What To Do When There’s Construction Near A Hotel?

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: February 8, 2015

20 comments

Let me say upfront that I didn’t complain and have no intent of complaining after the fact, but figured it was an interesting question.

I recently spent a few nights at the Grand Hyatt Muscat, which was absolutely lovely. Oman is gorgeous, and truly what one would assume the Middle East “should” be like. I can’t recommend it enough, but more on that later.

Grand-Hyatt-Muscat

Before I get too much into that, my room at the hotel faced nearby houses, and for the last two days of our stay they seemed to be demolishing the building right next to the hotel. Like, the building was literally in one piece when we arrived, and looked like a bomb went off inside it when we left.

Hotel-Construction

For those days from 9AM till 5PM our room was as loud as you could imagine, even with all the doors and windows shut. I usually nap during the day in the Middle East (since I somewhat try to stay on US east coast time due to work), and obviously that wasn’t possible.

I wasn’t sure how to handle this. I didn’t complain or make the hotel aware of the situation, and certainly wouldn’t complain after the fact either.

But it did make me wonder, when there’s construction near a hotel, does the hotel have any obligation to guests?

Should the hotel send guests a memo informing them of the demolition? (then again, would the hotel even know in advance if there’s a demolition happening nearby?)
Is it reasonable to request a change of rooms?
If a change of rooms is requested but isn’t available, does the hotel owe you anything?

Again, entirely a theoretical question; I’m curious where you guys stand on this. I could go either way. On one hand it’s not the hotel’s fault when there’s construction nearby. On the other hand, as a guest it’s really not my fault if there’s construction nearby which disrupts my stay.

What do you think: for nearby construction, does the hotel have any obligation to guests?

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Mrs Conroy Guest

March 17, 2019, 3:42 pm

Just recieved a courtesy email from holiday company today re a new hotel being built next door to my hotel with them that I’ve booked for end of June Not sure whether to move hotel or what my travel conditions are re moving hotel???

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Martina Guest

February 9, 2015, 11:54 am

Over the last year, we have had 3 stays at the Ramada at Park-Maingate near Disneyland. They have been going through a fairly extensive renovation , so much so that even the current lobby is a trailer. I personally was not bothered by the noise of construction as we spent the day in the parks but I noticed that some of the other guests complained in on line reviews that they were not informed.Judging from the on line replies from the management, it appears that they were only given an standard apology and not any tangible form of compensation. For me, unless I was legitimately bothered by situation I wouldn't complain to either just make myself heard or to try and seek some form of compensation.

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Craig Guest

February 9, 2015, 12:11 am

This is a pet peeve of mine. If there is long / planned construction near a hotel that will affect guests then the Hotel is obligated to disclose this, and not just in a letter in the room when you arrive (how many times has that happened!) and cannot really do anything. They should do it at time of reservation or list it on the web site. As is say, this is in the case of a planned noise issue if they done tell you then I think the hotel has taken the reservation under false pretenses, knowing you will be inconvenienced but only giving you time to address the issue once checked in, long after you were able to make an informed decision at reservation. In this case though, I agree the hotel cannot be liable but I would have raised it with the Duty Manager and politely requested a room move as some other guests may be out of the room all day for work - unlike you who will be in the room during the day

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Joeheg New Member

February 8, 2015, 10:08 pm

I've been the quite "It isn't too bad" person too many times. We were staying at the La Concha Key West (IHG Crowne Plaza). They upgraded me to a better room because of Plat status (from CC). However they were renovating the rooftop and the elevator for supplies was right outside our room. I went to hotel manager and was told they had no other upgraded rooms but he would credit 1/2 of the points we used for the stay back to our account. Good save but the locals were all very pissed at the hotel because the construction was going on for over a year and there was no mention of it on the hotel website. The construction also closed the hotel pool and the main entrance of the hotel forcing guests to enter/leave through the Starbucks. Your case is different because it is out of the hotels direct control but still it diminished the value of your stay and therefore the value of staying at the hotel. Maybe an offer of a credit or something for a future stay would be warranted. You won't get anything if you don't ask.

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L Guest

February 8, 2015, 8:21 pm

"@L Is this Westin San Diego or Westin Gaslamp? Would like to know which one to avoid on an upcoming trip. " Henning it is the Westin San Diego. I also stayed at the W and it is also across the street from the construction. The construction I believe is between W B St. and W C St. and State and Union St.

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