Section 3 of the Hotel Proprietors Act 1963 stipulates:
“The proprietor of a hotel is under a duty to receive at the hotel as guests all persons who, whether or not under special contract, present themselves and require sleeping accommodation, food or drink and to provide them therewith, unless he has reasonable grounds of refusal.”
Section 4 goes on to provide:
“Where a person is received as a guest at a hotel, whether or not under special contract, the proprietor of the hotel is under a duty to take reasonable care of the person of the guest and to ensure that, for the purpose of personal use by the guest, the premises are as safe as reasonable care and skill can make them.“
This probably imposes a higher standard of care than the Occupiers Liability Act 1995.
Section 5 provides:
“Where sleeping accommodation is engaged for a person as a guest at a hotel, whether or not under special contract, the proprietor is under a duty to receive any property brought to the hotel by or on behalf of that person for which the proprietor has suitable accommodation”
Section 6 provides:
“Where sleeping accommodation is engaged for a person as a guest at a hotel, whether or not under special contract, the proprietor is liable for any damage to, or loss or destruction of, property received by him from that person or from some other person on his behalf.”
The Act provides that a motor vehicle is received when parked in accommodation provided for that purpose by the proprietor and the hotel staff is notified of that fact.
By implication other property is received without notice to the staff. (There are special rules for goods deposited with the hotel itself).
The Act limits liability for loss of property (except motor vehicles) to £100 but only if a notice pursuant to the First Schedule is prominently displayed at reception. The notice is in Irish and English and reads:
“NOTICE
| Damage to, or Loss or Destruction of, Guests’ Property | ||
| Under the Hotel Proprietors Act 1963 the proprietor of a hotel, as defined by that Act, may in certain circumstances be liable to make good damage to, or loss or destruction of, a guest’s property even though it was not due to any fault of the proprietor or staff of the hotel. | ||
| This liability, however— | ||
| ( a ) extends only to the property of persons who have engaged sleeping accommodation at the hotel; | ||
| ( b ) is limited to £100 in the case of any one person, except in the case of motor vehicles and of property which has been deposited, or offered for deposit, for safe custody. | ||
| A hotel, as defined by the Hotel Proprietors Act 1963, is an establishment which provides or holds itself out as providing sleeping accommodation, food and drink for reward for all comers without special contract and includes every establishment registered as a hotel with Bord Fáilte Éireann.” |