Many customers prefer to stay at hotels that offer the option to work out even though many of them never do. That means that having and maintaining a fitness center is part of your daily concerns as a hotel owner or manager. While customers are mostly responsible for their own conduct in your fitness center, the hotel also holds an amount of liability as well.
What liabilities do hotels hold for guest conduct in fitness center areas? The hotel is overall responsible for how safe the area is. Safety for your gym includes:
- Maintenance of Machines
- Configuration of the Space
- Cleanliness
If a guest was to fall off of a machine because of a broken part or another form of negligence on the part of the hotel that guest would be well within their rights to make a claim against your insurance. It is the hotel’s responsibility to be absolutely sure that the guest is safe from harm while using your facilities.
The most common types of accidents in hotel amenity ares are slips and falls. Ways to avoid these in your fitness center are to be sure that there is adequate signage on the walls about areas that may become wet. You can also use rubber flooring with non-slip materials. Another way to prevent these types of accidents is to be sure that there is plenty of space between equipment and that it is all in good working order.
The best ways to avoid hotel liability lawsuits are to ensure that you have functional training equipment and your fitness center design is sound. One way to do this is to hire people that understand the dynamics of hotel fitness centers and have them do a risk assessment for you.
A professional should be able to inexpensively tell you what changes need to be made to your gym and other recreation areas to reduce your hotel liability. Your results could be as simple as moving equipment from one end of the room to another or you may find that you need all new equipment and maybe even more room. Either way, you will have a better idea of your current risk of a hotel liability claim.
Consider finding a Discount Online Fitness professional to have a look at your hotel fitness center. We can help to ease your mind and give you some pointers on creating a better and safer gym for everyone.