Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Lawyer

A hotel carbon monoxide poisoning lawyer can help if you or a family member were poisoned in a hotel or motel room. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes significant harm, including damage to the brain and other organs, and death from exposure to dangerously high levels. The Buckfire Law Firm holds hotels and motels accountable for the harm caused by CO poisoning.

Every year, thousands of travelers check into hotels expecting a safe, comfortable stay. What many don’t realize is that a colorless, odorless gas could be silently filling their hotel room while they sleep. Carbon monoxide poisoning in hotels is a documented public health crisis that has affected over 900 guests across 41 states in recent years alone.

If you or a family member suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during a hotel stay, you’re likely facing mounting medical bills, lingering health problems, and questions about who is financially responsible. A hotel carbon monoxide poisoning lawyer can help you navigate this complex situation, preserve critical evidence, and pursue financial compensation from negligent property owners, maintenance companies, equipment manufacturers, and construction companies. Property owners, including those of rental properties, have a duty to ensure safety measures, such as carbon monoxide detectors, are properly installed and maintained.

• Immediate Steps if You Suspect Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Common Symptoms and Long-Term Effects of Carbon Monoxide Exposure
• Who Can I Sue for Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
• Contact a Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Lawyer

What is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when a person inhales carbon monoxide—a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is virtually impossible to detect without specialized equipment. This poisonous gas is produced whenever fuel is burned, especially by fuel-burning appliances such as boilers, water heaters, and gas-powered equipment commonly found in hotels. When carbon monoxide is present in the air, it quickly enters the bloodstream, displacing oxygen and preventing red blood cells from delivering oxygen to vital organs. This can lead to serious health consequences, including permanent brain damage, heart damage, and, in severe cases, even death.

Because carbon monoxide is undetectable by human senses, it is often called the “silent killer.” Monoxide poisoning can happen in any enclosed space, such as a hotel room, where carbon monoxide accumulates due to faulty appliances, poor ventilation, or a hidden carbon monoxide leak. Hotel owners and other property owners have a legal and moral responsibility to protect guests from carbon monoxide exposure by installing working carbon monoxide detectors and maintaining all fuel-burning appliances. Failure to do so can result in devastating carbon monoxide poisoning cases, causing life-altering injuries or death for unsuspecting guests.

Immediate Steps if You Suspect Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

If you are currently experiencing symptoms or suspect you’ve been exposed to carbon monoxide in a hotel, your health is the priority. Take these steps immediately.

Carbon monoxide exposure can turn fatal within minutes at high concentrations. Don’t wait to see if symptoms improve—act now.

Emergency actions to take:

• Leave the room and building immediately. Do not stop to gather belongings. Get everyone in your party to fresh air outside the building.
• Call 911 from outside. Report suspected carbon monoxide exposure and your location. First responders can test the air and provide emergency medical care.
• Seek medical care at the nearest emergency room. Even if symptoms seem mild, CO exposure requires professional evaluation.
• Request a carboxyhemoglobin blood test. This test measures carbon monoxide levels in your red blood cells. It must be done within hours of exposure—CO clears from the bloodstream relatively quickly, and delayed testing may not reflect your true exposure level.
• Notify hotel management in writing. Send a text message or email stating your room number, the date and time, and that you suspect a carbon monoxide leak. Do not re-enter the room until officials confirm it is safe.
• Document what you can from outside. If safely possible, take photos or video of your room door number, the hallway, and any visible equipment areas like boiler closets or indoor pool entrances.

Contact our hotel carbon monoxide poisoning lawyers within 24–48 hours if possible. Early legal involvement is critical because hotels often repair or replace equipment—boilers, pool heaters, laundry room systems—within days of an incident. Once that equipment is gone, crucial evidence disappears with it.

Prevention and Safety Measures

Preventing carbon monoxide poisoning starts with awareness and proactive safety measures. One of the most effective ways to protect against carbon monoxide exposure is to install carbon monoxide detectors in every area where fuel-burning appliances are present, including hotel rooms, hallways, and common spaces. These detectors provide an early warning if dangerous levels of carbon monoxide are detected, giving guests and staff time to evacuate before monoxide poisoning occurs.

Regular inspection and maintenance of fuel-burning appliances—such as water heaters, boilers, and heating systems—are essential to prevent carbon monoxide leaks. Property owners and property managers must ensure that all equipment is serviced according to manufacturer guidelines and that any signs of malfunction are addressed immediately. Proper ventilation is also critical; enclosed spaces where fuel is burned should have adequate airflow to prevent carbon monoxide from accumulating.

In addition to installing carbon monoxide detectors and maintaining equipment, property managers should educate staff and guests about the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning—such as headache, dizziness, nausea, and confusion—and provide clear instructions on what to do if a carbon monoxide leak is suspected. By taking these steps, property owners can significantly reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and protect everyone on the premises from this silent but deadly threat.

Why You Need a Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Lawyer

Hotel carbon monoxide cases are not straightforward personal injury claims. They involve specialized knowledge of building codes, state detector laws, mechanical systems, and multi-party insurance coverage that most general practice attorneys rarely encounter.

Here’s what an experienced lawyer at Buckfire Law brings to your case:

• Complex regulatory knowledge. Hotel CO cases involve state carbon monoxide detector laws (many enacted around 2010–2013), local building codes, fire safety regulations, and franchise agreements. A specialized lawyer understands how these overlap and where violations occurred.
• Multiple opposing parties. Hotels, franchise owners, management companies, maintenance contractors, and equipment manufacturers often point fingers at each other. Each typically has national defense firms on retainer ready to dispute liability. You need counsel who can match that firepower.
• Identification of every party responsible. An experienced lawyer will thoroughly investigate your case to identify every responsible party who may be liable for your injuries, ensuring that all potential defendants are pursued.
• Rapid evidence preservation. An experienced lawyer can quickly send preservation letters demanding that hotels retain surveillance footage, maintenance logs, CO detector inspection records, and key card data before these materials are routinely deleted or “lost.”
• Medical coordination. Carbon monoxide poisoning lawyers work with neurologists, cardiologists, and neuropsychologists to document brain and heart injuries that may not be immediately apparent. They help ensure your medical records accurately reflect the connection between your hotel stay and your symptoms.
• Financial loss calculation. Lost wages from missed work are just the beginning. For severe cases involving permanent brain damage, lawyers work with economists and life care planners to project lifetime medical expenses and diminished earning capacity.
• Contingency fee arrangements. Most hotel carbon monoxide poisoning lawyers work on contingency, meaning you pay no upfront fees. Attorney’s fees come from the recovery, so injured guests can pursue claims without financial risk.

A personal injury lawyer can navigate the complexities of carbon monoxide cases and identify all liable parties, making sure your claim addresses every responsible party.

How Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Happens

Hotels rely heavily on natural gas and propane equipment that can produce carbon monoxide at dangerous levels when improperly maintained or installed.

Common hotel equipment that produces carbon monoxide:

• Gas-fired boilers
• Furnaces
• Pool heaters
• Laundry dryers
• Backup generators
• In-room gas fireplaces
• Water heaters

Where carbon monoxide typically accumulates:

• Rooms directly above or adjacent to boiler rooms and mechanical areas
• Indoor pool and spa areas with enclosed ventilation systems
• Hallways near laundry facilities
• Guest rooms sharing walls with parking garages
• Any enclosed space near malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances

Common Symptoms and Long-Term Effects of Carbon Monoxide Exposure

One reason hotel carbon monoxide poisoning often goes undiagnosed is that symptoms mimic common illnesses. Guests assume they have food poisoning, the flu, or altitude sickness. By the time they realize the cause, significant harm may already be done.

Acute symptoms during or shortly after exposure:

• Headache (often described as dull, persistent pressure)
• Dizziness and lightheadedness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion and difficulty thinking clearly
• Chest pain and shortness of breath
• Blurred vision
• Loss of consciousness
• Even death in severe cases

Who faces the greatest risk:

Children, pregnant women, older adults, and people with pre-existing heart or lung conditions are especially vulnerable. Research shows that while children represented 16% of hotel CO poisoning victims in a major study, they accounted for 27% of fatalities—indicating they suffer serious harm at lower exposure levels.

Long-term consequences documented in carbon monoxide poisoning victims:

CO interferes with the blood’s ability to deliver oxygen to organs, particularly the brain and heart. Survivors of significant exposure may experience:

• Memory problems and difficulty concentrating
• Personality changes and mood disorders
• Chronic headaches that persist for months or years
• Balance and coordination issues
• Heart damage and increased cardiovascular risk
• Delayed neurological syndrome (symptoms appearing weeks after exposure)

Among the 905 hotel guests poisoned in documented incidents from 2005–2018, 117 survivors suffered permanent neurological injury. These aren’t minor inconveniences—they’re life-altering conditions affecting work, relationships, and independence.

A warning sign to watch for: If multiple family members or travel companions got sick during the same weekend stay—experiencing similar symptoms that improved after leaving—this pattern strongly suggests undiagnosed carbon monoxide exposure rather than a virus or food-borne illness.

If you suspect you were exposed to carbon monoxide after a hotel stay, seek immediate medical evaluation and specifically ask providers to test for CO exposure.

Who Can I Sue for Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

Hotel carbon monoxide poisoning cases typically involve multiple responsible parties. Identifying all of them is essential for maximizing your compensation, as each may carry separate insurance coverage.

Hotel-related parties that may be held liable:

• Property owners – The individuals or entities that own the building have a fundamental duty to maintain safe premises
• Hotel management companies – Third-party operators running the day-to-day operations may be liable for carbon monoxide from poor maintenance
• Franchise brands – National chains that impose (or fail to impose) safety standards on franchisees
• On-site maintenance supervisors – Staff responsible for inspecting and maintaining equipment

Third-party contractors:

• HVAC companies – Firms that install, repair, or service heating and cooling systems
• Boiler service providers – Companies contracted for annual boiler inspections and maintenance
• Plumbers – Professionals who work on gas lines and water heaters
• Pool maintenance vendors – Companies servicing pool heaters and ventilation systems
• Construction companies – Contractors who may have improperly installed equipment or blocked ventilation during renovations

Manufacturers and distributors:

Equipment manufacturers may face product liability claims if defective products, like a boiler with a faulty heat exchanger, a malfunctioning CO detector, or a water heater with inadequate safety features, caused or contributed to the poisoning.

Legal theories used in hotel carbon monoxide cases:

• Premises liability
• Negligence
• Negligence per se
• Product liability
• Wrongful death

A hotel carbon monoxide poisoning lawyer investigates contracts, lease agreements, and service records to identify every party with potential liability—and every insurance policy available to pay claims.

What is the Compensation Available in a Hotel Carbon Monoxide Claim?

Every carbon monoxide poisoning case is unique. Victims may be entitled to financial compensation, which depends on the severity of exposure, the extent of injuries, the number of victims, and the degree of negligence involved. Victims can seek damages for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, and funeral costs in wrongful death cases. Compensation for carbon monoxide poisoning can include both economic damages for quantifiable financial losses and non-economic damages for pain and suffering.

When hotel carbon monoxide poisoning results in death, surviving family members may recover:

• Loss of financial support that the deceased would have provided
• Funeral and burial expenses
• Loss of companionship, guidance, and consortium
• The deceased’s pain and suffering before death
• Medical bills incurred before death

Wrongful death claims can be pursued by surviving family members of carbon monoxide poisoning victims to recover damages for economic and emotional losses.

Example of a Hotel Carbon Monoxide Settlement

The Buckfire Law Firm recently settled a carbon monoxide poisoning lawsuit against a Michigan hotel for two flight attendants who were guests near the airport. They were exposed to CO poisoning. Our investigation determined that poor maintenance of mechanical heating equipment by the maintenance staff caused the guests to be exposed to dangerous levels of harmful gas. Both suffered damage to their brains and other organs that affected their ability to work and function. After extensive litigation, we settled their case for $4.25 million.

Contact a Hotel Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Lawyer

If you or a family member suffered illness, hospitalization, or the tragic loss of a loved one after a hotel stay, you deserve answers and accountability. Contact the award-winning lawyers at The Buckfire Law Firm immediately to get started on your case. The sooner you start your case, the better chance you have of winning a great settlement.

There are no legal fees unless you win a settlement, and we pay all case expenses. If your case is unsuccessful for any reason, you owe us nothing. We put that in writing for you.

Legally reviewed by:

Lawrence J. Buckfire, J.D., Lead Trial Attorney at Buckfire Law
Lawrence J. Buckfire, J.D. has over 30 years of experience specializing in personal injury and wrongful death cases. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and attended Wayne State University School of Law. Lawrence has been named a Super Lawyer, U.S. News Best Lawyer, and in The National Trial Lawyers-Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Date of Review: Jan., 2026