An OMAAT reader (who asked to remain anonymous) shared a frustrating experience he has dealt with over the past couple of years, regarding a July 2023 stay at the gorgeous Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. I’m not sure what exactly to make of this, but the hotel’s handling of this definitely doesn’t seem sufficient.
In this post:
Baby discovers building defect at Maldives resort
In July 2023, a couple traveled to the Maldives with their baby son (who was 13 months old at the time). Upon arriving at the resort, the family was placed in a temporary villa, because their villa wasn’t ready yet.
There wasn’t a crib available in that villa, and the parents fell asleep, as they had just gotten off a long flight. However, a short while later, they woke up to the sound of their son screaming, only to discover that he had ingested pieces of broken wall tiles.
As the father describes, “it was an incredibly distressing experience to be woken up by his cries of pain caused by swallowing sharp objects.” The hotel staff placed the blame on the building, but failed to acknowledge their negligence in not properly inspecting the room before assigning it to guests.
Shortly after the incident, the family visited the on-property doctor, who wrote a report, which concluded the following:
[The baby] is stable with no detectable red flag signs, I advised observation for 24 hours and to gradually introduce food to him in the form of fluid then semi solid food then his regular diet. I counselled his parents on red flag symptoms such as vomiting, pain, incessant crying, and blood in mouth and to call for help immediately if any suspicious signs or red flags were seen. I also counselled them that should symptoms worsen or further concern is raised, we had planned a prompt referral to higher center for further assessment and management.
Later in the day, some tile fragments were found in the baby’s stool. The father claims that due to the type of material, identifying remaining pieces would require invasive surgery, which is not viable for a young child.
The hotel refused to offer compensation on the spot, and the resort manager told the family that they’d go through their insurance provider. However, they were reportedly assured that all costs, including the cost of the stay and incremental expenses at the resort, would be reimbursed.
For nearly two years, the claim wasn’t resolved. The family fulfilled all the requirements on their end, including submitting documentation and participating in several interviews with the loss adjuster. The family kept following up on a monthly basis, but the hotel just totally stopped responding to emails from the family earlier this year.
However, there’s now an update, as of recently. The current resort manager has finally responded, essentially saying they won’t do anything, and that a room change and some spa treatments are sufficient compensation:
I had been in contact with the insurance company and they had informed that they had followed up directly with you by Zoom and that the claim was closed.
Once a claim has been referred to the insurance company, being a third party and independent body, we rely on their outcome accordingly. In this respect, they concluded that that there was no injury sustained and that they would not cover any claim.
Reflecting on your stay with us in 2023, the team acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the loose tile, and we understand a gesture of goodwill was offered at the time by way of an upgrade along with spa treatments.
Note that there’s a different resort manager compared to two years ago, so the manager who made them a promise is no longer at the property. The father concludes with the following:
Given the seriousness of the incident and the initial reassurances from the hotel’s resort manager, in principle I feel compelled to hold the hotel accountable to what was promised. It’s increasingly clear that the hotel is reluctant to acknowledge responsibility for the injury to my son. It’s also difficult to understand how a claim could take two years to be declined on the grounds of no injury.
There are also inconsistencies in their response. For instance, the email states that I had a Zoom call with the insurer where they advised the claim had been rejected. In fact, the loss adjuster appointed by the insurer was satisfied with the claim at the time, and the discussion focused on the additional documentation required to finalise the process and the expected timeline for settlement.
My take on this unfortunate incident
First and foremost, I’m happy to hear that the baby (now toddler) seems to be doing fine, as that’s most important. As I view it, there are a couple of primary issues here:
- There’s the question of the extent to which the hotel is liable for the baby ingesting the wall tiles
- There’s the question of what appropriate compensation would be, especially with the promise that the resort manager reportedly made
To start with the first point, I’m not a legal expert (both when it comes to the law in the Maldives, and laws for international corporations with a managed property in a foreign country), but it definitely feels like the hotel should have some responsibility for the lack of properly inspecting a room.
I mean, we’re talking about an uber-luxury property here that retails for thousands per night, so it hardly seems unreasonable to expect that the room would be in a safe condition, with tiles not literally falling apart.
I guess to balance that, some people might put some blame on the parents, for leaving the baby crawling around the room while they were asleep. Personally, I’d be uncomfortable with a toddler crawling around a room while I’m asleep, but that’s just me, and I’m not here to judge other parents. For that matter, it seems this could’ve also happened while the parents were awake, and just didn’t have their eyes on the baby for a moment.
So, what’s the appropriate compensation for an incident like this? Personally, I don’t this should be some million dollar settlement. However, I think it’s also fair to expect something, since I think it’s safe to say that this ruined the family’s vacation.
I mean, I’d certainly be terrified if my baby ingested sharp tiles, and I’d struggle to enjoy the rest of my vacation. It’s especially concerning when this happens on a private island, where access to decent medical care might be challenging.
In all honesty, I think just offering a room upgrade and spa treatments is an insulting offer. I think what the original manager reportedly promised verbally — a comped stay — seems more fair. Ultimately the actual cost of that to the hotel is very little, and it would reflect the extent to which the stay was impacted by this incident.
It’s especially disappointing that the hotel essentially backtracked on that promise, seemingly due to a change in resort managers. It’s a good reminder to also get commitments in writing when you have communication following something like this, so that it’s not just one person’s word against another person’s word.
Bottom line
A family’s stay at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives certainly left a lot to be desired, after a baby ingested wall tiles shortly after arriving at the property, due to a construction defect in the villa. At the time, the resort manager reportedly promised to comp the stay over the incident, though two years later, the hotel has fully backtracked, and said it will do nothing other than the upgrade and spa treatments already provided.
What do you make of this incident, and what do you think the hotel’s liability should be?
I once ate a pillow at a hotel and blamed the hotel for their negligence.
There's a big gap missing in the story. First, they saw the on-site doctor who (IMO) gave a pretty good summary of what happened and what to do. The next part of the story it talks about invasive surgery. Who made that diagnosis? I doubt it was the on-site doctor, so I would like to know who.
Then, it immediately goes to asking the manager for compensation. How was the child ultimately treated if the...
There's a big gap missing in the story. First, they saw the on-site doctor who (IMO) gave a pretty good summary of what happened and what to do. The next part of the story it talks about invasive surgery. Who made that diagnosis? I doubt it was the on-site doctor, so I would like to know who.
Then, it immediately goes to asking the manager for compensation. How was the child ultimately treated if the surgery wasn't viable? And how long did it take for the treatment? I've been in this situation with my wife. Screw the vacation, the only thing I cared about was my wife being okay. I don't know, but it seems the parents had different priorities.
In the end, long flight or not, broken tile or not, the toddler should not have been left unsupervised. I get it, parents aren't perfect. But, then own the mistake. Take turns napping, grab a pot of caffeinated coffee to stay up, get a crib from the hotel (that is absent...did the parents even ask for a crib when they noticed one wasn't in the room), something.
I had a somewhat similar situation in that my 2 year old son ingested something, but the fault was with the resort.
My family did a weekend staycation at the Four Seasons Lanai at Manele in the spring of 2021. During breakfast on Saturday morning, my son was given a kid's set of compostable spoon and fork. Well, he ended up biting the fork while eating and swallowed a piece of the tip. We spoke...
I had a somewhat similar situation in that my 2 year old son ingested something, but the fault was with the resort.
My family did a weekend staycation at the Four Seasons Lanai at Manele in the spring of 2021. During breakfast on Saturday morning, my son was given a kid's set of compostable spoon and fork. Well, he ended up biting the fork while eating and swallowed a piece of the tip. We spoke with the restaurant's manager, who was very sorry. She even followed up with us later during meal service and shared that many of the compostable utensils were all very brittle. We shared this information with the food and services manager as well who apologized.
Naturally, we were concerned about a possible sharp piece going through his system. Called his pediatrician and all we could do is watch, observe, and look for the piece if it passes through. The hotel gave us ample gloves to use as we checked his diaper each time. Needless to say, this didn't make for a fun weekend. The F&S manager introduced us to the resort's General Manager, who was also very apologetic.
When we returned home, I emailed the GM and asked for the stay to be refunded. Although he could not do that, he offered to comp us another weekend. Easy enough for us since we live in Hawaii, but could be harder for people to accept if they live farther away. The hotel also didn't offer the complimentary transfer on Lanai Air that was offered to all revenue guests (but I don't mind flying on Cessna Caravans as they're fun for me). We were given an ocean view room and had a much better stay the 2nd time. :)
So no injury?
This is not the hotel’s fault and while the dad claims injury to their baby, is it documented?
Agreeing with the vast majority of the comments. This is 99% the parents fault. As someone who travels internationally with their young kids, I can empathize with how tiring and stressful it can be. That said, wtf are you doing falling asleep while letting your infant crawl around a hotel room?!? How can anyone possibly justify this and try to blame the hotel?! This is why parents who travel with infants/toddlers can get a bad...
Agreeing with the vast majority of the comments. This is 99% the parents fault. As someone who travels internationally with their young kids, I can empathize with how tiring and stressful it can be. That said, wtf are you doing falling asleep while letting your infant crawl around a hotel room?!? How can anyone possibly justify this and try to blame the hotel?! This is why parents who travel with infants/toddlers can get a bad reputation. Just a complete and total lack of self-awareness and accountability. If I was the hotel, I would've done the bare minimum and told the parents it's their fault for not watching their kid.
We all know what’s going on here, since the couple thought that the stay along with the incidentals would be comped, perhaps they spent more than they could afford. Now they are on the hook for it.
Since the father keeps bringing up the injury to his son although there was none, makes me wonder why he is lying.
I think what some people are missing is the combination of no crib available and the tiles being loose. It’s a Waldorf Astoria… how is a crib not available? The room costs thousands of dollars a night and they don’t have enough cribs?
Don’t you think an upgrade and spa treatments makes up for that? These greedy parents want to milk more.
Then the parents shouldn't have fallen asleep!
Can you imagine the kinds of ridiculous things hotels have to deal with, and as a result how they start to view the average guest? Makes you eventually want to get out of the business I'm sure, or at least restrict who you serve to people who aren't likely to cause trouble.
A baby taking apart a wall and eating it? This is their liability?
How about a guest who breaks a drinking...
Can you imagine the kinds of ridiculous things hotels have to deal with, and as a result how they start to view the average guest? Makes you eventually want to get out of the business I'm sure, or at least restrict who you serve to people who aren't likely to cause trouble.
A baby taking apart a wall and eating it? This is their liability?
How about a guest who breaks a drinking glass and eats it? Are they responsible for that too? How about someone who jumps off a balcony into a pool? Or drinks the shampoo and has to go to the hospital?
There has to be some level of "expected normal behavior" that a hotel, or any reasonable person, would not be liable for someone else doing with normal everyday objects.
That “expected normal behavior” is really “taking responsibility for your (in)actions.” And no, it seems that fewer and fewer people are willing to do that.
99% parents fault, not WA Maldives.
IF you want to criticize WA Maldives, write an article about how they retroactively add Holiday supplemental charges to guests who booked stays without these being present at the time of booking.
I think I know what happened here. As per the article, “they were reportedly assured that all costs, including the cost of the stay and incremental expenses at the resort, would be reimbursed.” Perhaps they went a little crazy and spent more than they could afford. And now they are on the hook to pay for it.
Also, the incompetent father mentions that the hotel is reluctant to take responsibility for the injury to...
I think I know what happened here. As per the article, “they were reportedly assured that all costs, including the cost of the stay and incremental expenses at the resort, would be reimbursed.” Perhaps they went a little crazy and spent more than they could afford. And now they are on the hook to pay for it.
Also, the incompetent father mentions that the hotel is reluctant to take responsibility for the injury to his son. What injury??? There was no injury. In this case, I honestly believe that the parents want their child to be injured so they can get few dollars from the Waldorf Astoria. What an embarrassment.
How could parents fall asleep letting their toddler on his own ????
This is the fault of the parents. Also they need to chill tf out. A little tile passing through the baby’s digestive system isn’t going to cause any harm.
@Lucky - change the title to
NEGLEGENT PARENTS PASS OUT AND LEAVE 1 YEAR OLD TO WANDER AROUND ROOM WITH NO SUPERVISION.
Shame on these parents. WTF! One parent naps, the other supervises. Switch in 1 hour or whatever. You don't leave a 1 year old unsupervised in a hotel room!!!!
I’m trying to be empathetic to the parents. Maybe they had just done 30+ hrs of travel and were past the point of exhaustion and unintentionally fell asleep.
Short of that, it’s wild to “release” a baby in an unfamiliar (and non-baby-proofed) room unsupervised. Kid could have just as easily pulled on an electrical cord and dropped a nespresso maker on his head.
Maybe when travelling with a baby one should build the itinerary in a way that does not include 30+ hrs of travel. Stop over en route or whatever. Or just fly to the Bahamas.
My take in this: the parents feel guilty and tried to push the guilt on the property. Honestly in this kind of countries, including at luxury properties we all faced these kind of issues and worse (e.g. defective electric cables). Don't let your kinds hand around in a place you aren't familiar with!
Why are we bringing babies to the Maldives in the first place?
These don't sound like great parents to begin with.
WTF? How on Earth is the hotel supposed to be liable for the incident and why do parents expect to be "compensated" for their own stupidity?
Smart move by the father to stay anonymous...
I would be too, if I were them. People like these should not have kids. They are certainly audacious and shameless to be asked to be compensated. I hope they see these comments. They are getting what they deserve. It’s amazing how low people can go for some points.
Those parents are idiots. It is NEGLECT to leave your 13-month child unsupervised in a hotel room. Amazing they cant take any responsibility.
Hope the baby is ok. Indeed the hotel is liable and should cover medical costs and claim via their insurance once settled. In terms of goodwill, refunding part or all of their stay would be appropriate.
You are 100% wrong. The parents are 100% at fault.
Good lord some of yall are sanctimonious cretins that have either never had kids or haven't cared for an infant or toddler in decades. It's astonishing how quickly a small child can get out of sight or pick something off the floor and throw it into their mouth. From the reporting it doesn't sound like the parents actually went to bed either, more that they just dozed off, which after a long travel day with...
Good lord some of yall are sanctimonious cretins that have either never had kids or haven't cared for an infant or toddler in decades. It's astonishing how quickly a small child can get out of sight or pick something off the floor and throw it into their mouth. From the reporting it doesn't sound like the parents actually went to bed either, more that they just dozed off, which after a long travel day with an infant is definitely understandable and as said, the hotel didn't provide a crib or bassinet.
At the end of the day, the hotel is the one that left the room in that condition with busted wall tiles. That's on the hotel, as that's a safety issue not just for kids accidently eating them but somebody could step on it for example and cut their foot. If a room is in that condition, it shouldn't be considered habitable by the hotel.
Nah completely disagree. A 13 month old can easily seriously injure or kill themselves in an accident with absolutely nothing wrong with the location. Falling asleep either a child that age just roaming is crazy.
Hotel may have liability, but the psrents come across terribly here.
I never said a kid couldn't do that. Most babies go through a stage where it seems like everything they do is an attempt to kill/seriously harm themselves. And while the parents should have stayed awake and don't come across in the best light, I can absolutely understand why they dozed off once in the room.
At the end of the day, the liability is on the hotel for the room being in the condition...
I never said a kid couldn't do that. Most babies go through a stage where it seems like everything they do is an attempt to kill/seriously harm themselves. And while the parents should have stayed awake and don't come across in the best light, I can absolutely understand why they dozed off once in the room.
At the end of the day, the liability is on the hotel for the room being in the condition it was in. That does matter. If the baby had actually eaten a makeup pad or some other trash the parents put in the trash can as some other commenter posited, that would then be a different story.
We had kids. Never left them as babies to roam free in a hotel room.
You are 100% wrong. No wonder you are anonymous.
I'm a parent of a 3 year old boy. He has traveled with us extensively. I only needed to read the first few lines of this post to realize these parents were blatantly neglectful to both fall asleep without a plan in place to supervise their child. They don't deserve ANY compensation and its outrageous that they even tried to get anything beyond the comped stay they were offered.
Its upsetting that parents like this...
I'm a parent of a 3 year old boy. He has traveled with us extensively. I only needed to read the first few lines of this post to realize these parents were blatantly neglectful to both fall asleep without a plan in place to supervise their child. They don't deserve ANY compensation and its outrageous that they even tried to get anything beyond the comped stay they were offered.
Its upsetting that parents like this get air time and not a visit from child protective services.
what am I missing? The incident happened at the beginning of their stay, they were promised a free stay, so why did they pay at the end of the stay, or if it was prepaid, why did they not have the refund processed before leaving?
Enough if these”don’t judge parents” expectations. When parents do absolutely stupid things they ought to be judged. Nothing wrong with that.
100% parents’ fault. Who sleeps while leaving their OWN 13 month old child unattended. What if he had gotten an electric shock, is that also hotel’s responsibility?
Heck, I don’t walk barefoot in a hotel room, can’t imagine how can someone allow their infant to crawl on it.
If it was two years ago... it would seem that the baby turned out to be fine? I It's sad that their vacation was ruined but also they should probably have been watching the baby more carefully. Hilton and the property have probably done their best in this situation unless the parents can point to significant health impact or medical bills, at which point they should be reaching out to an attorney rather than Hilton.
@Conner, they could have left if they were so concerned about the baby. They stayed, and enjoyed the upgrade and the spa treatments. Now, apparently it was not enough for them. Rapacious much?
as doc, this seems like a non-story. Parents should have been more aware. Property should have been better cared for. The kid poops out non-digestible stuff anyways. I'd have been thrilled with what they got had I been in the same situation with my own kid.
Parents need to take a look in mirror, accept their accountability, and stop looking to blame others for their lack of parenting skills and ease their conscience. They put their own child directly at risk and should be held accountable for neglect.
100% the fault of the parents. Poor kid.
Dear Hilton,
Do not fold to these extortionists. Ban them from staying at any Hilton properties in the future. Thank you.
Who goes to sleep with a toddler wandering around an unfamiliar room?
Parents of the year
If I were truly concerned my infant might need invasive surgery to remove tile shards from his intestinal tract, then I would have immediately left the remote island and gotten medical care in a larger center. In that case, the stay should have been comped and evacuation costs reimbursed, even though I would strongly argue falling asleep with an uncontained infant at a remote beach resort is 100% parental malpractice.
That the family stayed...
If I were truly concerned my infant might need invasive surgery to remove tile shards from his intestinal tract, then I would have immediately left the remote island and gotten medical care in a larger center. In that case, the stay should have been comped and evacuation costs reimbursed, even though I would strongly argue falling asleep with an uncontained infant at a remote beach resort is 100% parental malpractice.
That the family stayed and (while the infant presumably needed close monitoring) accepted spa treatments (never been to a spa that lets your infant come along) shows through their behavior their level of concern, which was, not to put too fine a point on it, low.
Kudos to all involved for calling the bluff here. There was no injury, there was no serious concern on the part of the parents; they accepted goodwill gestures at the time and everyone is fine. I’m not sure what other compensation would be due here.
It seems to be the norm nowadays that parents go to 'sleep' or 'got distracted just for a *few* seconds' (in reality, they might be well tethered to their screens'), a child is left completly unsupervised, then child gets hurt and, suddenly, everybody else, except the parents themselves, is liable.
The so-called 'parental autonomy' argument should be applied here: parents autonomously made the decision to go to sleep and leave their child unsupervised, therefore...
It seems to be the norm nowadays that parents go to 'sleep' or 'got distracted just for a *few* seconds' (in reality, they might be well tethered to their screens'), a child is left completly unsupervised, then child gets hurt and, suddenly, everybody else, except the parents themselves, is liable.
The so-called 'parental autonomy' argument should be applied here: parents autonomously made the decision to go to sleep and leave their child unsupervised, therefore they should deal with their consequences of their autonomy.
I also don't understand how people can pay for luxury hotels in the maldives but won't pay for babysitting, which these fancy hotels can definitely arrange.
FWIW, I took my parents here two years ago and my mom fell over unmarked wood design near a restaurant which required a trip to the hospital in Male. We got our yacht comped ($3,000 value) which I thought was fair.
Lukas died 2 days ago. Scary, writing from the dead. Look online.... D. Wayne Lukas, famous horse racing trainer. Dead at age 89.
So they
- got to the hotel ahead of check-in time
- were graciously appointed a temporary place to stay
- went to sleep leaving the baby crawling around the room as it pleases
- consequently the baby puts anything it finds in its mouth as babies do
- fortunately there is no harm to the baby, who was and is doing fine
- the sleeping beauties somehow believe they should get, what, a million dollars?
How is this even possible?
Also why bring a baby to the Maldives?
Because families travel too. Many hotels in the Maldives(including the Waldorf Astoria) are set up for kids. They have play areas specifically for them, activities, babysitters, etc.
I can see questioning them for letting the baby just crawl free in the room while they slept. Questioning people taking a baby to the Maldives at all is ludicrous.
How are these parents not embarrassed seeking compensation. They were in the room with the child. Hotel went out of its way to provide them with a temporary room. This is exactly why the hotels do not go out of their way anymore. These kind of people ruin it for everywhere. And most importantly, the child is okay and didn’t sustain any injuries. If the parents were so worried about the child, why did they...
How are these parents not embarrassed seeking compensation. They were in the room with the child. Hotel went out of its way to provide them with a temporary room. This is exactly why the hotels do not go out of their way anymore. These kind of people ruin it for everywhere. And most importantly, the child is okay and didn’t sustain any injuries. If the parents were so worried about the child, why did they stay on the island to enjoy the upgrade and the spa treatments? And now, they want to be compensated. The hotel is right, go kick rocks!
Laziness and stupidity. An unattended infant can ingest any number of dangerous items from soap to small make up remover pads.
So to summarise….. Parents left a 13 months old unattended while they both slept. Parents should be ashamed of themselves.
Pro tip, don’t leave a 13 month alone and on floor surface to move around and find dangerous things while you both sleep.
This is such an odd story with much left out. It looks like tile grout not tile pieces (still not a good situation). The onsite physician's notes are correct. You're on an island don't expect the same level of emergency services as you're used to. Had they bought travel insurance then perhaps they could have left the Maldives and had the child seen at an Emergency Room in the US if they felt they needed...
This is such an odd story with much left out. It looks like tile grout not tile pieces (still not a good situation). The onsite physician's notes are correct. You're on an island don't expect the same level of emergency services as you're used to. Had they bought travel insurance then perhaps they could have left the Maldives and had the child seen at an Emergency Room in the US if they felt they needed a higher level of care. The article does not say what type of upgrade they received. Was it one of the two blow out large villas? On my stay there, we were put there for just a day while we waited for our flight. I'd take that upgrade as sufficient compensation.
Compensation: spa and upgrade already received and doctor's fee
One day stay free also possible.
Hmmmmm, I wonder what the predominant religion is there?
Irreligion, possibly
You are a loser
I’ve met the resort manager a few times myself, and I can say he’s not Maldivian or Muslim. So ... try again