General Terms and Conditions for the accommodation contract with Salzquartier Hostel, Bahnhofstraße 7, 21337 Lüneburg, Germany
I. Scope of application
1. These general terms and conditions are valid for contracts regarding rental provision of guest rooms or beds in our house for accommodation as well as all other goods and services rendered by the hostel for the customer.
2. Subletting or reletting of the rooms as well as usage for other purposes than accommodation require previous written approval by the hostel.
3. The customer’s general terms and conditions shall only apply, if previously expressly agreed with the hostel in written form.
II. Conclusion of contract, contracting parties, statute of limitations
1. The contract shall come into effect with the hostel’s written confirmation to the guest.
2. Contracting parties are the hostel and the customer. In case the booking has been made by a third party, that party will be liable to the hostel together with the customer as joint and several debtor for all liabilities from the hostel accommodation contract, as long as the hostel holds a corresponding declaration of the third party.
3. A booking shall only be possible for up to 6 persons and up to 7 nights. The limitation to 6 persons, 7 nights applies also to the total of interconnected individual bookings.
4. Any claims against the hostel shall generally be time-barred one year after the commencement of the general statute of limitations dependent upon knowledge of § 199, para. 1 German Civil Code. Irrespective of this knowledge, all claims for damage become time-barred within five years. Reduced limitation periods do not apply in the case of wilful or grossly negligent conduct on the part of the hostel.
III. Services, prices, payments, set-off
1. The hostel is obligated to hold the rooms booked by the customer and to render the services agreed upon.
2. The customer is obligated to pay the applicable or agreed hostel prices for rooms or beds provided and for other services used. This shall also apply to the hostel’s services and expenses to third parties caused by the customer.
3. Payment shall be done upon arrival the latest or if agreed hereupon to transfer the amount prior to arrival (receipt of money 3 days prior to arrival at the latest). The agreed prices include value added tax at the currently valid rate. In case the period of time between conclusion and fulfilment of the contract exceeds four months and the hostel’s prices for general services in question increase within this period, the hostel is entitled to implement a reasonable increase in the contractually agreed price, however 5% at the most.
4. Moreover, the Hostel may change prices if the customer later wishes to make changes in the number of reserved rooms or beds, the hostel’s services, or the length of guests’ stay and the hostel consents to such changes.
5. Hostel invoices not showing a due date are payable and due in full within ten days of receipt. The hostel shall be entitled to make accruals receivable due and payable at any time and to demand payment without undue delay. With default of payment, the hostel shall be entitled to demand the applicable default interest in the amount of currently 9 percent or, with legal transactions with a consumer, in the amount of 5 percent above the base interest rate. The hostel reserves the right to prove greater damage.
6. The hostel is entitled to demand appropriate advance payment or security deposit on conclusion of the contract or thereafter. The amount of the advance payment and payment dates are to be agreed upon in written form.
7. The customer may only set off or reduce a claim by the hostel with a claim, which is undisputed or decided with final, res judicata effect.
IV. Withdrawal by the customer (withdrawal, cancellation, no show)
1. If the customer withdraws from the contract or does not use the rooms held available, and no other agreement has been made, the customer is obligated to pay cancellation fees as follows:
Cancellation up to 30 days prior to arrival: free of charge
Cancellation up to 7 days prior to arrival: 50% of the value of contract
Cancellation up to 1 day prior to arrival: 75% of the value of contract
Thereafter and in the case of a no show: 100% of the value of contract for the first night and 75% for the following nights
2. In the case of partial cancellations (e.g. reduced number of persons, shorter stay) the cancellation fee shall become due only for the affected part and scope of the contract. Single beds cannot be cancelled if the guest has booked a complete room.
3. Please note that cancellations can only be accepted in a written form.
V. Withdrawal by the hostel
1. To the extent that a right of cost-free cancellation within a certain period was agreed in text form for the customer, the hostel is also entitled to cancel the contract during that period if there are inquiries from other customers regarding the contractually reserved rooms or beds and the customer does not waive his right of rescission upon inquiry thereof by the hostel.
2. The hostel is entitled to withdraw from the contract if an agreed advance payment or an advance payment demanded pursuant to item III, no. 6 is not made even after a reasonable grace period set by the hostel.
3. Furthermore, the hostel is justified to terminate the contract for materially justifiable reasons (even if the customer has already made use of parts of the service), for example if
• force majeure or other circumstances beyond the hostel‘s control make fulfilment of the contract impossible;
• rooms are booked on the basis of misleading information or incorrect communication of important facts, e.g. such as the identity or age of the customer or the purpose;
• rooms are booked for more than 6 guests and longer than 7 consecutive nights;
• the hostel has justified reason to assume that usage of the hostel’s services will endanger smooth operation of day-to-day business, safety or the hostel’s reputation in public, without this being attributable to the domain and organization of the hostel. Among them are in particular, however not exclusively, bookings for:
– school classes and youth groups;
– stag or hen‘s nights;
– customers with any kind of animal;
– persons with racist, antisemitic, radical right-wing or left-wing or other violent-prone extremist ideologies;
– the purpose of using sexual services;
– persons addicted to narcotics, under the influence of alcohol or obviously insane for other reasons;
• the customer has treated the hostel’s possessions carelessly and has caused damage either intentionally or as a result of negligence;
• there is an infringement of item I no. 2.
4. The customer is not entitled to compensation in the case of justifiable withdrawal by the hostel.
VI. Provision, handover and restitution of rooms
1. The customer has no claim to provision of specific rooms.
2. Booked rooms are available to the customer starting at 4 p.m. on the agreed arrival date. The customer does not have the right to earlier availability.
3. The customer shall be obliged to report immediately any noticed damages in the provided room, otherwise he will be under the obligation of proofing that he did not cause the damage.
4. Rooms must be vacated and made available to the hostel no later than 11 a.m. on the agreed departure date. Thereafter the hostel is entitled to charge 50% of the full accommodation price (list price) until 6 p.m. for delayed clearing of the room and the contract exceeding usage, from 6 p.m. onwards 100%. Contractual claims of the customer are not applicable in this context.
5. With regard to group bookings, in the event of damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence please appreciate that, should the causer not be found, the group will have to be made jointly and severally liable.
6. The hostel shall be entitled to charge compensation for damages to the rooms or beds, if its use was contrary to the contract and special cleaning was needed because of unusual or wanton pollution.
VII. Liability of the hostel
1. The hostel is liable to exercise the duty of care of an ordinary merchant with the performance of its obligations arising from the contract. Claims of the customer for reimbursement of damages are precluded except for such which result from injury to life, body or health and the hostel is responsible for the breach of the obligation, other damage which is caused from an intentional or grossly negligent breach of obligation and damage which is caused from an intentional or negligent breach of obligations of the hostel which are typical for the contract. A breach of obligation of the hostel is deemed to be the equivalent to a breach of a statutory representative or employee. Should disruptions or defects in the performance of the hostel occur, the hostel shall act to remedy such upon knowledge thereof or upon objection without undue delay by the customer. The customer shall be obliged to undertake actions reasonable for him to eliminate the disruption and to keep any possible damage at a minimum. The customer can derive no right to compensation or reduced payment from such disruptions.
2. The customer is aware that a specialty of the accommodation facility of the hostel is among other things the letting of shared rooms, where beds are separately sold to customers. Customers in shared rooms accept that eventually other guests unknown to the customer himself have access to the room. If a customer has not booked all beds in a shared room, it is to be expected that other customers might reserve and use the remaining beds.
The hostel offers the safekeeping of valuables and has placed sufficient lockers for other objects in each shared room. The hostel recommends that guests utilize these possibilities.
3. If the deposited valuables are kept safe by the hostel and the guests‘ belongings are locked in the locker, the hostel is liable to the customer in accordance with statutory regulations and the respective sum insured in the hostel‘s business liabilty insurance; otherwise the hostel is indemnified against all liabilty except for intent and gross neglience.
4. The hostel assumes no liability for loss or theft from the luggage room or generally accessible areas of the hostel.
5. The hostel assumes no liability for loss of or damage to bicycles, bikes, mopeds and motor vehicles parked or manoeuvred on the hostel’s property, nor the contents thereof.
6. Liability claims expire unless the customer notifies the hostel immediately after gaining knowledge of the loss, destruction, or damage (§ 703 German Civil Code).
VIII. Data Protection, Handling of Personal Data
1. Personal data (e.g. name, address, banking details, phone number) is to be kept within statutory periods as part of our business correspondence for 6 years and invoices for 10 years, respectively. This also applies to e-mails and data base entries.
2. They are archived in regular intervals in order to make sure that the storage obligations are fulfilled, however that the number of persons having access to these data is kept as small as possible.
3. For statistics data is sent to the Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt) on a monthly basis, which is required by law. That is the number of guests, the total nights stayed and their place of residence.
4. In no event will such data be misused or passed on to third parties.
IX. Protection of Privacy
1. When booking a bed in a shared room, guests share the room with third persons unknown to them. Alternatively customers can book a private room. Customers are obliged to consider this before and when making a booking.
2. During occupancy the staff may enter the dorm rooms daily between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in order to remove waste and, if possible, to sweep and wipe the floor. In private rooms please let us know if you wish your room to be cleaned during your stay.
3. Salzquartier does not have any en-suite rooms. There is one shared bathrooms for women and one for men on each floor. Showers are lockable.
X. Final provisions
1. Changes or additions to the contract, the acceptance of a request or these General Terms and Conditions for the accommodation in the hostel can only be implemented by the customer in written form and have to be confirmed in writing by the hostel. Unilateral amendments by the customer are invalid.
2. Performance and payments are carried out at the domicile of the hostel.
3. Exclusive place of jurisdiction – also relating to disputes in connection with cheques and bills of exchange – in business dealings is the domicile of the hostel. Provided that a contractual partner complies with the requirements of section 38 para. 2 German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) and has no general place of jurisdiction within Germany, the domicile of the hostel is to be regarded as the place of jurisdiction.
4. German law applies. The UN Sales Convention and the Law of Conflicts is excluded.
5. In case some regulations of these General Terms and Conditions are or become invalid or void for the accommodation in the hostel, the validity of the other clauses is not effected. For the rest, standard statutory regulations shall apply.
6. In case of any discrepancy between the English and German versions of these General Terms and Conditions, the German version shall have legal priority.
Valid as of September 2018