General Business Terms and Conditions for Hotel Accommodation Contracts (AGBH 8.1)

Area of Application

1. These General Business Terms and Conditions apply to contracts on the provi-sion for rental use of hotel rooms for lodging and to all other services and sup-plies provided to the customer by the hotel in this connection (Hotel Accommo-dation Contract). They do not apply to package travel within the meaning of section 651a German Civil Code (BGB). The term “Hotel Accommodation Contract” encompasses and replaces the following terms: lodging, guest accommodation, hotel and hotel room contract.
2. The sub-letting or re-letting of the rooms provided for use and the use thereof for any purposes other than those of lodging is subject to the prior consent of the hotel in text form, whereby the right to terminate pursuant to section 540 (1) sen-tence 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is excluded.
3. General business terms and conditions of the customer shall only be applicable if this has been explicitly agreed in text form.

Concluding the Contract, Contract Parties

1. The hotel and the customer are the parties to the contract. The contract is concluded by acceptance by the hotel of the application made by the customer. If the booking is made via the hotel’s own web page, the contract is concluded by clicking the button “SEND RESERVATION” confirming the reservation and the customer’s obligation to pay.

Services, Prices, Payment, Off-Set

1. The hotel is obliged to keep the rooms reserved by the customer available and to render the services agreed.
2. The customer is obliged to pay the hotel’s prices that are agreed for or applicable to the provision of the room for use and to other services used by the customer. This also applies to services ordered by the customer either directly or through the hotel which are performed by third parties and paid for in advance by the ho-tel.
3. The prices agreed are inclusive of the taxes and local taxes applicable at the time when the contract is concluded. They do not include local taxes such as local visitor’s tax [Kurtaxe] which the guest owes himself or herself under local community law. The prices shall be adjusted accordingly in the event of changes to the statutory value added tax or of the introduction, change or elimination of local taxes on the subject matter of the contract after the contract has been entered into. In the case of contracts with consumers, this only applies if the period of time elapsing between the date of conclusion of the contract and the date of perfor-mance of the contract is longer than four months.
4. If payment by invoice [Zahlung auf Rechnung] is agreed, payment shall be made within ten days of receipt of the invoice without any deductions being made un-less otherwise agreed.
5. When the contract is entered into, the hotel has the right to request a reasonable advance payment or security from the customer, 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. The provisions of statute shall apply in the event of late payment by the custom-er.
6. In justified cases, for example if the customer is in arrears in payment or if the scope of the contract is extended, the hotel has the right to demand, even after the contract has been concluded up until the time when the residence com-mences, advance payment or security as set out in subsection 3.5 above or an increase in the amount of the advance payment or security agreed in the con-tract up to the full amount of the remuneration agreed.
7. Further, the hotel has the right to request, at the beginning and during the course of the customer’s stay, a reasonable advance payment or security within the meaning of subsection 3.5 above for existing and future claims under the con-tract, insofar as no such payment or security has already been made or provided pursuant to subsection 3.5 and/or 3.6 above.
8. The customer may only offset or net out an undisputed claim or a claim estab-lished by final and absolute court decision against a claim of the hotel.
9. The customer is in agreement with the invoice being sent to the customer by electronic transmission.

• Revocation / Termination (“Cancellation”) by the Customer / No Use of the Hotel Services (“No Show”)

1. It is only possible for the customer to unilaterally dissolve the contract concluded with the hotel if a revocation right has been explicitly agreed in the contract or if there is a statutory revocation right or termination right.
2. If the hotel and the customer have agreed upon a deadline for revocation of the contract free of charge, the customer may revoke the contract up until that date without triggering any claims for payment or damages by the hotel. The customer’s revocation right expires if the customer does not exercise this right vis-à-vis the hotel in text form by the agreed deadline.
3. If no revocation right has been agreed or if it has already expired, and if there is no statutory right of revocation or termination either, then the hotel retains its en-titlement to the remuneration agreed although the service was not used. The hotel shall offset income from otherwise letting the rooms and saved ex-penditures. If the rooms are not otherwise let, the hotel can apply a flat rate for the saved expenditures. In this case the customer is obliged to pay 90% of the contractually-agreed price for overnight accommodation with or without breakfast and for package deals with third-party services, 70% for half board and 60% for full board. The customer is at liberty to demonstrate that the above claim did not arise or not in the amount claimed.

Revocation by the Hotel

1. If it has been agreed that the customer may revoke the contract free of charge within a certain period, then the hotel has, for its part, the right to revoke the contract within this period if inquiries are made by other customers relating to the contractually reserved rooms and if the customer does not waive its revocation right after an inquiry is made and a reasonable period of time set by the hotel. This shall apply accordingly if the customer has been granted an option and other inquiries are made and the customer is not prepared to make a firm booking after the hotel makes an inquiry and sets an appropriate time period.
2. The hotel also has the right to revoke the contract if an advance payment or security agreed or required in accordance with subsection 3.5 and/or subsection 3.6 has not been paid after an appropriate period of grace set by the hotel has expired.
3. Further, the hotel has the right, for an objectively legitimate reason, to revoke the contract for extraordinary grounds, in particular in the event of

• force majeure or other circumstances for which the hotel is not responsible, which render performance of the contract impossible;
• rooms and spaces being reserved by culpably providing material facts that are wrong or misleading or by failing to provide material facts; in this context the term material can mean the identity of the customer, the customer’s ability to pay or the purpose of the residence;
• the hotel having reasonable grounds to assume that the use of the service can jeopardize the smooth running of the business, the safety or public reputation of the hotel without this being attributable to the area of responsibility or organ-ization of the hotel;
• the purpose of or the reason for the stay being in violation of the law;
• a breach of subsection 1.2.

4. Revocation by the hotel that is justified does not give the customer the right to claim damages. If, in the event of revocation under subsection 5.2 or 5.3 above, the hotel has a claim for damages against the customer, the hotel can claim this as a flat rate. In this case, subsection 4.3 shall apply accordingly.

• Making the Room available, handover and return

1. The customer does not acquire a right to the provision of specific rooms unless this has been explicitly agreed in text form.
2. The reserved rooms shall be available for use by the customer with effect from 14:00 hours on the agreed date of arrival. The customer has no right to earlier availability.
3. The rooms shall be vacated and available for use by the hotel by 11:00 noon at the latest on the agreed departure date. After this time, as the room was vacated late, the hotel has the right to charge for the room use exceeding that which was contractually agreed in an amount of 50% of the full accommodation price up until 18:00 hours and in an amount of 90% after 18:00 hours (price as per price list). This does not give rise to contractual rights of the customer. The customer is at liberty to demonstrate that the hotel did not acquire a claim for compensation for use or acquired a significantly lower claim.

Liability of the Hotel

1. The hotel is liable for damage which it is accountable for resulting from injury to life, body or health. It is further liable for other damage which is based on an intentional or grossly-negligent breach of duty of the hotel or on an intentional or negligent breach of duties of the hotel typical of the type of contract [vertragstypischen Pflichten]. Duties typical of the type of contract are those duties which enable the proper execution of the contract altogether and which the customer relies on being per-formed and is able to rely on being performed. A breach of duty of a statutory representative or person engaged in performance of an obligation of the hotel [Erfüllungsgehilfe] is equivalent to a breach of duty of the hotel. More far-reaching claims for damages are excluded unless otherwise provided for in this Section 7. If there should be any disruptions or deficiencies in the services of the hotel, the hotel shall endeavor to remedy this when it has knowledge thereof or upon a complaint being made without undue delay by the customer. The customer is obliged to contribute what it can be reasonably expected to con-tribute in order to remedy the disruption and minimize possible damage.
2. The hotel is liable to the customer in accordance with the provisions of statute for items brought with the customer. The hotel recommends the use of the hotel or room safe. If the customer wishes to bring with him or her money, securities or valuables valued at over Euro 800 or other property items valued at over Euro 3,500, a separate safekeeping agreement must be entered into with the hotel.
3. If the customer is provided with a parking space in the hotel garage or in the hotel parking lot, even if this is for payment, a custody contract is not concluded as a result. BIf cars parked or driven on the hotel premises or the contents thereof are lost or damaged, the hotel is only liable in accordance with sentences 1 to 4 of subsec-tion 7.1 above.
4. Wake-up calls are made with great care by the hotel. Messages for customers are treated with care. After prior agreement with the customer, the hotel can accept, store and – if de-sired – dispatch for a charge mail and consignments of goods. The hotel shall only be liable in this respect in accordance with the above section 7.1, sentences 1 to 4.

• Final Provisions

1. Alterations and supplements to the contract, to acceptance of the application and to these General Business Terms and Conditions shall be made in text form. Unilateral changes or supplements are ineffective.
2. If the customer is a merchant or public law legal entity, the courts of Münster have exclusive jurisdiction and venue. The hotel can, however, at its election, also bring legal action against the customer at the place of the customer’s registered office. This also applies to customers not covered by sentence 1 above if they do not have their registered office or place of residence in an EU member state.
3. German law shall apply. The application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is excluded.
4. In compliance with its statutory obligation the hotel points out that the European Union has set up an online platform for the extrajudicial resolution of consumer disputes (“ODR platform”): https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. The hotel does not, however, participate in dispute resolution proceedings held before consumer dispute resolution bodies.

The German version of our Terms & Conditions takes precedence over the English version. In case of doubt, the German version shall be taken as reference.

Status: Münster, October 2022