After visiting relatives in the mainland, Ms. K, a foreign dancer, was about to return home soon from a major port city.
When she checked into a certain foreign-related hotel and was led into her room, she found that it hadn't been cleaned properly. She put down her luggage and went to the airline counter to get her ticket and then shopped for souvenirs, not returning until evening. Seeing that the bed sheets and bath towels had been replaced with clean ones but the floor, wastebasket, and ashtray were still not cleaned up, she thought of calling a server to tidy up, but considering it was already late and she was tired, she turned off the light and went to sleep.
The next morning, as she just woke up, she drowsily felt someone mopping the floor in the room, so she turned over and fell asleep again. After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. In a hurry, she got up, stumbled while rushing to open the door because the waxed floor wasn’t dry yet, and slipped, twisting her heel and feeling intense pain.
After the server reported to the manager's office, the guestroom manager came to the room to verbally console and apologize to Ms. K and agreed to invite a doctor to check and treat her.
At this point, Ms. K was dissatisfied. She further complained and demanded compensation: “If the doctor finds that my injury is serious and I can't move, all hospitalization and medical expenses should be borne by your hotel. Besides, I originally decided to return home the day after tomorrow. If I can't perform due to the injury, all economic losses must also be compensated by your hotel!”
The guestroom manager was at a loss, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, after the doctor examined her and said that fortunately there was no fracture... In short, what should the hotel side deeply reflect upon from this incident?
Analysis:
It is absolutely wrong for a hotel to let guests stay in rooms that haven't been thoroughly cleaned, and one might even say it's a fraudulent act. Afterwards, according to the guestroom manager's understanding, the room where Ms. K stayed had been vacated two days ago, and the inspectors had orally confirmed that it had been cleaned. However, in fact, the hotel had loopholes in its guestroom management and cleaning services. When it came to investigating responsibility after the accident, there was no written evidence to check (which should have had signatures from the room administrator and inspector, along with date stamps and exact times). Moreover, the lack of communication between the guestroom administrator and the front desk led to the mistake of leading the guest into a room that hadn't been cleaned. Finally, since the guestroom administrator and servers were already aware that there was a guest staying, they entered the room and waxed the floor without warning the guest to beware of slipping, which made the hotel responsible.
Protecting the personal property safety of resident guests is the top priority of a hotel. Regardless of subjective or objective reasons, when a guest gets injured, the hotel has some responsibility. If potential hazards cannot be prevented, discussing right and wrong after an accident occurs will always leave the hotel in a passive situation. The hotel should understand Ms. K’s feelings. In addition to providing spiritual comfort to the guest, material compensation should also be reasonably and appropriately considered. More importantly, improving management systems and learning from the accident is crucial!