Austin hotel closing after third falling-glass incident
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 29, 2011 10:38 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Falling-glass incident is the third in recent weeks involving the Austin, Texas, hotel
Hotel says it will close while it replaces all balcony glass; guests are being relocated
The hotel is being sued over a June 10 incident in which two people were injured
(CNN) -- The W Austin hotel is closing indefinitely after glass fell from the balcony panels of the Austin, Texas, building for a second day in a row and the third time in recent weeks, the hotel's parent company announced Tuesday.
The hotel will be closed "until further notice" as the glass panels are replaced, the hotel's parent company said in a statement Tuesday. Guests of the hotel are being relocated to other hotels.
"We are replacing every piece of balcony glass on the building," Stratus Properties CEO Beau Armstrong said in the statement.
The incident occurred the same day a lawsuit was filed against the hotel on behalf of two people who were injured June 10 when glass from a broken panel rained down on them in the hotel pool, CNN affiliate KXAN-TV reported.
According to the lawsuit, the hotel had been warned of the problem before the incident but failed to respond, KXAN reported.
Women fall from hotel's 10th floor
Austin (Texas)
Just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, three panels fell from the south side of the building, a day after panels fell on cars parked below on 3rd Street, KXAN reported.
The W Hotel in midtown Atlanta was the site of a fatal accident on May 28, when two women crashed through a 10-floor window and one fell to her death. According to a preliminary investigation, the friends were "play fighting" when they smashed into the window and fell.
In the days following that incident, an Atlanta police spokesman said in a statement officers were not looking at the glass in the windows as a factor and had "no reason to believe this was anything other than a tragic accident."
In a statement Tuesday, W Austin stressed that the Austin and Atlanta incidents were "completely unrelated."
"They involve two dissimilar types of buildings that were built at different times," the statement said. "The incident at the W Austin involved balcony glass on empty condos above the hotel and the incident at the W Atlanta Midtown involved a guestroom window."
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 29, 2011 10:38 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Falling-glass incident is the third in recent weeks involving the Austin, Texas, hotel
Hotel says it will close while it replaces all balcony glass; guests are being relocated
The hotel is being sued over a June 10 incident in which two people were injured
(CNN) -- The W Austin hotel is closing indefinitely after glass fell from the balcony panels of the Austin, Texas, building for a second day in a row and the third time in recent weeks, the hotel's parent company announced Tuesday.
The hotel will be closed "until further notice" as the glass panels are replaced, the hotel's parent company said in a statement Tuesday. Guests of the hotel are being relocated to other hotels.
"We are replacing every piece of balcony glass on the building," Stratus Properties CEO Beau Armstrong said in the statement.
The incident occurred the same day a lawsuit was filed against the hotel on behalf of two people who were injured June 10 when glass from a broken panel rained down on them in the hotel pool, CNN affiliate KXAN-TV reported.
According to the lawsuit, the hotel had been warned of the problem before the incident but failed to respond, KXAN reported.
Women fall from hotel's 10th floor
Austin (Texas)
Just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, three panels fell from the south side of the building, a day after panels fell on cars parked below on 3rd Street, KXAN reported.
The W Hotel in midtown Atlanta was the site of a fatal accident on May 28, when two women crashed through a 10-floor window and one fell to her death. According to a preliminary investigation, the friends were "play fighting" when they smashed into the window and fell.
In the days following that incident, an Atlanta police spokesman said in a statement officers were not looking at the glass in the windows as a factor and had "no reason to believe this was anything other than a tragic accident."
In a statement Tuesday, W Austin stressed that the Austin and Atlanta incidents were "completely unrelated."
"They involve two dissimilar types of buildings that were built at different times," the statement said. "The incident at the W Austin involved balcony glass on empty condos above the hotel and the incident at the W Atlanta Midtown involved a guestroom window."