I. Scope
These terms and conditions apply to contracts for the rental of hotel rooms for accommodation as well as all additional services and supplies provided by the hotel to the guest in this context (hotel accommodation contract). The term “hotel accommodation contract” includes and replaces the following terms: accommodation contract, guest accommodation contract, hotel contract, hotel room contract.
Subletting or transferring the provided rooms, as well as their use for purposes other than accommodation, requires the hotel’s prior consent in text form; Section 540(1) sentence 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is hereby excluded insofar as the guest is not a consumer.
The guest’s general terms and conditions shall apply only if expressly agreed in text form in advance.
II. Conclusion of Contract, Contractual Partners, Limitation Period
The contract is concluded when the hotel accepts the guest’s application. The hotel may confirm the room booking in text form at its discretion.
Contractual partners are the hotel and the guest. If a third party makes the booking on behalf of the guest, that third party shall be jointly and severally liable with the guest to the hotel for all obligations arising from the hotel accommodation contract, provided the hotel has received a corresponding declaration from the third party.
All claims against the hotel shall generally become time-barred after one year from the statutory commencement of the limitation period. Claims for damages shall become time-barred after five years regardless of knowledge, unless they arise from injury to life, body, health, or freedom. These claims for damages shall become time-barred after ten years regardless of knowledge. The shortened limitation periods shall not apply to claims based on intentional or grossly negligent breaches of duty by the hotel.
III. Services, Prices, Payment, Set-Off
The hotel is obliged to hold the booked rooms available for the guest and to provide the agreed services.
The guest is obliged to pay the agreed or applicable prices of the hotel for the provision of the rooms and for any additional services used. This obligation also covers services ordered by the guest and disbursements made by the hotel to third parties. The agreed prices include the statutory value-added tax.
The hotel may condition its consent to any subsequent reduction in the number of booked rooms, the scope of the hotel’s services, or the duration of the guest’s stay upon an increase in the price for the rooms and/or for the hotel’s other services.
Invoices from the hotel without a specified due date are payable without deduction within 10 days of receipt. The hotel may at any time demand immediate payment of due amounts. In the event of default, the hotel is entitled to charge statutory default interest, currently 8% p.a., or in transactions involving a consumer, 5% above the base rate. The hotel reserves the right to prove higher damages.
At the time of contract conclusion, the hotel may require the guest to provide a reasonable advance payment or security deposit in the form of a credit card guarantee, deposit, or similar. The amount and payment deadlines may be agreed in text form in the contract. Statutory provisions for package travel remain unaffected in the case of advance payments or security deposits for package tours.
In justified cases—such as the guest’s payment arrears or an extension of the contract’s scope—the hotel may, even after contract conclusion and up until the start of the stay, demand an advance payment or security deposit as described above, or an increase of the agreed advance payment or security deposit up to the full agreed remuneration.
Moreover, the hotel may at the beginning and during the stay demand from the guest a reasonable advance payment or security deposit for existing and future claims under the contract, provided such has not already been furnished in accordance with the foregoing paragraphs.
The guest may offset or withhold payment only against undisputed or legally established claims against the hotel.
IV. Guest’s Withdrawal (Cancellation) / No-Show
The guest may withdraw from the contract only with the hotel’s consent in text form. If such consent is not given, the agreed price shall remain payable even if the guest does not use the contractual services.
If the hotel and the guest have agreed in text form on a deadline for free withdrawal from the contract, the guest may withdraw up to that deadline without triggering payment or compensation claims by the hotel. The right of withdrawal expires if the guest does not exercise it in text form to the hotel by the agreed deadline.
For rooms not used by the guest, the hotel shall credit any revenue from re-letting those rooms elsewhere as well as saved expenses. If the rooms are not re-let, the hotel may demand the contractually agreed remuneration and apply a flat-rate deduction for saved expenses. In such cases, the guest shall pay at least 90% of the contractually agreed price for accommodation with or without breakfast, 70% for half-board, and 60% for full-board arrangements. The guest is free to prove that no or a lower claim arose.
V. Hotel’s Withdrawal
If a free withdrawal period for the guest has been agreed in text form, the hotel may withdraw from the contract within this period if there are inquiries from other guests for the contractually booked rooms and the guest does not waive the right to withdraw upon the hotel’s request.
If an agreed advance payment or security deposit, or one demanded pursuant to Section III paragraphs 5 and/or 6, is not provided even after the hotel has set a reasonable grace period, the hotel may likewise withdraw from the contract.
Furthermore, the hotel may withdraw extraordinarily from the contract for a materially justified reason, for example if:
* Force majeure or other circumstances beyond the hotel’s control make contract performance impossible;
* Rooms or facilities are booked under misleading or false information regarding contractually essential facts, such as the guest’s identity or purpose of stay;
* The hotel has justified reason to believe that the use of hotel services may jeopardize smooth business operations, safety, or the hotel’s public reputation without such being attributable to the hotel;
* The purpose or reason for the stay is unlawful;
* A violation of Section I paragraph 2 above has occurred.
In the event of a justified withdrawal by the hotel, the guest shall have no claim for damages.
VI. Room Availability, Handover, and Return
The guest shall have no entitlement to specific rooms unless expressly agreed in text form.
Booked rooms shall be available to the guest from 3:00 p.m. on the agreed arrival date. The guest shall have no claim to earlier access.
On the agreed departure date, rooms must be vacated and made available to the hotel by 11:00 a.m. at the latest. Thereafter, the hotel may charge 50% of the full accommodation price (rack rate) for extended use of the room until 6:00 p.m. and 100% thereafter. This shall not establish any contractual claims on the guest’s part. The guest is free to prove that the hotel incurred no or significantly lower charges.
VII. Hotel Liability
The hotel shall be liable for its contractual obligations. Claims for damages by the guest are excluded, except for damages resulting from injury to life, body, or health if the hotel is responsible, other damages based on intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty, and damages resulting from intentional or negligent breach of essential contractual obligations. Liability for breaches by the hotel’s legal representatives or vicarious agents is equivalent to that of the hotel. Should disruptions or defects in the hotel’s services occur, the hotel will endeavor to remedy them if notified promptly by the guest. The guest is obliged to contribute reasonably to remedying the disruption and minimizing any damage.
For items brought in, the hotel’s liability is governed by statutory provisions. Liability is limited to one hundred times the room rate, up to a maximum of €3,500, and, for money, securities, and valuables, up to €800. Money, securities, and valuables up to €\[hotel’s insurance coverage amount] may be stored in the hotel’s or room safe. The hotel recommends using this service.
Provision of a parking space in the hotel garage or on a hotel lot—even for a fee—does not constitute a custodial contract. In the event of loss or damage to vehicles parked or maneuvered on hotel premises and their contents, the hotel shall only be liable in cases of intent or gross negligence. The exclusions in Section 1 sentences 2–4 above apply correspondingly.
Wake-up calls will be executed with utmost care.
Messages, mail, and deliveries for guests will be handled carefully. The hotel will deliver, store, and—upon request—for a fee, forward them. The exclusions of liability in Section 1 sentences 2–4 above apply correspondingly.
VIII. Final Provisions
Amendments and additions to the contract, acceptance of the application, or these terms and conditions must be made in text form. Unilateral amendments or additions by the guest are invalid.
Place of performance and payment is the hotel’s location.
The exclusive place of jurisdiction—also for check and bill of exchange disputes—in commercial transactions is the hotel’s registered office. If a contracting party meets the requirements of Section 38(2) ZPO and has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the hotel’s registered office shall be the place of jurisdiction.
German law applies. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and conflict of law rules are excluded.
Should individual provisions of these terms and conditions be or become invalid or void, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. Otherwise, statutory provisions shall apply.