GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE HOTEL ACCOMMODATION AGREEMENT (GTC)
LODGING TAX
The accommodation tax was introduced in the state capital of Düsseldorf on 1 January 2024. The tax is levied on the provision of accommodation services in return for payment. It is irrelevant whether the accommodation is for tourism or business purposes. The accommodation tax is 3.00 euros per person per night (over 18 years of age) and must be paid on site. The accommodation tax is a local expense tax, the collection of which is based on different legal bases in the individual federal states.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the right to levy taxes, such as the accommodation tax, is granted to the municipalities by the NRW Municipal Tax Act in conjunction with the Fiscal Code and the respective local statutes.
The legal basis for levying the accommodation tax in the state capital Düsseldorf is the accommodation tax statutes of the state capital Düsseldorf dated 24/08/2023.
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 further services and deliveries provided by the hotel for the customer in this connection (hotel accommodation contract). The term “hotel accommodation contract” includes and replaces the following terms: Accommodation, guest accommodation, hotel, hotel room contract.
1.2 Subletting or subletting of the rooms provided and their use for purposes other than accommodation require the prior consent of the hotel in text form, whereby § 540 paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB (German Civil Code) is invalidated if the customer is not a consumer.
1.3 The customer’s general terms and conditions shall only apply if this has been expressly agreed in advance.
2 CONCLUSION OF CONTRACT, PARTNERS AND STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
2.1 The hotel and the customer are the contracting parties. The contract is concluded upon acceptance of the customer’s application by the hotel. The hotel is free to confirm the room booking in text form.
2.2 All claims against the Hotel shall generally become statute-barred one year after the beginning of the statutory limitation period. Claims for damages are subject to a limitation period of five years irrespective of knowledge, unless they are based on injury to life, limb, health or freedom. These claims for damages become statute-barred after ten years irrespective of knowledge. The shortening of the limitation period shall not apply to claims based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the hotel.
3 SERVICES, PRICES, PAYMENT AND OFFSETTING
3.1 The Hotel shall be obliged to keep the rooms firmly booked by the Customer ready and to provide the agreed services, or to provide a replacement.
3.2 The customer is obliged to pay the hotel’s agreed or valid price for the room allocation and the other services used by him. This also applies to services contracted by the customer directly or via the hotel, which are provided by third parties and paid for by the hotel.
3.3 The agreed prices include the taxes and local charges applicable at the time the contract is concluded. Local taxes owed by the guest according to local law are not included, e.g. visitor’s tax.
In the event of a change in the statutory value added tax or the introduction, amendment or abolition of local taxes on the subject matter of the contract after conclusion of the contract, the prices shall be adjusted accordingly. In the case of contracts with consumers, this only applies if the period between conclusion of the contract and performance 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 services or the duration of the customer’s stay subject to an increase in the price of the rooms and/or the hotel’s other services.
3.5 Invoices from the hotel without a due date are payable without deduction within ten days of receipt of the invoice. The hotel may demand immediate payment of due claims from the customer at any time. In the event of default in payment, the hotel is entitled to charge default interest at the current rate of 8 percentage points or, in the case of legal transactions in which a consumer is involved, 5 percentage points above the base interest rate. The hotel reserves the right to prove higher damages.
3.6 The Hotel is entitled to require the customer to make an appropriate advance payment or provide security, for example in the form of a credit card guarantee, upon conclusion of the contract. The amount of the advance payment and the payment dates can be agreed in writing in the contract. In the case of advance payments or the provision of security for package tours, the statutory provisions remain unaffected.
3.7 In justified cases, e.g. arrears of payment by the customer or extension of the scope of the contract, the hotel is entitled, even after conclusion of the contract until the beginning of the stay, to demand an advance payment or provision of security in the sense of section 3.6 above or an increase of the advance payment or provision of security agreed in the contract until the fully agreed remuneration.
3.8 Furthermore, the hotel is entitled to demand an appropriate advance payment or security in the sense of section 3.6 above for existing and future claims from the contract at the beginning and during the stay, unless such has already been made in accordance with section 3.6 and/or section 3.7 above.
3.9 The customer may only offset or set off a claim of the hotel against an undisputed or legally binding claim.
4 CANCELLATION BY THE CUSTOMER (CANCELLATION + REVERSAL) / NON-USE OF THE HOTEL’S SERVICES (NO SHOW)
4.1 The customer may only withdraw from the contract concluded with the Hotel if a right of withdrawal has been expressly agreed in the contract, if another statutory right of withdrawal exists or if the Hotel expressly agrees to the cancellation of the contract. The agreement of a right of rescission and any consent to the cancellation of the contract shall be in text form.
4.2 If an appointment for 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 any claims for payment or damages on the part of the Hotel. The customer’s right of withdrawal expires if he does not exercise his right of withdrawal from the hotel by the agreed date.
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 the hotel does not agree to a cancellation of the contract, the hotel retains the claim to the agreed remuneration despite non-use of the service. The hotel shall take into account the income from renting the rooms to other parties and the expenses saved. If the rooms are not rented out elsewhere, the hotel can make a lump-sum deduction for saved expenses. In this case, the customer is obliged to pay at least 90% of the contractually agreed price for accommodation with or without breakfast as well as for flat-rate 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 required amount.
5 CANCELLATION 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 entitled to withdraw from the contract during this period if requests from other customers for the contractually booked rooms are received and the customer does not waive his right to withdraw with a reasonable period of grace after being asked by the hotel.
5.2 If an advance payment or security deposit agreed or requested in accordance with Clause 3.6 and/or Clause 3.7 is not made even after a reasonable period of grace set by the Hotel has elapsed, the Hotel shall also be entitled to withdraw from the contract.
5.3 Furthermore, the Hotel is entitled to withdraw from the contract for objectively justified reasons, in particular if
Force majeure or other circumstances beyond the control of the hotel make the performance of the contract impossible;
rooms or rooms are booked culpably with misleading or false information or concealment of essential facts; the identity of the customer, solvency or the purpose of the stay can be essential;
the hotel has reasonable grounds to assume that the use of the service may endanger the smooth business operations, security or public image of the hotel, without this being attributable to the hotel’s sphere of control or organisation;
the purpose or the reason for the stay is illegal;
there is a violation of section 1.2 above.
5.4 The justified withdrawal of the Hotel shall not constitute a claim for damages on the part of the Customer.
6 ROOM PROVISION, HANDOVER AND RETURN
6.1 The customer does not acquire any claim to the provision of certain rooms, unless this has been expressly agreed.
6.2 Booked rooms are available to the customer from 15:00 hrs 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 12:00 noon at the latest. Thereafter, the hotel may charge 50% of the full accommodation price (list price) until 6 p.m. due to the delayed evacuation of the room for its use in excess of the contract, and 90% from 6 p.m. onwards. Contractual claims of the customer are not justified by this. He 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 shall be liable for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health for which it is responsible. Furthermore, it shall be liable for other damages which are 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. A breach of duty by the hotel is equivalent to a breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent. Further claims for damages are excluded, unless otherwise provided for in this Clause 7. Should disturbances or defects in the hotel’s services occur, the hotel will endeavour to provide remedy upon knowledge or upon immediate notification of the customer. The customer is obliged to contribute what is reasonable to him in order to remedy the malfunction and to keep possible damage to a minimum.
7.2 The Hotel shall be liable to the customer for items brought in in accordance with the statutory provisions. The hotel recommends the use of the hotel or room safe. If the guest 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 If the customer is provided with a parking space in the hotel garage or on the hotel car park, even for a fee, this shall not constitute a custody contract. In the event of the loss of or damage to motor vehicles parked or manoeuvred on the hotel property and their contents, the hotel shall only be liable in accordance with the above paragraph 7.1, sentences 1 to 4.
7.4 Wake-up orders shall be executed by the Hotel with the utmost care.
Messages, mail and goods for guests are handled with care. The hotel takes over the delivery, storage and (only on request) the forwarding of the same for a fee. The hotel is only liable in accordance with the above paragraph 7.1, sentences 1 to 4.
8 FINAL CLAUSES
8.1 Amendments and supplements to the contract, the acceptance of the application or these General Terms and Conditions shall be made in text form. Unilateral changes or additions by the customer are invalid.
8.2 The place of performance and payment as well as the exclusive place of jurisdiction – also for disputes over cheques and bills of exchange – in commercial transactions is Hohenzollernring 95 50672 Cologne, Germany. If a contractual partner fulfils the requirements of § 38 paragraph 2 ZPO and has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the place of jurisdiction shall be Benrather Str. 7A, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany.
8.3 German law shall apply. The application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the conflict of laws is excluded.
8.4 Should individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions be or become invalid or void, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In all other respects, the statutory provisions shall apply.
Mandatory information according to Regulation (EU) No. 524/2013 of the European Parliament and Council:
Link to the homepage of the European Commission’s online dispute resolution service: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.show&lng=EN
If you have any questions regarding a possible settlement of a dispute, please contact us at info@www.carls-hotel.de