Accommodation and guest admission

An accommodation contract may be formed through a booking and its acceptance. It should nevertheless make clear which accommodation, price and services have been agreed before arrival. This includes check-in and check-out, meals, cleaning, additional services, pets, parking and the treatment of changes or an early departure.

For the business, clear documentation is more than a customer-service issue. It helps answer questions about cancellation, no-show, damage and outstanding amounts. House rules should be accessible and connected to the booking process. Restrictions that matter for the booking decision should not appear only on a notice after arrival.

The terms accommodation contract and guest admission contract are often used in similar ways. The content of the agreement and the actual service matter more than the document heading.

Section 111(1) of the Austrian Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act 1994 names the accommodation of guests as an activity for which a trade authorisation for the hospitality trade is generally required. The provision also covers serving food and dispensing beverages. Section 111(2) contains exemptions from the certificate-of-competence requirement for specific situations, including certain simply equipped businesses and accommodation with no more than ten guest beds under the conditions stated there. An exemption from the certificate of competence is not automatically a general exemption from every trade-law review.

Before opening, the operator should therefore assess the actual business concept, number of beds, additional services and responsible person together. Depending on the location and design, building, zoning, event or regional-law requirements may apply as well. A booking platform does not replace this assessment.

Particular care is needed for holiday apartments, private-room letting and short-term residential use. The accommodation check offers a first structured assessment, while the business documents checklist helps organise the material needed for a review.

Under section 5 of the Austrian Registration Act 1991, a guest staying in accommodation must register without delay and in any event within 24 hours of arrival. Registration requires the statutory data to be provided and its accuracy to be confirmed by signature. For foreign guests, the travel-document details specified by the Act must also be provided.

Under section 10 of the Registration Act 1991, the owner of the accommodation business or an authorised person must keep a guest directory. It must show the statutory guest data as well as arrival and departure. The records must be retained for seven years from the entry. The business therefore needs a reliable process covering arrival, departure, corrections and access to the records.

Registration data should not be mixed with contract data or a voluntary marketing consent. The system used is a business decision, but statutory data-security requirements and requests for inspection by the competent authorities must be taken into account.

Sections 970 et seq. of the Austrian Civil Code contain special rules for innkeepers who accommodate travellers. Under section 970, an innkeeper is liable as a custodian for property brought in by guests, subject to the statutory grounds for avoiding liability. Property is considered brought in if it is handed to the innkeeper or staff, or placed at a location designated or assigned for that purpose. Clear handover and safekeeping procedures reduce uncertainty.

For valuables, money and securities, section 970a of the Austrian Civil Code generally limits liability to 550 euros. The limit does not apply where the business accepted the property for safekeeping knowing its nature, or where the business or its staff caused the damage by fault. A general exclusion of liability by a sign has no legal effect under the same provision.

A loss or damage should be reported to the business immediately and documented with photographs, booking data and any handover records. Under section 970b, a claim arising from guest admission expires if the injured person does not notify the innkeeper without delay after learning of the damage. This special rule does not apply to property accepted for safekeeping. Section 970c also gives the persons covered by section 970 a right to retain brought-in property to secure certain accommodation, board and guest-expense claims.

A legal review rarely turns on one document. Operators should keep the business concept, trade and location documents, prices and booking terms, house rules, guest-directory process and internal incident procedure organised. If the use or premises have changed, the relevant approvals and plans belong in the business file as well.

Guests should preserve the booking confirmation, price information, messages with the business, photographs of the room or property, reports to reception and receipts. In a loss case, the timeline matters: when was the item last seen, where was it placed, when was the damage discovered and to whom was it reported?

If the line between accommodation, holiday letting, package travel and a liability case is unclear, the models should not be mixed. The pages on package travel and organisers and tourism contracts and liability address related questions.