Michigan Hotel and Resort Injury Lawyer

You go to a hotel or resort to relax or to work, not to end the trip in an emergency room. When a wet lobby floor, a broken stair rail, an unguarded pool, or a faulty balcony causes a serious injury, the operator who invited you in can be held responsible, and Michigan law gives you real tools to do it.

Based in Livonia and serving injured guests across Michigan, Vahdat Weisman Law premises liability attorneys handle hotel and resort cases, which carry wrinkles an ordinary slip-and-fall does not: signed waivers, a special statute for ski resorts, federal pool-safety rules, hotel-bar liability, and franchise structures that can obscure who is actually responsible. Knowing how each of those works is what makes a case hold up, and several of them work in an injured guest’s favor more than people expect.

What a Hotel Owes Its Guests

A paying guest is an invitee, the category that is afforded the most protection in the areas a hotel opens to its guests. The operator must inspect the property and take reasonable steps to fix or warn about hazards it knew about or should have found. For years, operators escaped these claims by arguing that a hazard was open and obvious. In Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil (2023), the Michigan Supreme Court ended that automatic defense. A possessor now always owes invitees a baseline duty of reasonable care, and the visibility of a hazard goes to whether the operator was careless and to the guest’s share of fault, rather than ending the case at the door. Notice still matters, so a spill that sat for an hour or a railing loose for weeks is the kind of proof these cases need.

Pools and Hot Tubs

Pools are where hotel injuries turn catastrophic. Beyond drownings in unguarded pools, there is a danger most guests never consider: drain suction. A powerful pool or spa drain can pin a swimmer, especially a child, underwater with a force an adult cannot overcome. The federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, passed after a child died that way, requires anti-entrapment drain covers and, for some single-drain pools, a backup system to release the suction. A missing or non-compliant drain cover is a serious violation. Separate from that federal drain law, Michigan’s public health rules govern the day-to-day safety of hotel pools through local health department inspections, covering water chemistry, required safety equipment, depth markings, “no diving” warnings, and proper fencing and self-latching gates. Those inspection files and chemical logs are often where a pool case is proven.

Waivers, and Why a Child’s Claim Is Different

Resorts hand out waivers for the pool, the slopes, the rental gear, and people assume signing one ends any claim. It usually does not end as much as the resort hopes. Michigan enforces a clear waiver against an ordinary negligence claim, but a waiver cannot excuse gross negligence, conduct that shows a substantial lack of concern for whether someone gets hurt, or reckless or intentional acts. And there is a rule that matters enormously for families: under Woodman v. Kera, a parent generally cannot sign away a child’s right to sue a for-profit business like a resort. So a waiver a parent signed at check-in or at the rental counter often does not bar a child’s claim at all. We read these documents against how the injury actually happened, because that is what decides whether the waiver matters.

Ski Resorts Follow a Special Law

Michigan’s ski resorts operate under the Ski Area Safety Act (MCL 408.321 and following), and it sets a high bar. By law, a skier accepts the dangers that are obvious and necessary to the sport, variations in terrain, icy patches, bare spots, trees, and collisions with plainly marked equipment or other skiers, and a resort is not liable for those inherent risks. The Act also imposes specific duties on the operator, such as marking equipment and maintaining lifts and signage, and a claim survives when an operator’s violation of one of those duties caused a hazard that was not simply an inherent part of skiing. Drawing that line carefully is what these cases come down to.

Assaults, Security, and the Hotel Bar

Two situations bring their own Michigan rules. After an assault on hotel property, guests look to the operator, but the law is restrictive: under MacDonald v. PKT, Inc., a business generally has no duty to anticipate and prevent the crimes of third parties, and prior incidents alone do not change that. The narrower duty, from Bailey v. Schaaf, is to reasonably expedite police involvement once staff learns of a specific, imminent threat to identifiable guests. These cases turn on what the staff knew and did in the moment.

Alcohol is different. If a hotel bar, lounge, or banquet over-serves a visibly intoxicated guest who then injures someone, Michigan’s Dram Shop Act can make the licensed server responsible, but it carries strict, short rules: written notice within 120 days of hiring a lawyer, a two-year deadline, and a requirement to name the intoxicated person in the suit. These deadlines are far shorter than the usual ones, so an alcohol-related injury needs prompt attention.

Reaching the Right Defendant

The brand on the sign rarely matches who is legally responsible. Most hotels flying a national flag are independently owned and run under a franchise, and the brand usually is not liable for the local operator’s negligence; reaching it means proving apparent agency, that the company held itself out as in control, and you reasonably relied on that, which is a real hurdle. The defendants who typically answer for an injury are the property owner and the management company. Outside contractors, a pool-service company, a security firm, a snow-removal vendor, can be liable too, but Michigan requires showing the contractor’s own work created a hazard, a duty separate from its contract. Sorting this out early is one of the first things we do.

Other Hazards We See

Hotel and resort injuries take many forms: falls from balconies and windows where a guardrail sat below the roughly 42-inch height the code requires or had gaps wider than four inches, bedbug infestations, carbon monoxide from pool heaters and HVAC systems, Legionnaires’ disease traced to hot tubs and water systems, and food-borne illness from on-site restaurants. Several of these, carbon monoxide, Legionnaires’, and bedbugs in particular, depend on evidence that the hotel can erase quickly through remediation, so testing, health department records, and maintenance logs have to be secured fast.

Fault, Deadlines, and Out-of-State Guests

The operator will argue you were careless. Michigan handles that through comparative fault: your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and only being found more than 50% at fault bars compensation for pain and suffering, with economic losses like medical bills and lost wages still recoverable in reduced form. Most claims carry a three-year deadline; the time to sue is generally extended when a child is hurt, but dram shop claims do not get that extension and expire in two years. An out-of-state guest hurt in Michigan can still bring a claim here, though booking agreements sometimes bury forum-selection or choice-of-law terms that we review early. Across all of it, hotel video, housekeeping, and maintenance logs, and pool records are often gone within days, so speed matters.

How Vahdat Weisman Law Handles Your Case

We move first to preserve the video, the maintenance, inspection, and pool records, and the physical condition that caused the injury, and to identify every responsible party behind the brand on the door. We weigh any waiver against how the injury actually happened, flag any short deadlines, and pursue the claim on its strongest footing. From our Livonia office, attorneys Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman handle hotel and resort injury claims for clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan on a contingency-fee basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

• I signed a waiver at the resort. Can I still sue? Often yes. Michigan enforces waivers against ordinary negligence, but not against gross negligence or reckless conduct. And a parent generally cannot waive a child’s right to sue a for-profit resort, so a form you signed for your kids may not bar their claim at all.
• My child was hurt at a hotel pool. What rules apply? Hotel pools must meet federal anti-entrapment drain standards and Michigan’s public-pool health rules on fencing, signage, equipment, and water safety. A drain, fencing, or maintenance violation can support a strong claim, and we move fast to document the pool before anything changes.
• Can I sue Marriott or Hilton for my injury? Usually, the responsible parties are the local owner and management company, not the national brand, because most branded hotels are franchises. Reaching the brand requires proving apparent agency, which is difficult. We identify the right defendants for you.
• I was over-served at a hotel bar, or hurt by someone who was. Is there a claim? Possibly, under Michigan’s Dram Shop Act, but the deadlines are short: notice within 120 days of hiring a lawyer and a two-year limit. Alcohol-related claims need prompt action.
• What does it cost to hire you? Nothing upfront. We handle these claims on a contingency-fee basis, so you owe no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Why Injured Michiganders Trust Vahdat Weisman Law

Vahdat Weisman Law is a personal injury firm based in Livonia, Michigan, representing injury victims and their families throughout the state. Our attorneys, Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman, bring courtroom experience, a record of meaningful results, and a hands-on approach to investigation and case strategy. We prepare every matter as if it will go to trial, which positions clients for stronger settlements and protects their rights if litigation becomes necessary.

We handle hotel and resort injury claims on a contingency-fee basis, which means there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. From our Livonia office, we serve clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan, and we explain every step in plain language so you can make informed decisions about your case.

Speak With a Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt at a hotel or resort, contact Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia today at (734) 469-4994 for a free, confidential consultation. The sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can preserve the video and records your claim depends on, and protect any short deadline that applies. Reach out via our contact page to let us know what happened and learn about your options. There is no cost to speak with us about your potential claim.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.