Skatterfly -
Thanks for your insightful comments.

To those who expressed concerned - this incident did not ruin my vacation by any means. It was a "hiccup" in the course of the trip. So, was missing the train to Vernon by seconds. That just meant we had an unexpected extra day in Paris and a reason to come back to France sooner than planned. Another "hiccup" was rushing to return the rental car in Cannes by the deadline and then learning the rental agency (and most of France) was closed Monday due to a "Bank Holiday". The agent I reached in Avignon gave us her best advice on what to do. Neither was "getting lost" in Provence - we discovered beautiful towns I had not planned to visit.

That's part of the magic of travel. The fact that carpet was damaged and I paid 100 Euros toward the replacement of the carpet was not the unpleasant part of this "hiccup". The stinging comments and surprising (to me) proposal that I submit an invoice to insurance to pay for a full room of carpeting was very unpleasant.

Posters were right in that this manager was took great pride in his family-run hotel. My sharing with him that I had wanted to stay here for 5 years based on reviews and message board comments on Fodors.com seemed to be appreciated.

I do not want to slander anyone - just wanted input on what happened. Thanks to everyone who offered thoughtful input. It has been very much appreciated.

oh, BTW, whether they replaced it or not is irrelevant. YOu caused monetary damage worth a certain amount and that is the economic damages you caused them. How they choose to use the money is their decision and doesn't change the damages you made to their property.

Ok, Christina, let's be real here -- gracieb never claimed that that hotel or that type of hotel was lowly -- her exact phrase was "more quaint," unless I misread her message and was blind in some other way.

op111, in my post above I confessed...

Now that I've re-read gracie's original, I realize that she was enjoying Paris for three days. I'd like to think that I would not have enjoyed myself, walking around with these guilty feelings. On the second day I'd have gone to the manager.

Has anyone ever damaged another car in a shopping center parking field and driven off without leaving a note on the windshield?

Well, not that it addresses the specifics of this incident, but.....

Once in Yucatan, at a 4* resort, we used a small travel device to ensure the door can't be opened while you're in the room - the kind that fits over the lock plate in the door jamb. During the night, there was a torrential rainstorm (Gulf coast of Yucatan) and the wood of the door and jamb swelled. You guessed it, we were firmly imprisoned in the room! My BF tried to remove the door knob - no go - had nothing we could use on the linchpins in the door hinges - I convinced him to call the desk and 'fess up. One of the maintenance staff came up to our balcony via ladder and took the door off the hinges. We immediately went to the front door to pay for the damage - the front desk manager said that they would have to see what needed fixing/replacing, and that he guessed it may run as high as USD$50.00. We were fine with that - it was our damned gadget that caused the problem, after all. Turns out only the door knob/lock needed replacing and the resort waived the charges.

While we are each responsible for our actions and their consequences, I do agree with the OP that a heated dispute at checkout is a nasty way to end an otherwise pleasant hotel stay.

Well TuckH, if I were in a similar position, I'd say to myself, "Thank god that it's not my own carpet. Anyway, they'll never notice it." And then I'll be off to enjoy Paris. Why guilt?

Before everyone starts pouncing on me, of course I don't mean exactly what I say. But this forum can seem so merciless and literal at times.

I have to underscore a few things as a few more posts came up while I was typing.

Gracie.... you keep saying ,"My friend says," and "My friend was right." I say, "your friend is responsible." Hope she at least split the 100 EU with you, if not paid in full. She was the one who knocked it over. She is probably the one who should have offered something up to the owner, or to you.

I also think it's patently absurd to imply this hotel was trying to scam you, especially if as you say, you have been there before. They have a reasonable right to ask you for covering damages... after all, isn't that what hotels and inns all across the US do when they take your credit card imprint? The big difference is that in the US many hotels are part of bigger corporations and have a high turnover rate and bigger repair budgets and housecleaning staff that doesn't have good benefits or job stability to feel enough ownership to report damages when they happen. It's just easier in the US to overlook these kind of things.

Would your reaction had been any different if they had approached you right away and said, "we saw the burn in the carpet"? Would you have said, "oh sure, let me pay for it?" I think the point here is that you doubt (or at least doubted) that you were liable for that much.

Not to mention that they wouldn't have said anything to you during your stay because of their respect for your privacy and laissez-faire. They were most likely expecting you to say something. It's what they would think the dignified and dipomatic thing to do. To say something during your stay would have been very rude.

It's a shame if this experience has tainted the whole family-run inn experience for you. I personally wouldn't travel to Paris or any other big European city just to stay in a Hilton or other large highrise hotel chain. Some of Europe's best, most charming experiences are in the family run hotels--whether small or larger, 2 or 3 or 4 stars. Like you said, in 20 years of travel, this has never happened to you. In all likelihood, it'll take another 20 years of travel for something like this to happen again, if ever. Sometimes these things just happen to the best of us.

Maybe I'm misreading it, but it seems like after all these posts you still feel that he was being unreasonable, even though you say you realize you got off lucky with 100EU. I get this sense because you mention the room number, as if someone would be able to check up on the guy to make sure he uses your money immediately to repair it, when in all likelihood he'll throw it into the funds and repair when it's appropriate for him.

Sorry you didn't get the vindication you were looking for.

Mostly, I hope that this doesn't ruin your stay or your memories. In a couple years, it'll seem like a funny little sidenote to what was hopefully a great trip. (I still think about that villa in Tuscany but now I can laugh about it, a few years later.)

And I know that talking about it with others like us, even if we're not all "on your side" helps get it out of your system.

~k

What a crybaby. Pay for the damges and move on.

And this bit about seeing many iron marks on hotel carpets is bogus.

I smell a troll or a real tightwad with no morals.

Wow, Christina.
Yes, I was very excited about the extra and unexpected perks at the Hilton Cannes, but the accumulated points came from many nights away from home on business at Hampton Inns in rural areas of the SE. That wasn't intended as bragging, but it does take a lot of nights in moderately priced ($55-$89 per night) rooms to accumulate that many points. The two star in hotel in Avignon and the three star hotel in Nice were exactly what I had hoped for - nice, clean, basic and less expensive than the hotel in Paris (yes, I know it was in Paris). I'm not calling them lowly by any means. I'm glad so many people can see things in such clear black and white and know exactly what my faults and mistakes are. If I were as much of a jerk as you think I am, I doubt I would have invited input from other travelers.

I have never traveled with a travel iron before, I have never damaged a hotel room before and I've never been in a situation where I've been asked to submit an invoice once I get home to travel and home insurance. I have no idea if this incident would be covered. We did reach a compromise and the damage to the carpet has been paid. I don't know what else there is to say but that I've learned a lot about people in reading these messages today.

Thanks, 111op, for your support.

I read gracieb's reference to Hilton points very differently. Not bragging, she purposely showed us she wasn't traveling in high style by mentioning her Hilton points were accumulated by staying in Hampton Inns. And I didn't hear her say that she wouldn't stay in such "lowly" places, just that she would avoid places that she was afraid would cause her the kind of embarrassment she suffered from this incident.

I also would be chewing this over for a long time, wondering whether or not I did the right thing. Unpleasant confrontations are very troubling. I believe everything gracieb has written here has shown her to be a reasonable person trying to handle the situation as well as possible.

gracieb,

>I've learned a lot about people from the responses today<

Hopefully you have learned something about yourself.

JoeG

Say you are upgraded to a much more deluxe room than expected. You then inadvertently cause damage. Following the logic of this story, you might be liable for damages up to $10K or more. Suppose there is a priceless Ming vase in the room and you knock it over? Yes, you'd certainly be obligated ethically to report it, but then what?

In thinking more about this, my main concern in the future will be that I have an insurance policy that covers hotel room damage. I have never so far as I know damaged a room, but now I have something new to worry about!

It's an interesting example, WillTravel, and I was thinking along the same lines too. I don't know what'd happen in that case. Could one make an argument that the hotel could reasonably expect the vase could be broken or stolen and so should have taken an appropriate insurance? It reminds me of something I read a while ago about restaurants in NYC. I can't remember what it was about really but there was an example a restauranteur gave of light fixtures in the bathroom being stolen constantly (a somewhat hip restaurant, I'm sure, but I can't remember the name). This was treated as part of the normal course of running a restaurant.

111op, it is an interesting question under American law for sure.

I doubt anyone here knows what the French law in this case would be, but if so, I'd be interested to hear.

... oh stop whining and pay the hotel for what you damaged!! Are you totally irresponsible ... you spend hours here seeking sympathy .. when you could have been doing the proper thing ... you admit you burned his carpet, they are small hotel and the cost would be a burden, they are not at fault, you are ... pay up!! Not rocket science, although you act as though your brains got caught in the after burner. My goodness, as if we didn't already have enough problems with the french.

Cast my vote as "no sympathy, nyet"!

willtravel,

Now you know why rooms with ming vases are only rented to select people and discounted to commoners...like us.

<i>&quot;Well, NYCFS, you're not all bad after all. I apologize for teasing you in that thread on designer jeans.&quot;</i>

Oh, honey, I'm <i>bad</i>, real <i><b>bad</b></i>. &gt;

I don't remember anybody teasing me on that thread. Kidding. The joke really is, I just posted that thread because I thought the NY Times article was fun. As if I really care about ridiculously expensive denim.

Truthfully, apart from two or three <i>really</i> ugly posters here, I don't keep track of who says what, unless someone truly inspires me, of course. I'm good at keeping track of the &quot;good&quot; things. I'm very forgiving...just don't try and play me for a fool.

I haven't had time to go over all the responses here--75 replies just since this morning--so if these issues have already been addressed, please forgive.

First, in the US at least, hotels are not insured for this type of damage caused by guests. Think of the extent of risk!! Think of the cost of the policy!! Lloyds might even decline coverage. This will be out of their pocket. Installation, however, is a half day job if that.

Secondly, the odds, unless they have some in storage somewhere, of being able to obtain the same carpet, made in tones that match the remainder of the decor aren't good. Carpet in our hotel, for instance, is made to order for this hotel only, not &quot;off the rack&quot;. If it were damaged and we had used our surplus stock, we'd be out of luck.

Lastly, your insurance <i>would</i> cover it with NO deductible. This is a <i>liability</i> claim and as such is covered in full. The $500 deductible applies only to claims you make for loss to your own covered items. You clearly were negligent, you clearly are liable, so sayeth the ex claims adjuster.

JMHO, but I suspect that iron sat there awhile, it wasn't just the amount of time it takes to rearrange the clothing. Not that that matters...

Apropos of nothing, our hotel chain is not only self insured for this sort of loss, but for liability claims from guests (injuries what have you) up to quite a substantial level after which insurance kicks in. Adjusters work the claim, but the company itself pays in all but the very most serious of injuries. (The collapse of the catwalk over the ballroom dance in the Kansas City hotel comes to mind immediately.)

Granted we are part of a large chain and you may have been staying at a small boutique hotel, I would think their coverage issues would be similar. There is simply too much exposure to risk for a policy covering any and all damage to be affordable, and my feeling is that they too are self-insured to a certain point, and that point would be far above 100 euro.

Well, NYCFS, you should tell me what the two or three really ugly posters are.

I still think that gracieb has been pretty discreet in not naming the hotel, but it'd make for good gossip.

I admit I've been trying to figure out what hotel also. I would guess it's a guidebook entry based on the comments about the number of Americans.

I've wondered about those cases where someone plugs the wrong item in and blows out the fuses or worse. Has anyone been charged for that?

I'd like to hear French legal opinion. I can't believe that gracieb is obligated to pay the value of the entire carpet, no matter how expensive it might be. That is what I was trying to get at earlier. I know many posters here say they would immediately fork over 100 Euros, but what if they had been told to fork over 1000 or 10000 Euros because the carpet was very expensive?