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?

Praying 🤣

To be honest if a business needs moaners and complainers to keep standards high then they are fundamentally floored anyway. Businesses with excellent standards are usually that way because that’s how they want their brand to be perceived.

when we asked to move rooms I considered the matter resolved I got on and enjoyed my holiday. But I won’t go back to the same hotel so they have lost future business. If people vote with their feet then businesses will fail.

Good job she wasn’t injured, hotel will be happy about that. Wonder why it happened? Poor maintenance, dodgy pipes? Who knows, who cares. Well the hotel should care.. I’d expect a refund of that nights’ stay (she’s paid for a service she didn’t receive), and an apology. Then move on.

A single bed is not the same as a double bed.

Guests treating serious incidents as trivial make the hotel owners think it doesn't matter, slow hand clap for making life that bit more dangerous. You think physical safety is optional, but actually that does not align with Spanish law. The hotel can face fines and prosecution if they are cavalier about risks to guests, and ceilings falling are a clear risk. If the manager thinks it's not a problem, then there are far bigger problems at this hotel.

What are you talking about “emergency bed” you make it sound like she’s been evacuated to a camp bed in a local sports hall for the night. I’m picturing her now say with a cup of tea and a foil blanket 🤣 she has a whole new room for goodness sakes!

Not giving the customer extra freebies doesn't mean they are lax about safety. They might have sent in a structural engineer, they might have called the local council and reported it, all sorts of things might have happened that show they are absolutely taking it seriously as they should.

They might not have done but their provision or lack thereof of wine/another room/free dinner/prostrating themselves at OP's feet isn't any indication of what they may or may not have done behind the scenes.

Not giving the customer extra freebies doesn't mean they are lax about safety.

Spot who's never worked in hospitality. On the contrary, their reaction says everything about their approach. But hey, it's just a ceiling, to be expected they fall down every week or so.

Businesses can only be perceived as being excellent if the guests confirm it through their own experiences. So again don't kid yourself on that by getting on with it you're helping drive the standards. Again those types of people are the reason you turn up to 4 star hotel and think 'no fucking way is this 4 star'.

Of course you should have some sort of compensation!! A refund of the night being a bare minimum
The ceiling fell in whilst you were on holiday supposedly having a relaxing time...... totally traumatic thing to happen.

Can't believe all these people who seem to think otherwise.

You do realise saying you pray nothing further will go wrong is a turn of phrase to get a point across. Or have you lived a sheltered life and take everything literally? More fool you I suppose.

Haven't lived a sheltered life at all, I'm just not a dramatic arse. I'm not the fool here.

Not all hero’s wear capes eh? 🤣 I’ll leave the campaigning and crusading to those with time on their hands. Meanwhile if I’m happy with the resolution to my issue I’ll order another beer and crack on with enjoying myself.

Well if the entire ceiling had collapsed, plasterboard, joists etc that would mean anything above would have also come into the friends bathroom, roofing materials if it's at the top of the building or furniture etc if there's a room above. I'd say that's a bit more than the ceiling collapsing and leaving a puddle of water as described, and would probably would have been mentioned as the puddle of water has been.

Water causes damage, even in a hotel as unacceptable as that may be to some people, its a fact of life. An overflowing bath or sink above will leak water into the ceiling material like the plaster/plasterboard and make it soggy and lose integrity, thus it falls down and the water above comes with it. No amount of inspection, maintenance or money will stop that happening. The ceiling can be perfectly safe until it gets wet.

If it's because of a previous leak from the room above or because of damage to roofing etc then your point absolutely stands, but it's not the forgone conclusion so many on this thread have decided it is and not definitely lack of maintenance/inspection or cost cutting on the part of the hotel - the OP maybe doesn't know, or hasn't mentioned what the cause was, so it's just as likely to be an overflowing bath as it was lack of maintenance.

It's just easier to automatically blame the hotel.

Definitely email and ask for first night refund. I find it strange that people say it is not their fault. You paid money to enjoy holiday and not experience collapsed ceiling. I would actually ask again to see higher management and demand compensation. Two bottles of wine is a joke.

campaigning and crusading 😂

Well you felt the need to dramatise a fairly common turn of phrase 😂

Course I did 💤

An overflowing bath or sink above will leak water into the ceiling material like the plaster/plasterboard and make it soggy and lose integrity, thus it falls down and the water above comes with it. No amount of inspection, maintenance or money will stop that happening. The ceiling can be perfectly safe until it gets wet

You're right that they can't stop water leaks happening (if that's what it was) and that they can compromise the structure, but they can certainly stop it getting to the point where the ceiling actually collapses ... or at least they can if they're keeping an eye on things at all and not just flicking a mop round and hoping for the best

Sorry, but a leak and a collapse don't just happen on the same day unless the leak was absolutely catastrophic, in which case I'd wonder why the rooms were let out at all

Of course she should be compensated. She's paid $$ to stay in a hotel on holiday and expects it to be safe, comfortable and probably relaxing!

Thankfully she wasn't injured but regardless the hotel is still at fault. It would have been very unsettling for her and further more having to pack up your belongings and relocate to another room is disruptive. Frankly I'm surprised she wasn't upgraded, I certainly hope it's only because they're at capacity and unable to do so. Hotels rely on positive reviews and typically good hotels pride themselves on customer service.

Let us know how the discussion with the manager goes OP.

Slightly different but a ceiling tile came off in our bathroom in Mexico and hit DH on the head. Reported it to reception, they were pretty good, sent someone to repair it straight away and sent DH straight to the doctor at the hotel (it was a huge hotel, 4 hotels at the complex so had its own private doctors). The hotel covered the costs (he was fine btw but presume they were covering themselves), and he was given a voucher for a free full body massage as compensation.

Do you work at this hotel?
I certainly hope you don't work in the customer service industry!

Did they not resolve it? Is the guest still in the room with the shit ceiling?

Our bed broke on the first night in a hotel, at 1am.

They relocated us to a suite until the bed had been replaced.

That's what I would expect - an "in kind" gift of apology that they've already paid for essentially, rather than financial compensation, when the problem is inconvenience not loss.

I kind of wish I was a person who would say "I appreciate you found me another room quickly but it was mildly disruptive and I am now in a single bed rather than a double. Could you upgrade my room perhaps or offer something in recompense? I would be happy with a refund for one night."

But I am not.

People that do this are nothing but impressive to me. It's not grabby. It's just assertive. That said it is kind of reminding me of the White Lotus season 2 and that did not end well....

I think there's people who will not say anything, ever, people who will reasonably challenge, and people who will ruin a holiday over such things. You sound perfectly reasonable and in the middle ground here op.

I'd be happier going about my day if I had an extra £160 to spend, surely most people would? Nobody is suggesting that OP/friend rant, rave, threaten to sue and slate the hotel on trip adviser, just that they politely request some compensation for unexpected disruption.

Preferring that a hotel room you've paid quite a lot of money for isn't going to fall down around you is a fairly normal state of being, surely, hardly 'uptight as fuck.'