Guest’s Car Was Wrecked After Dropping It With Marriott Valet — $15,000 In Damage And Hotel Offered A Free Drink

A Marriott guest says their 2024 Subaru Outback suffered $15,000 in damage while held by the hotel’s valet. Nobody called or texted. They discovered the damaged car themselves, and they say the hotel’s response was to offer a free drink and tell them to get it towed away. You hand your keys to the hotel expecting to get your car back when you need it, in the same condition. When something goes wrong, finding out which company employs the person who took those keys shouldn’t become the guest’s problem to solve. Here, the guest reports staying at the Marriott Residence Inn L.A. LIVE last month. According to their account: The Subaru was broadsided while being parked, then left “on its rims” in the front driveway. The hotel blamed the valet company, and the valet blamed the other driver. Nobody would provide the valet driver’s name. The hotel had entrance security cameras but wouldn’t give the guest access to the footage. It took six hours and making a scene to speak with a manager. An incident report wasn’t provided until the next day. No ride, no room, no apology. They told me to get my car towed off the property and offered me a free drink. The guest says subsequent follow up with Marriott also produced no help. Valet wrecked my car, and the hotel offered me a free drink.by u/Spiritual_Fox_8393 in r/marriott The Hotel Chose Its Valet Marriott’s website advertises convenient valet parking at this property and lists $62–$82++ (!!) per day. At a minimum, the hotel should flag the damage for the guest right away, help arrange transportation and the tow, and put a manager in charge of following through. And, like, waive the valet charge? Although clearly more than that should be done. What The Guest Can Recover Handing a valet your keys generally creates a bailment: you’re entrusting someone with possession of your property. California requires a paid custodian to exercise ordinary care. If another driver caused the crash and the valet did nothing wrong, responsibility for the collision can lie with that driver. The hotel isn’t immune just because the valet works for a contractor, either. Its own conduct, its promises to the guest, and whether it presented the valet as acting on its behalf matter. A contract requiring the valet company to reimburse the hotel doesn’t by itself decide the guest’s rights. Nor does a “not responsible” sentence on a parking claim ticket end the claim. California even has specific requirements for printed parking contracts that purport to limit liability. Document the damage and get a claim opened. Photograph the car before it leaves, retain the valet ticket and hotel bill, and get the incident number, valet company’s legal name, claims contact, and the other driver’s information. Obtain any police report. Ask the hotel and valet company in writing to preserve video, key records, and incident records. Notify your insurer promptly. Collision coverage can get the car repaired, subject to the deductible, while the insurer pursues the responsible party. Liability coverage alone won’t pay to repair your own car. California’s insurance department explains that an insurer pursuing recovery must include your deductible, although recovery isn’t guaranteed. Claim the actual losses. That can include repairs, reasonable towing and storage, and loss of use during the reasonable repair or replacement period. Escalate the claim. Identify the valet operator and the hotel owner or operating company rather than assuming Marriott owns the hotel. California’s small claims limit for an individual is $12,500. The Jefferson Got This Right When They Damaged My Car The valet at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond dinged my car door. I found a manager, who called security. They looked at the damage, recognized that it appeared fresh and consistent with another door opening into mine, and took responsibility. The security manager gave me his card and told me to send the repair bill. I was geared up for an argument. I expected to hear that the damage must have been there already. Instead, they accepted it and sent me a check for the modest $175 repair. There were other problems on that stay, including noise and poor restaurant service. The assistant general manager offered me future complimentary night and dinner. I went back. I’ve also covered a Thompson Houston guest who couldn’t retrieve a rental car because the valet’s key safe wouldn’t open. The guest needed to reach the airport. The hotel reimbursed the Uber, returned the rental car on the guest’s behalf, waived valet charges and provided 10,000 points. I thought the points were light, but they did something about the guest’s immediate transportation problem. Valet Do Much Worse Than Door Dings Giving someone control of your car exposes you to more than a careless turn in a garage. I’ve written about: A Conrad Orlando valet caught on a guest’s dashcam accelerating and braking hard in an Escalade-V. The guest’s vehicle app alerted her. The hotel comped a night and said it addressed the incident with its valet contractor. A Pendry Baltimore valet who took a guest’s Audi RS7 to a car meet, then said he was carjacked at gunpoint. Police recovered the badly damaged vehicle. A Homewood Suites Austin Downtown valet who handed a guest’s car to a woman claiming she’d lost her belongings. She supplied a room number and a sympathetic story. The actual owner came down to collect a car that was already gone. And even when nothing is damaged or stolen, valet can make a hotel less convenient. At the Ritz-Carlton Naples, it took more than 45 minutes to get my car when I was trying to pick someone up at the airport. That was the same stay where the hotel assigned a room with an unmade bed and a used condom in it. It’s part of why I don’t buy Ritz-Carlton as a luxury brand. Hotels know their occupancy and what conferences they’re hosting. They can staff for the departures they should expect. I’ve argued that if valet can’t bring your car around within 15 minutes, they shouldn’t charge for it. Topics on this page