A Oktoberfest reveller who threw up in a hotel shower and left the water running caused £175,000 worth of damage to a historic Munich hotel.
The drunk guest nodded off with the water still flowing after being sick in the shower. While he slept, the blocked shower tray backed up, and water cascaded through the building, pouring from lights and plug sockets and wrecking rooms.
Flooded rooms and a soaked breakfast hall
The incident happened when two men returned to Hotel Brack after a heavy session at Oktoberfest, the world’s largest folk and beer festival held annually in Munich. One of the men was so intoxicated that he was sick in the shower but forgot to turn it off before going to bed.
Water flooded Room 233 before bursting out and gushing through the 137-year-old hotel, soaking floors, walls, and ceilings. Nobody noticed the disaster until 4.45am, when water was dripping from the ceiling of the breakfast room and shooting out of light and electrical sockets. The power went out, and even the hotel’s front door stopped working.
Guests slept through the flood
Hotel manager Manuela Holzer rushed upstairs and found herself wading through water. She said: “I first turned off the shower in the room. The water was centimetres high - you had to wade through it.”
Despite the flood, she found the guests still asleep. “They didn’t even notice I was there,” Holzer said. “I had to wake them up first.”
Extensive repairs and insurance uncertainty
The damage has left the hotel with a monumental bill. Carpets need to be ripped out, sodden floors repaired, and wallpaper replaced. One room is “completely ruined” and could be out of action for months.
Holzer fears the final damage will reach £175,000 and is unsure how much insurers will pay. “We will certainly have to pay a large proportion ourselves,” the owner told Munich TV.
