What is allowed in the hotel room – and what is not
Hotel rooms are temporary mini-accommodations. Travelers pay a daily rate and live in it. But that doesn’t mean they’re allowed to do everything. Some behaviors are better to refrain from, and others can actually be really annoying.
If you want to smoke a cigarette following breakfast, you should inquire beforehand whether this is allowed. This is not automatically the case on the balcony either
Quelle: Getty Images/Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd
Einto a clean bed with a bathroom for money – that’s usually what a hotel offers. Of course there are different designs of bed and wet room as well as service levels, but the principle is always the same. However, hotel guests should not think that just because they have rented the room, they can afford everything like at home.
It starts with such basic things as a non-smoking room. So it goes without saying that there is no smoke in the room. But what regarding the terrace or balcony in front of it? Friends of the fag are better off asking at reception whether smoking is allowed there. Finally, the neighboring rooms might also be reserved for non-smokers. In such a case, you would disturb the guest next door.
A very sensitive issue concerns the food in the room. Most book breakfast or half board. Does that also mean that a snack at lunchtime or in the evening is allowed in your own four walls? If there is a minibar, you can store your own food in it. But that is not the purpose of a minibar. Instead, their content is intended for the small hunger and thirst – of course for a fee in favor of the hostel.
A hotel room is not a holiday home – other rules apply when eating food
Those: Getty Images / Sol de Zuasnabar Brebbia
Whole meals that were even ordered from a delivery service are really a no-go. A hotel can therefore turn away the pizza delivery man. If there is a dispute with the guest because of this, the hotelier can refer to the house rules, i.e. the small print in which he has determined who is allowed to sleep in his hostel and under what conditions.
Nor is it appropriate to take a croissant or a sandwich with you from the breakfast buffet. The argument that you paid for it doesn’t work. After all, you can eat it in the breakfast room, but it’s not intended as a lunchtime snack.
How it is in the hotel with visiting guests
Another matter where domiciliary rights apply is the visit of guests. It can always happen that you have friends at your destination or meet new ones. However, no hotelier appreciates strangers visiting their rooms.
Even if you just want to quickly show your friends the beautiful interior, you should ask at reception. This is not only polite, but also serves to ensure safety. Hostels always try to keep track of who is strolling down the hallways to prevent theft.
If the visit lasts longer, it is essential to ask for the hotel’s consent. The unannounced overnight stay of another guest is definitely excluded. Anyone who has booked for two cannot allow a third person to stay overnight without permission. Not only is this fraud at the hotel, it also violates reporting laws in most countries.
These souvenirs are considered theft
The soap, the pen, the notepad – they are almost disposable items, but with the hotel logo they become popular souvenirs. Small and light, they disappear in the suitcase. Hardly anyone is aware that this is theft.
“From a legal point of view, you are not allowed to take anything with you from hotel rooms,” says the legal portal of the German Lawyers’ Association (DAV). This is justified by the fact that the equipment of the room is not part of the booking. The things in the hotel room do not belong to the guest, but he has only acquired the right to use them on site.
In the case of opened cosmetic bottles and shampoos, the solution is very obvious: just ask if you can take them with you. They can no longer be reused in the hotel for reasons of hygiene.
Those who prefer to take unopened or new items with them – from pens to bathrobes – can usually buy these souvenirs in the hotel shop. Then the hotel guest not only has the right to use them, but they belong to him and he can do whatever he wants with them.
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