Which hotel should we stay in for Sesame Place?

Does a hotel/motel have an obligation to find guests another place to stay if the electricity goes out?

• I am staying in a hotel until I find a house to buy or rent. There was a snow storm followed by a wind storm and the electricity at the hotel went out and did not come back on for more than 24 hours. The only source of heat in the rooms at this hotel is electric base board heat so it was extremely cold. I have been paying by the week as I will be here until I find permanent housing. Since it was 11 degrees last night I went down the street and shelled out $85 to spend the night somewhere warm. I realize that the storm and the power outage were not the hotel's fault but there is a place where they could have rented a generator less than a block away and seeing as how it got so cold I would think they would do their best to make their guests comfortable here or somewhere else. I feel like they owe me a free night. Am I right or wrong and what recourse do I have if they refuse to work with me?

• Answer:

  First of all, keep in mind that just because there is a place to rent a generator down the street, that doesn't mean that 1) a generator is available and 2) the generator will create enough power to heat all of the rooms, or even some of the rooms. Did the hotel do anything to help keep you warm? extra blankets, a fire in the lobby fireplace? endless coffee/hot water etc.? If yes, then I think your chances for recourse are few since it's not their fault that the power went out. That said I do think you might be able to get a break for the one night that they didn't have power, though probably not a full night's credit. Unless you vacated the space and made it available for them to give to another customer (heat or no heat), you "occupied" the room and therefore owe them something, even if you thought it was too cold to sleep there. It couldn't hurt to ask for a discount for that one night in any case....