one available.
Hopefully the manager will offer something without being asked.

Definitely try and wrangle something 'for the inconvenience' - got nothing to lose!

I had no working wifi recently in a hotel room I was in, mentioned it to staff and they immediately moved me to their best category of room, on the top floor with a stupendous view. And while no working wifi is annoying, it’s hardly life-threatening.

Situation been resolved but nice thing would be a bottle of wine etc. My fil had something heavy fall on his head in a hotel in Belgium...they got given a box of chocolates but still paid their hotel room. He had a large egg on his head for a day. Did ruin the holiday though

Having to repack quickly to move rooms is no hassle at all, to me. It's less than 15mins of my effort - and that includes unpacking in the new room

Sleeping in a single bed when you're used to (and booked) a double is a problem and I'd want that corrected.

During a recent hotel stay the power had to be shut off for an hour due to emergency maintenance works.

The hotel were very apologetic, and reimbursed us for all food and beverages on the day of the incident & they gave us a voucher for a complimentary champagne afternoon tea for any time in the future.

It was a gesture of goodwill & helped alleviate any frustrations. I would hope the hotel your friend and you are at could offer something along these lines (maybe not afternoon tea 😉 ) to mitigate for the disruption to your holiday

It’s always interesting to see how others view a given situation.

There has been a recent thread about lack of Wifi in an Air BnB, and whilst I understand it’s important to some, I wouldn’t have expected anything more than a token gesture by way of apology.

A ceiling falling in? Fortunately it caused no injury, but certainly had the possibility to do so. Fair enough the hotel changed to a different room, but by any standard this is the bare minimum they could be expected to do, and also the room doesn’t even have the same type of bed.

I would be looking for at least a refund of the day of needing to move.

I'd imagine the shock of the ceiling falling down next to you and then the inconvenience of re-packing and moving room rather took the shine of that day of the holiday, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect some kind of gesture.

No but you are a chancer.

A single room is not an acceptable solution to the problem, they need to come up with something else.

I missed the update regarding the single bed. I would not be happy about that.

I would think some sort of compensation. When I was in Italy they mixed up our rooms and we had to move to a different hotel for the first night- it didn't bother me at all but they gave us free half board for the week we were there, it was a lovely gesture and a lovely hotel.

Is it a chain hotel? A pp asked how you oreventvit, from making sure your property follows building regulations and is inspected/updated as necessary. I'd look up the licencing laws in Spain. You expect this across Asia and Africa, but not Spain. It's by luck no-one was injured or killed. For all we know at the moment the owners could be penny pinching, just like the cladding scandals.

Can’t believe some of these responses. My sister is a hotel manager in an upscale hotel. Absolutely do ask in fact I am surprised it wasn’t offered to begin with. As long as you’re polite and don’t made a scene. I wouldn’t even ask for one night (or suggest anything to begin with) as I wouldn’t be surprised if they comp her whole stay. This is one review they definitely do NOT want on trip advisor…
If try to fob you off with a drink at the bar or sth I would then suggest at least that night should be comped.
For reference I stated somewhere recently and fire alarm went off repeatedly over night. I brought it up at reception and they refunded my stay.

We had a toilet overflow in our hotel room recently. Poop and waste all over the bathroom floor. It was a basic and very budget motel.
We couldn't then shower or use the loo in our room - and this was 1hr before check out so we weren't moved rooms (or rather, moving rooms didn't really seem helpful at that point). However, we did instead get 50% off the room rate for the night.

I can’t believe that so many people would put up and shut up.

Absolutely not. She has the right to have a safe stay while she is at the hotel and it is reasonable to expect this. She could have been injured or lost belongings but, fortunately, only got a nasty shock and the inconvenience of moving rooms, to a lesser standard also. The potential for worse was there.

I’d be expecting at least that night refunded and a partial reduction pro rata in cost for a room of lesser quality for however many nights unless you can be re-upgraded.

That is fair. It shows that it is false economy to skimp on maintenance when there is the potential for injury to guests and damage to guests’ property.

No. Don’t be daft!

fucking Compo culture.

Even after you'd already spent the whole night there, so your night and sleep unaffected. So the only inconvenience you had was to move yourself and your case into another room? And you'd expect £160 for that? Wow.

And you'd just put up with having a single bed rather than a double?

More fool you.

Well considering I'm only 1 person.....

The responses here show the clear divide between the complainers and the people who just get on with things unless it's an actual issue.