Our General Terms and Conditions

I. Scope of Application

These General Terms and Conditions apply to contracts concerning the rental of hotel rooms for accommodation purposes as well as to all other services and deliveries provided by the hotel to the customer (hereinafter referred to as the “Hotel”).

The subletting or re-letting of the rooms provided, 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) shall not apply.

The customer’s own terms and conditions shall only apply if this has been expressly agreed in advance in text form.

For the purposes of these General Terms and Conditions, “customer” means both consumers and businesses within the meaning of Sections 13 and 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB).

II. Conclusion of Contract, Contracting Parties; Limitation Period

The contract is concluded upon the Hotel’s acceptance of the customer’s application.

If the Hotel makes the customer a binding offer, the contract is concluded upon the customer’s acceptance of the Hotel’s offer. In both cases, the Hotel is free to confirm the room booking in text form.

The contracting parties are the Hotel and the customer. If a third party makes the booking on behalf of the customer, the customer shall be jointly and severally liable with the third party to the Hotel for all obligations arising from the hotel accommodation agreement, provided that the Hotel has received a corresponding declaration from the third party.

All claims by the customer or the third party against the Hotel shall become statute-barred one year after the commencement of the regular limitation period based on knowledge pursuant to Section 199 (1) BGB. Claims for damages against the Hotel shall become statute-barred, irrespective of knowledge, no later than five years after they arise.

These reductions of the limitation periods shall not apply to claims based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the Hotel, nor to claims relating to injury to life, body or health attributable to the Hotel, or to loss of life attributable to the Hotel.

III. Services, Prices, Payments, Set-Off

The Hotel is obliged to keep the rooms booked by the customer available and to provide the agreed services.

The customer is obliged to pay the prices applicable or agreed for the provision of the rooms and for any additional services used by the customer. This also applies to services and expenses incurred by the Hotel for third parties at the customer’s request. The agreed prices include the applicable statutory VAT.

The Hotel may make its consent to a subsequent reduction requested by the customer in the number of rooms booked, the services to be provided by the Hotel, or the customer’s length of stay conditional upon an increase in the price for the rooms or other services provided by the Hotel.

Invoices issued by the Hotel without a specified due date shall be payable within seven calendar days of receipt without deduction. The Hotel shall be entitled to make outstanding claims due at any time and demand immediate payment.

In the event of default in payment, the Hotel shall be entitled to charge the statutory default interest applicable from time to time, currently 8 percentage points above the base interest rate or, in legal transactions involving a consumer, 5 percentage points above the base interest rate.

In addition, in the event of default, the Hotel may charge a fee of €5.00 per reminder letter. The Hotel reserves the right to prove and claim higher damages.

The Hotel shall be entitled, upon conclusion of the contract or thereafter, subject to the statutory provisions applicable to package travel, to demand a reasonable advance payment or security deposit. The amount of the advance payment and the payment dates may be agreed in the contract in text form.

In justified cases, such as payment arrears on the part of the customer or an extension of the scope of the contract, the Hotel shall also be entitled, after conclusion of the contract, to demand an advance payment or security deposit as described above, or to increase the advance payment or security deposit agreed in the contract up to the full agreed remuneration.

The customer may only set off or reduce claims against claims of the Hotel if the customer’s counterclaim is undisputed or has been legally established.

IV. Cancellation by the Customer (Cancellation, Withdrawal) / Non-Use of Hotel Services (No-Show)

The Hotel grants the customer the right to withdraw from the contract at any time. The following provisions shall apply:

a) If the customer has selected a booking without the possibility of modification or cancellation and, at the time of reservation, has accepted that the full price of the stay will be charged to the credit card, this amount is non-refundable.

b) In the event that the customer withdraws from the booking, the Hotel shall be entitled to reasonable compensation. The Hotel may, at its discretion, claim a fixed cancellation fee instead of calculating the compensation on an individual basis.

The fixed cancellation fee shall amount to 90% of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays with or without breakfast, 70% of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays with half board, and 60% of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays with full-board arrangements.

The guest shall be entitled to demonstrate that the Hotel suffered no loss or that the loss incurred by the Hotel was lower than the fixed compensation claimed.

c) The deduction for expenses saved by the Hotel is already taken into account in the above provision. The customer shall be entitled to demonstrate that the above claim did not arise or did not arise in the amount claimed.

d) If the Hotel calculates the compensation on an individual basis, the amount of the compensation shall not exceed the contractually agreed price for the services to be provided by the Hotel, less the value of the expenses saved by the Hotel and any amount the Hotel earns through alternative use of the hotel services.

The above provisions on compensation shall apply accordingly if the guest fails to use the booked room or booked services without notifying the Hotel in good time (no-show).

If the Hotel has granted the guest an option in the contract to withdraw from the contract without further consequences within a specified period, the Hotel shall have no claim to compensation. The timeliness of the withdrawal shall be determined by the date on which the withdrawal declaration is received by the Hotel. The customer must declare the withdrawal in text form.

V. Cancellation by the Hotel

If a free right of withdrawal for the customer has been agreed in writing within a specified period, the Hotel shall likewise be entitled to withdraw from the contract free of charge during this period if requests from other customers for the rooms contractually booked have been received and the customer, upon request by the Hotel, has not waived their right of withdrawal.

If an agreed advance payment or a payment required pursuant to Section III, Clause 5 is not made even after the expiry of a reasonable grace period set by the Hotel, the Hotel shall also be entitled to withdraw from the contract.

Furthermore, the Hotel shall be entitled to withdraw extraordinarily from the contract for objectively justified reasons, in particular if:

• force majeure or other circumstances for which the Hotel is not responsible make performance of the contract impossible;
• rooms are booked by providing misleading or false information concerning material facts (e.g. regarding the person of the customer or the purpose of the booking);
• the Hotel has reasonable grounds to assume that use of the Hotel’s services may endanger the smooth operation of the business, the safety or the public reputation of the Hotel, without such circumstances being attributable to the Hotel’s sphere of control or organisation;
• there is a violation of Section I, Clause 2.

In the event of a justified withdrawal by the Hotel, the customer shall have no claim for damages.

VI. Provision, Handover and Return of Rooms

The customer shall have no entitlement to the provision of a specific room.

Booked rooms shall be available to the customer no earlier than 4:00 p.m. on the agreed arrival date. The customer shall have no entitlement to earlier provision.

On the agreed departure date, the rooms must be vacated and returned to the Hotel no later than 10:00 a.m.

In the event of late vacation of the room/country house or apartment, the Hotel may charge 50% of the currently applicable daily accommodation rate for use beyond the contractual period until 6:00 p.m., and 100% thereafter.

This shall not give rise to any contractual claims on the part of the customer. The customer shall be entitled to prove that the Hotel incurred no claim for a usage fee or a substantially lower claim.

The Hotel reserves the right to prove and claim higher damages.

VII. Liability of the Hotel

The Hotel shall be liable for its contractual obligations with the diligence of a prudent businessperson.

As a general rule, the Hotel shall only be liable for statutory and contractual claims in cases of intentional or grossly negligent conduct.

By way of exception, the Hotel shall also be liable for slight negligence in the event of damage resulting from a breach of essential contractual obligations or from injury to life, body or health.

In the event of damage resulting from a breach of essential contractual obligations, liability shall be limited to foreseeable damage typical for the contract.

The Hotel shall not be liable for consequential or indirect damages.

Exclusions and limitations of liability shall apply equally to legal representatives and vicarious agents of the Hotel.

If disruptions or defects occur in the Hotel’s services, the Hotel shall, upon becoming aware of them or upon receiving an immediate complaint from the customer, endeavour to remedy them.

The customer is obliged to do what can reasonably be expected of them to remedy the disruption and minimise any potential damage, and to notify the Hotel immediately of any disruptions or damage.

For property brought into the Hotel, the Hotel shall be liable to the customer in accordance with the statutory provisions of Sections 701 et seq. BGB, up to a maximum amount of €3,500.00.

For cash, securities and valuables, the maximum amount shall be €800.00 instead of €3,500.00.

The use of the Hotel or room safe is generally recommended.

The provisions of Clause 1, sentences 2 to 5 above shall apply to any further liability of the Hotel.

If the customer is provided with a parking space in the Hotel car park, this shall not constitute a custody agreement.

The Hotel shall not be liable for the loss of or damage to motor vehicles or their contents parked or manoeuvred on the Hotel premises, except in cases of intent or gross negligence on the part of the Hotel. This shall also apply to the Hotel’s vicarious agents.

The provisions of Clause 1, sentences 2 to 5 above shall apply accordingly.

Messages, mail and goods shipments for customers shall be handled with the utmost care.

The Hotel shall undertake their delivery and safekeeping (in each case at the Hotel) and, upon request and for a fee, shall forward them to the customer.

The provisions of Clause 1, sentences 2 to 5 above shall apply accordingly.

VIII. Final Provisions

Amendments or additions to the contract, the acceptance of the application, or these General Terms and Conditions for hotel accommodation should be made in text form.

Unilateral amendments or additions by the customer shall be invalid.

The place of performance and payment shall be the registered office of the Hotel.

The exclusive place of jurisdiction — including for disputes concerning cheques and bills of exchange — in commercial transactions shall be Cologne.

If a contracting party meets the requirements of Section 38 (2) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) and has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the place of jurisdiction shall be the registered office of the Hotel.

German law shall apply exclusively.

Should individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions for hotel accommodation 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.

Addition from 2016

In accordance with statutory provisions, all accommodation invoices include a business surcharge of €3.50.

This includes €2.00 per day for the provision of a parking space and a flat fee of €1.00 per day for Wi-Fi.

Version: January 2016