Legal aspects 5. The rights of the proprietor/hotelier/innkeeper
Te hotelier (hotel owner) has certain duties arising under Common Law. Such duties are owed by an hotelier to any traveller staying in his/her hotel. A traveller is any person who wants to stay at the hotel and uses the services available at the hotel. Te duties owed to a traveller are:
• A duty to provide reasonable refreshment. A failure to fulfill this duty on the part of the hotelier may make the hotelier liable to criminal prosecution. An hotelier is, however, only bound to supply that which he has available and is not under any duty to send out for further supplies in order to satisfy the traveller’s request.
• A duty to provide accommodation at the hotel without prior contract to any traveler seeking accommodation, unless the hotel is full. • Deal safely with the guest’s property. • Ensure the safety of the guest’s transport.
5.1 Refusing a guest service, the ejectment of guests and access to premises
Refusing a guest service An innkeeper may refuse to accommodate a traveller only when: the hotel is full
•
• the traveller is unable to pay a reasonable sum for the accommodation in advance
• the traveller is not in a fit state to be received at the hotel (for example, a guest who has on previous occasions caused annoyance to other guests or in some way disrupted the inn, guests who do not adhere to the dress code of the hotel or undesirable guests, e.g. drunks and prostitutes) • the traveller cannot pay a reasonable sum for the services.
Te ejectment of guests A guest at a hotel, who refuses to leave aſter the expiry of legal notice to give up his room, or aſter being asked to leave because of undesirable behaviour can be refused service, food, etc.
Te law does not permit a guest’s belongings being removed from his room, nor does it permit him being refused access to the premises, until a Court order of ejectment has been obtained from a magistrate. It is then the duty of the proper officer of the Court to see that the order is enforced.
In the absence of a contract to accommodate a guest for a specified period a hotelier is entitled to request a guest to vacate his accommodation when the guest ceases to be a traveller.
5.2 The lien of guests’ property
A hotel has the right to retain a guest’s luggage or property until the bill has been paid. Te right is called ‘lien’.
FutureManagers
123
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144