General Terms and Conditions for the Hotel Accommodation Contract

1 SCOPE OF APPLICATION

1.1 These terms and conditions apply to contracts for the rental of hotel rooms for accommodation as well as all other services and deliveries provided by the hotel for the customer in this context (Hotel Accommodation Contract). The term “Hotel Accommodation Contract” includes and replaces the following terms: accommodation, guest intake, hotel, and hotel room contract.

1.2 The sub-letting or re-letting of the rooms provided, as well as their use for purposes other than accommodation, require the prior consent of the hotel in text form, whereby Section 540 paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB (German Civil Code) is waived unless the customer is a consumer within the meaning of Section 13 BGB.

1.3 The customer’s general terms and conditions shall only apply if this has been expressly agreed in text form in advance.

2 CONCLUSION OF CONTRACT, PARTNERS, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

2.1 The contracting parties are the hotel and the customer. The contract is concluded by the hotel’s acceptance of the customer’s application. The hotel is free to confirm the room booking in text form.

2.2 All claims against the hotel are generally subject to a limitation period of one year from the statutory commencement of the limitation period. This does not apply to claims for damages or other claims, provided the latter are based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the hotel.

3 SERVICES, PRICES, PAYMENT, SET-OFF

3.1 The hotel is obliged to keep the rooms booked by the customer available and to provide the agreed services.

3.2 The customer is obliged to pay the agreed or applicable prices of the hotel for the provision of the room and the other services used by them. This also applies to services commissioned by the customer directly or via the hotel, which are provided by third parties and disbursed by the hotel.

3.3 The agreed prices include the taxes and local charges applicable at the time the contract is concluded. Local charges owed by the guest themselves according to the respective municipal law, such as tourist tax, are not included. In the event of a change in the statutory value-added tax or the new introduction, change, or abolition of local charges on the subject matter of the service after the conclusion of the contract, the prices will be adjusted accordingly. For contracts with consumers, this only applies if the period between the conclusion of the contract and the fulfillment of the contract exceeds four months.

3.4 The hotel may make its consent to a subsequent reduction in the number of booked rooms, the hotel’s service, or the customer’s length of stay requested by the customer dependent on the price for the rooms and/or for the hotel’s other services being increased appropriately.

3.5 Invoices from the hotel are due for payment immediately upon receipt without deduction. If payment on account has been agreed, payment must be made—subject to a different agreement—within ten days of receipt of the invoice without deduction.

3.6 The hotel is entitled to demand a reasonable advance payment or security deposit from the customer upon conclusion of the contract, for example in the form of a credit card guarantee. The amount of the advance payment and the payment dates can be agreed in the contract in text form. In the case of advance payments or security deposits for package tours, the statutory provisions remain unaffected. In the event of default in payment by the customer, the statutory regulations shall apply.

3.7 In justified cases, for example payment arrears by the customer or expansion of the scope of the contract, the hotel is entitled, even after the conclusion of the contract until the start of the stay, to demand an advance payment or security deposit within the meaning of section 3.6 above or an increase in the advance payment or security deposit agreed in the contract up to the full agreed remuneration.

3.8 Furthermore, the hotel is entitled to demand a reasonable advance payment or security deposit from the customer at the beginning of and during the stay within the meaning of section 3.6 above for existing and future claims arising from the contract, insofar as such has not already been provided in accordance with section 3.6 and/or section 3.7 above.

3.9 The customer may only set off or offset an undisputed or legally binding claim against a claim of the hotel.

3.10 The customer agrees that the invoice can be sent to them electronically.

4 WITHDRAWAL BY THE CUSTOMER (CANCELLATION)/NON-USE OF THE HOTEL’S SERVICES (NO SHOW)

4.1 Withdrawal by the customer from the contract concluded with the hotel is only possible if a right of withdrawal was expressly agreed in the contract, a statutory right of withdrawal exists, or if the hotel expressly agrees to the cancellation of the contract.

4.2 If a date for cost-free withdrawal from the contract has been agreed between the hotel and the customer, the customer may withdraw from the contract until then without triggering payment or damage claims by the hotel.

4.3 If a right of withdrawal has not been agreed or has already expired, there is also no statutory right of withdrawal or termination, and if the hotel does not agree to a contract cancellation, the hotel retains the claim to the agreed remuneration despite the non-use of the service. The hotel must credit the income from renting the rooms to others as well as the saved expenses. If the rooms are not rented to others, the hotel may flat-rate the deduction for saved expenses. In this case, the customer is obliged to pay 90% of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays with or without breakfast as well as for package arrangements with external services, 70% for half-board, and 60% for full-board arrangements. The customer is free to prove that the aforementioned claim did not arise or did not arise in the amount requested.

5 WITHDRAWAL BY THE HOTEL

5.1 If it has been agreed that the customer can withdraw from the contract free of charge within a certain period, the hotel is for its part entitled to withdraw from the contract during this period if there are inquiries from other customers for the contractually booked rooms and the customer does not waive their right of withdrawal upon inquiry by the hotel with a reasonable deadline. This applies accordingly to the granting of an option if other inquiries exist and the customer is not prepared to make a firm booking upon inquiry by the hotel with a reasonable deadline.

5.2 If an advance payment or security deposit agreed or requested in accordance with section 3.6 and/or section 3.7 is not made even after a reasonable grace period set by the hotel has expired, the hotel is also entitled to withdraw from the contract.

5.3 Furthermore, the hotel is entitled to withdraw from the contract extraordinarily for an objectively justified reason, in particular if

  • force majeure or other circumstances for which the hotel is not responsible make fulfillment of the contract impossible;
  • rooms or spaces are booked culpably under misleading or false information or concealment of essential facts; essential facts can be the identity of the customer, solvency, or the purpose of the stay;
  • the hotel has justified reason to assume that the use of the service may jeopardize the smooth business operations, safety, or reputation of the hotel in public, without this being attributable to the hotel’s sphere of control or organization;
  • the purpose or occasion of the stay is unlawful;
  • there is a violation of the aforementioned section 1.2.

5.4 The justified withdrawal by the hotel does not justify any claim by the customer for damages.

6 ROOM PROVISION, HANDOVER AND RETURN

6.1 The customer does not acquire a claim to the provision of specific rooms unless this has been expressly agreed in text form.

6.2 Booked rooms are available to the customer from 2:00 PM on the agreed day of arrival. The customer has no claim to earlier provision.

6.3 On the agreed day of departure, the rooms must be vacated and made available to the hotel by 11:00 AM at the latest. Thereafter, due to the late vacating of the room, the hotel may charge 50% of the full lodging price (price according to the price list) for its use exceeding the contract until 6:00 PM, and 90% from 6:00 PM onwards. Contractual claims of the customer are not established by this. The customer is free to prove that the hotel has no or a significantly lower claim to a usage fee.

7 LIABILITY OF THE HOTEL

7.1 The hotel is liable for damages for which it is responsible arising from injury to life, limb, or health. Furthermore, it is liable for other damages based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the hotel or on an intentional or negligent breach of typical contractual duties of the hotel. Typical contractual duties are those duties that make the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose fulfillment the customer trusts and may trust. A breach of duty by the hotel is equivalent to that of a legal representative or vicarious agent. Further claims for damages are excluded, unless otherwise regulated in this section 7. Should disruptions or defects in the hotel’s services occur, the hotel will endeavor to provide a remedy upon knowledge or immediate complaint by the customer. The customer is obliged to contribute what is reasonable for them to eliminate the disruption and keep any possible damage to a minimum.

7.2 The hotel is liable to the customer for items brought in according to the statutory provisions. The hotel recommends using the hotel or room safe. If the customer wishes to bring in money, securities, and valuables with a value of more than 800 euros or other items with a value of more than 3,500 euros, this requires a separate storage agreement with the hotel.

7.3 Insofar as a parking space in the hotel garage or on the hotel parking lot is made available to the customer, even for a fee, this does not constitute a custody agreement. In the event of loss of or damage to motor vehicles parked or maneuvered on the hotel property and their contents, the hotel is only liable in accordance with the aforementioned section 7.1, sentences 1 to 4.

7.4 Wake-up calls are carried out by the hotel with the utmost care. Messages for customers are handled with care. By prior agreement with the customer, the hotel can undertake the acceptance, storage, and—on request—forwarding of mail and merchandise shipments for a fee. The hotel is only liable in this respect in accordance with the aforementioned section 7.1, sentences 1 to 4.

8 FINAL PROVISIONS

8.1 Amendments and supplements to the contract, the acceptance of the application, or these General Terms and Conditions should be made in text form. Unilateral changes or additions are invalid.

8.2 The place of performance and payment as well as the exclusive place of jurisdiction—also for check and bill of exchange disputes—in commercial transactions is the registered office of Keindl Waller GmbH, Dorfstrasse 2-4, 83080 Oberaudorf, Germany. If the customer fulfills the requirements of Section 38 paragraph 2 ZPO (German Code of Civil Procedure) and has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the place of jurisdiction shall be Keindl Waller GmbH, Dorfstrasse 2-4, 83080 Oberaudorf, Germany.

8.3 German law applies. The application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is excluded.

8.4 In accordance with the statutory obligation, the hotel points out that the European Union has set up an online platform for the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes (“ODR platform”): https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/

However, the hotel does not participate in dispute resolution proceedings before consumer arbitration boards.

 

© Hotelverband Deutschland (IHA) e.V. | May 2019