GTC/guest conditions for accommodation services

Section 1: Conclusion of the guest accommodation contract

1. The guest accommodation contract enters into force as a binding contract once the accommodation has been ordered and agreed or provided at short notice.
2. A booking can take place verbally, in writing, by phone, by fax or by email. The written form should be selected in the interests of the contracting parties.
3. The guest who makes the booking also makes bookings for the persons listed in the booking and takes responsibility for the contractual obligations for these persons just as they would their own obligations, to the extent that they have taken over a corresponding separate obligation by way of an express and separate declaration.

Section 2: Services, prices and payment

1. The services owed by the tourist accommodation are exclusively established by the booking offer in connection with the information in the hotel’s own publications.
2. The prices indicated in the hotel’s publications are final prices and include all ancillary costs, unless otherwise agreed.
3. The agreed price, including all ancillary costs, is payable no later than on the day of departure, unless otherwise contractually agreed. If payments are not made on time, after sending an unsuccessful reminder, the tourist accommodation is entitled to withdraw from the contract and charge the guest for cancellation costs in line with section 5(3).

Section 3: Withdrawal

1. The conclusion of the guest accommodation contract obliges both contracting parties to execute the contract, regardless of the duration for which the contract is concluded. A unilateral, free withdrawal from a binding booking by the guest is not possible.
2. If the guest withdraws from the contract, they are obliged to pay the agreed or customary price, including the catering component, irrespective of the time and reason for the withdrawal. However, the owner of the tourist accommodation must act in good faith to offset any expenses that are saved against the entitlements. The case law specifies a value of the expenses saved for accommodation with breakfast as a flat rate of 20% or 30% for accommodation with half-board and 40% for accommodation with full board.
3. The owner of the tourist accommodation can stagger these entitlements as follows, unless otherwise agreed (in % of the agreed price of accommodation in each case): Cancellation costs: withdrawal up to 31 days prior to arrival: free, withdrawal until the 21st day prior to arrival: 25%, withdrawal up to the 11th day prior to arrival: 50%, withdrawal up to the 3rd day prior to arrival: 75%, afterwards and in case of non-arrival: 100%
4. The owner of a tourist accommodation must rent out any accommodation not utilised in good faith and must offset the resulting savings against the cancellation fee.
5. The guest is entitled to prove that the tourist accommodation did not suffer any losses or that the loss was significantly lower.
6. The notice of cancellation must be sent to the tourist accommodation and should be in writing in the interests of the guest.
7. The establishment of travel cancellation insurance is recommended.

Section 4: Right of termination

1. A right to ordinary termination does not exist.
2. Both contracting parties may demand the extraordinary termination of the contractual relationship without notice for good cause in accordance with Section 543 BGB (German Civil Code) or subject to the requirements in Section 569 BGB.
3. Good cause particularly exists for the tourist accommodation if the guest uses the accommodation contrary to the contract (material breach of contract) or does not comply with the hotel rules. In the event of a material breach of contract, the tourist accommodation must give the guest a short grace period to remedy the situation or issue a warning, unless this would not be successful or exceptional reasons exist, which justify the waiver of these requirements. In this case, the tourist accommodation may demand that the guest reimburse the expenses that arose up to the point of termination and the lost profit (cf. Section 4(2) and (3)).
4. Moreover, the tourist accommodation has a right of cancellation or a right of extraordinary termination, if the guest does not make the agreed payments (advance payment, final payment and deposit) on time despite a prior warning. In this case, the tourist accommodation may demand that the guest reimburse the expenses that arose up to the point of termination and the lost profit (cf. Section 4(2) and (3)).
5. In all other respects, the statutory regulations on the right to extraordinary termination without notice apply.

Section 5: Shortcomings in the accommodation services

1. The tourist accommodation is liable for the proper provision of the contractually agreed service.
2. If the rented accommodation has a shortcoming, which exceeds a mere inconvenience, the guest must immediately report this to the owner of the tourist accommodation or their assigned representatives to enable the tourist accommodation to rectify the shortcomings. If the guest does not make such a report, they have no entitlements due to the non-fulfilment of the contractual services.

Section 6: Liability

1. The tourist accommodation’s contractual liability for damages, which are not physical injuries, is limited to three times the price of the agreed service, provided that the damage was not caused as a result of gross negligence or an intentional breach of obligations, or on an intentional or negligent breach of obligations typical of such a contract for the tourist accommodation. The same applies if the damages suffered by a guest are caused by a legal representative or vicarious agent of the tourist accommodation.
2. The tourist accommodation is liable for items brought in by the guest in accordance with the legal provisions (Section 701 BGB).
3. The tourist accommodation is not liable for service disruptions in connection with services that are merely provided as third-party services and which are expressly identified as third-party services.

Section 7: Guest obligations

1. The guest must treat the accommodation, together with the inventory, with due care. The guest is liable to pay compensation for culpable damage to items of furniture, rooms of the building as well as facilities belonging to the room or building, if and to the extent that this damage was culpably caused by the guest or accompanying persons or visitors.
2. The guest must immediately notify the tourist accommodation of damage that is caused in the room, if they are not obliged to remove the damage themselves. The guest is liable to pay compensation for any consequential damages that result from delayed notification.

Section 8: Limitation period

The applicable standards in the German Civil Code apply with regard to the period of limitation for reciprocal claims of the guest and the tourist accommodation.

Section 9: Governing law and place of jurisdiction

1. German law applies.
2. The place of jurisdiction for legal action by the guest against the tourist accommodation is exclusively the legal domicile of the tourist accommodation.
3. For legal action brought by the tourist accommodation against merchants, legal persons under public or private law or persons without a general place of jurisdiction in Germany or whose (usual) place of residence has relocated aboard following the conclusion of the contract, or whose (usual) place of residence is unknown at the time the action is filed, the tourist accommodation’s legal domicile is hereby agreed as the exclusive place of jurisdiction. The contents of the contract may differ in some cases. Please note your booking confirmation.