Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Recently a young boy drowned while swimming at night in a swimming pool owned by a major hotel chain while attending a wedding reception. Although alcohol was involved, there were numerous other violations pointing to owner/operator negligence for swimming pool operations and premise liability which led to the tragic death. Recently I was a guest at another major hotel chain with an indoor pool and was surprised to notice that the hotel did not secure the pool at night by locking doors even though claiming it was closed during evening hours. The hotel’s actions indicated that guests were allowed to swim at night and the area was dimly and darkly lit. The hotel also had business and social functions ongoing in the lobby and bar areas and it was very possible for guests who were intoxicated to enter the pool.

In the hotel swimming pool drowning accident case where the boy drowned, an aquatic safety consultant was retained and stated that the hotel was negligent in that it failed to secure the pool at night with locked doors or gates even though they claimed it was closed during evening hours. Routine pool controls and patrols were not conducted for safety and the pool was lacking safety signs, rescue and resuscitation equipment. There was no one on staff ultimately in charge of the pool and in fact, many of the safety breaches which led to the finding of liability on behalf of the hotel chain were in violation of the company’s written policies.

As an experienced Philadelphia hotel safety and Philadelphia swimming pool accident lawyer for over thirty years, I understand that safety is priority number one and that hotels and motels owe the highest duty of care to those who visit the premises as customers to insure their safety and protect them from significant harm or death. If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a swimming pool accident, please contact us for a free, no obligation consultation toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.