If you’re injured at a hotel in Las Vegas, seek medical care immediately, report the incident to hotel management in writing, document the scene with photos and videos, and contact a personal injury attorney. Acting quickly protects your health, preserves critical evidence, and prevents the hotel or its insurer from denying or minimizing your claim.
A hotel injury can derail your trip and your life. Slip-and-fall accidents, broken furniture, or unsafe property conditions can lead to serious harm, and hotels often move fast to protect themselves, not you. Victims who delay medical care or fail to document the scene risk losing vital evidence that proves the hotel’s negligence.
Without swift action, key evidence like surveillance footage or witness statements can disappear within days. Insurance companies frequently contact victims early, pressuring them to accept low settlements before the full extent of their injuries is known. Meanwhile, mounting medical bills and missed work add financial stress to an already painful recovery.
Protect yourself by getting prompt medical attention, filing a written report with hotel management, and documenting everything before evidence vanishes. Avoid speaking to insurance adjusters until you’ve consulted a qualified personal injury attorney who can manage communications, investigate the hotel’s negligence, and fight for full compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
In this article, we explore what to do if you are injured at a hotel in Las Vegas.
What Should You Do Right After a Hotel Injury
Time is critical after a hotel injury. Every minute that passes makes it harder to preserve evidence and protect your legal rights.
Get Medical Care Now
Your health comes first, even if your injuries seem minor. Call 911 for serious injuries like head trauma, broken bones, or severe bleeding. For less urgent injuries, ask hotel staff to call for medical assistance or go to the nearest urgent care clinic or emergency room.
Adrenaline can mask pain and make injuries seem less serious than they actually are. Some injuries, like concussions or internal bleeding, may not show symptoms immediately but can become life-threatening without treatment.
Getting medical care right away also creates an official record linking your injuries to the hotel accident. This documentation becomes crucial evidence if you need to file an insurance claim or lawsuit later.
Report the Incident to Hotel Management
Find the manager on duty immediately and insist on filing a written incident report before you leave the property. This creates an official record of what happened and when it occurred.
Stick to the basic facts when describing the accident. Avoid giving opinions about what caused it or admitting any fault, even if you think you might have been partially responsible.
- Get the Manager’s Information: Write down the manager’s full name and title
- Request Report Details: Ask for the incident report number and a complete copy
- Document Staff Present: Note which employees witnessed the accident or helped you
- Record Time and Location: Make sure the report includes the exact time and place of your injury
Document the Scene and Hazard
Use your phone to take extensive photos and videos of the accident scene as soon as possible. This evidence often disappears quickly as hotels repair hazards or clean up spills.
Take close-up photos of the specific danger that caused your injury, such as a wet floor, broken railing, or torn carpet. Also capture wider shots showing the surrounding area, lighting conditions, and whether any warning signs were present or missing.
Document your visible injuries immediately and continue photographing them as bruises develop or cuts heal. Record a short video of the scene while narrating what happened, as this preserves your immediate recollection of events.
Collect Witness and Employee Information
If anyone saw your accident, politely ask for their contact information. Independent witnesses can provide unbiased accounts of what happened, which can be invaluable if the hotel disputes your version of events.
Write down the names and contact details of any hotel employees who were present during or immediately after your accident. Note their job titles and what assistance they provided.
Save Bills, Records, and Communications
Create a file to organize all documents related to your injury. Keep every medical bill, prescription receipt, and record of time missed from work due to your injuries.
Save all emails, letters, and other communications you receive from the hotel, its insurance company, or corporate offices. These documents can reveal important information about how they’re handling your claim.
Avoid Statements, Releases, and Recorded Calls
Hotel insurance adjusters often contact injured guests quickly, hoping to get recorded statements or signed releases before people understand their rights. Politely decline these requests until you’ve had time to consult with an attorney.
You can simply say, “I’m focusing on my medical treatment right now and am not prepared to discuss that.” Don’t feel pressured to provide details about the accident or sign any documents immediately.
What Accidents at Hotels Lead to Claims
Hotels must maintain reasonably safe conditions for their guests. When they fail to do so, various types of accidents can result in valid injury claims.
Slip and fall accidents are the most common hotel injuries. These happen when hotels fail to clean up spills, don’t maintain proper lighting in hallways, or allow carpets and walkways to become damaged or uneven.
Pool and hot tub areas create unique hazards. Hotels can be liable for injuries caused by slippery pool decks, broken ladders, improper chemical levels, or inadequate safety barriers around pools.
- Defective Equipment: Broken gym equipment, collapsing furniture, or falling light fixtures
- Security Failures: Assaults due to broken locks, poor lighting, or inadequate security cameras
- Food-Related Illness: Food poisoning from restaurants or room service due to unsanitary conditions
- Pest Infestations: Bed bugs or other pests that hotels failed to identify and treat properly
Who Is Responsible Under Nevada Law?
Nevada’s premises liability law determines when hotels can be held responsible for guest injuries. Hotels are not automatically liable for every accident that occurs on their property.
However, hotels do have a legal “duty of care” to maintain reasonably safe conditions for guests. This means they must regularly inspect their property, fix known hazards, and warn guests about dangers they cannot immediately repair.
The hotel can be held liable if they knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to take reasonable steps to address it. This is called “negligence,” and it’s the legal basis for most hotel injury claims.
How Do You Prove Hotel Negligence?
Winning a hotel injury case requires proving that the hotel’s carelessness directly caused your injuries. This involves establishing several key legal elements that work together to build your case.
Show Duty, Notice, and Causation
Every successful negligence claim must prove three essential elements. First, you must show the hotel had a duty to keep you reasonably safe from harm.
Second, you need to prove the hotel had “notice” of the dangerous condition. This means they either knew about the hazard or should have discovered it through reasonable inspections.
Third, you must demonstrate that the hotel’s failure to fix or warn about the hazard was the direct cause of your injuries. This connection between their negligence and your harm is called “causation.”
Preserve Surveillance and Maintenance Records
Hotels often have security cameras that may have recorded your accident, but this footage is typically deleted within 30 days or less. Send a formal written request to preserve all video evidence immediately after your injury.
Maintenance logs and inspection reports can show whether the hotel knew about the hazard that injured you. These internal documents often reveal a pattern of problems or complaints that the hotel ignored.
Link the Hazard to Your Injuries
Your medical records must clearly connect the accident to the specific injuries you sustained. Any gaps in your medical treatment or contradictory statements about how the accident happened can be used by the insurance company to deny your claim.
Consistent medical care and honest reporting to your doctors creates a strong foundation for proving your injuries resulted from the hotel’s negligence.
What Evidence Strengthens Your Claim?
The strength of your hotel injury claim depends largely on the quality and quantity of evidence you can gather. Thorough documentation helps prove both the hotel’s fault and the full extent of your damages.
Photos and Video of the Hazard
Visual evidence is often the most powerful tool in hotel injury cases. If you slipped on a wet floor, include an object like a coin in the photo to show the size of the spill.
For accidents involving stairs or elevators, document any problems with handrails, uneven steps, or malfunctioning equipment. Take photos from multiple angles to give a complete picture of the dangerous condition.
Medical Records and a Symptom Timeline
Consistent medical treatment after your injury creates an official record of your diagnosis, treatment, and recovery progress. Follow all your doctor’s recommendations and attend every scheduled appointment.
Keep a private daily journal documenting your pain levels, symptoms, and how the injuries affect your daily activities. This personal record helps demonstrate the ongoing impact of your injuries.
Incident Report and Corporate Correspondence
The hotel’s incident report serves as an official acknowledgment that an accident occurred on their property. This document establishes the basic facts about when and where you were injured.
Save all communications from the hotel or its insurance company. These emails and letters often contain admissions or statements that can be used to support your claim.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
If your hotel injury claim is successful, you can recover compensation for all the ways the accident has impacted your life. These damages are designed to restore you to the position you would have been in if the injury had never occurred.
Medical Bills and Future Care
You can recover compensation for all medical expenses related to your injury, including emergency room visits, hospital stays, surgery, medications, and physical therapy. This also includes the estimated cost of any medical care you’ll need in the future.
Keep receipts for all medical expenses, including transportation costs to and from medical appointments. Even small expenses can add up to significant amounts over time.
Lost Income and Earning Capacity
If your injuries prevented you from working, you can recover compensation for all lost wages. This includes not only the time you missed immediately after the accident but also any ongoing work limitations.
If your injuries permanently affect your ability to earn a living, you may also be entitled to compensation for lost earning capacity. This represents the difference between what you could have earned before and after the injury.
Pain, Suffering, and Loss of Enjoyment
These “non-economic” damages compensate you for the physical pain, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life caused by your injuries. This includes your inability to participate in hobbies, sports, or other activities you once enjoyed.
Nevada law allows recovery for both past and future pain and suffering. The amount depends on the severity of your injuries and how they’ve affected your daily life.
Do Deadlines Apply in Nevada?
Nevada has strict deadlines for filing hotel injury claims. Missing these deadlines can result in losing your right to recover compensation entirely, regardless of how strong your case might be.
Nevada Statute of Limitations
Nevada’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury lawsuit against the hotel. This deadline applies to most hotel injury cases, including slip and falls, pool accidents, and security-related injuries.
While two years might seem like plenty of time, it’s important to act much sooner to preserve evidence and protect your rights. Waiting too long can make it difficult or impossible to build a strong case.
Act Fast to Preserve Video and Evidence
The practical deadline for protecting your case is much shorter than the legal deadline. Critical evidence like surveillance footage may be deleted within weeks of your accident.
Witnesses can become difficult to locate, and hotels often repair hazardous conditions quickly after an accident occurs. The sooner you begin building your case, the stronger your evidence will be.
| Action Needed | Timeframe | Why It Matters |
| Report injury to hotel | Immediately | Creates official record of incident |
| Request video preservation | Within 24-48 hours | Footage often deleted within 30 days |
| Seek medical treatment | Within 24 hours | Documents connection to accident |
| Consult with attorney | Within 1 week | Preserves all legal options |
| File lawsuit if necessary | Within 2 years | Nevada statute of limitations |
What if You Were Partly at Fault?
Even if you believe you might have contributed to your own injury, you may still be able to recover compensation under Nevada law. The state follows a modified comparative negligence rule that allows partial recovery in many situations.
Under this system, you can still recover damages as long as you were not more than 50% responsible for the accident. However, your final compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example, if a jury determines you were 20% at fault for not watching where you were walking, but the hotel was 80% at fault for failing to clean up a spill, you would receive 80% of your total damages.
Injured While Visiting from Out of State?
If you were injured at a Las Vegas hotel while visiting from another state or country, you have the same legal rights as Nevada residents. You don’t need to be a local resident to file a claim against a Nevada hotel.
A local Las Vegas attorney can handle most aspects of your case remotely using modern technology. Many cases settle without requiring you to return to Nevada for depositions or court appearances.
If your case does go to trial, you may need to return to Nevada to testify, but this happens in only a small percentage of cases. Most hotel injury claims are resolved through settlement negotiations.
What if the Hotel Denies Responsibility?
Hotels and their insurance companies routinely deny responsibility for guest injuries, even when their negligence is clear. They use various defense strategies to avoid paying fair compensation to injured guests.
Common hotel defenses include claiming the hazard was “open and obvious,” arguing they had no notice of the dangerous condition, or blaming the guest for not being careful enough.
- “Open and Obvious” Defense: Hotels claim you should have seen and avoided the danger
- No Notice Defense: Hotels argue they didn’t know about the hazard
- Assumption of Risk: Hotels claim you voluntarily accepted the danger
- Comparative Fault: Hotels try to shift blame onto your actions
An experienced attorney knows how to challenge these defenses and prove the hotel was still negligent despite their arguments.
When Should You Call a Hotel Injury Lawyer?
You should contact a hotel injury attorney as soon as possible after your accident, ideally within the first few days. Early legal involvement helps preserve evidence and protects you from insurance company tactics.
It’s especially important to get legal help if you suffered serious injuries requiring extensive medical treatment, if the hotel is denying responsibility, or if an insurance adjuster is pressuring you for statements or settlements.
Don’t wait until your medical treatment is complete to consult with an attorney. Many important legal deadlines and evidence preservation issues arise immediately after an accident occurs.
Injured at a Hotel in Las Vegas?
If you’ve been injured at a Las Vegas hotel, you need attorneys who understand how these powerful corporations and their insurance companies operate. At Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Las Vegas, our team includes former insurance defense attorneys who know exactly how hotels try to deny claims.
We vigorously pursue full compensation for injured clients by preparing every case as if it will go to trial.
Our 24/7 availability means you can reach us whenever you need support, and you never pay attorney fees unless we win your case.
Don’t let a hotel’s insurance company decide your future. Contact us immediately for a free consultation to discuss your rights and options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Get Hotel Surveillance Video After an Injury in Las Vegas?
You must request surveillance footage immediately, as most Las Vegas hotels delete it within 30 days of recording. An attorney can send a formal preservation letter to ensure this crucial evidence isn’t destroyed.
Should I Use My Health Insurance or Wait for the Hotel to Pay?
Always use your health insurance for immediate medical treatment rather than waiting for the hotel to accept liability. Delays in medical care can worsen your injuries and create gaps in documentation that hurt your claim.
What if the Hazard That Injured Me Seemed Obvious?
Even “open and obvious” hazards can result in hotel liability if the hotel should have expected guests to encounter them despite their visibility. Nevada law doesn’t automatically bar recovery for visible dangers.
Are Bed Bug Injuries Handled Differently Than Slip and Fall Claims?
Yes, bed bug cases require proving the hotel knew or should have known about the infestation through prior guest complaints, inspection records, or pest control reports. These cases are often more complex than typical slip and fall claims.
What if I Already Signed a Hotel Form or Gave a Statement?
Don’t assume your case is over if you signed documents or gave statements immediately after your injury. Many hotel forms aren’t legally binding releases, and early statements can often be clarified with proper legal representation.
Do I Have to Return to Nevada for My Case if I Live Out of State?
Most hotel injury cases settle without trial, and modern technology allows for remote depositions and meetings. You may only need to return to Nevada if your case goes to trial, which happens in a small percentage of cases.
How Long Do Hotel Injury Claims Usually Take in Las Vegas?
Simple cases with clear liability may settle within 3-6 months, while complex cases requiring litigation typically take 12-18 months to resolve. The timeline depends on the severity of injuries and the hotel’s willingness to negotiate fairly.