General Terms and Conditions
for Accommodation Contracts – Hotel Sonne, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Convenience translation. In case of doubt, the German version prevails.
I. Scope of application
1. These Terms and Conditions apply to accommodation contracts and to all further services and deliveries provided by the hotel to the guest.
2. Deviating provisions, including those contained in the general terms and conditions of the guest or the customer, do not apply unless expressly acknowledged by the hotel in text form.
II. Conclusion of contract, contracting parties
1. Upon a booking request by the guest, an accommodation contract (hereinafter “the contract”) is concluded between the hotel (Lars Winterkamp, Hotel Sonne) and the guest once the hotel has issued a corresponding booking confirmation.
2. The contracting parties are the hotel and the guest. If a third party makes the booking on behalf of the guest, that party is jointly and severally liable with the guest towards the hotel as customer for all obligations arising from the contract, provided the hotel has received a corresponding declaration from the customer. Irrespective of this, every customer is obliged to pass on all booking-relevant information, in particular these Terms and Conditions, to the guest.
3. Subletting or re-letting of the rooms provided, and their use for purposes other than accommodation, require the prior consent of the hotel in text form.
III. Services, prices, payment, set-off
1. The hotel is obliged to keep available the rooms booked by the guest in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and to provide the agreed services.
2. The guest is obliged to pay the applicable or agreed prices of the hotel for the provision of the room and for further services used. This also applies to services and expenses of the hotel towards third parties that were arranged by the guest or the customer. The agreed prices include the respective statutory value added tax. If more than four months pass between conclusion of the contract and the guest’s arrival, and if after conclusion of the contract the statutory value added tax or any applicable local taxes and charges increase, or new local taxes and charges are introduced, the hotel reserves the right to increase the agreed prices by the amount of the increase in value added tax or local taxes and charges, or by the amount of the newly introduced local taxes and charges.
3. The hotel may make its consent to a reduction, requested by the guest after conclusion of the contract, in the number of rooms booked, in the hotel’s services or in the guest’s length of stay conditional upon an increase in the price for the rooms and/or other services of the hotel.
4. Invoices from the hotel are due for payment immediately upon receipt without deduction. The hotel may demand immediate payment of due claims from the guest at any time. The guest falls into default at the latest if payment is not made within 30 days of the due date and receipt of an invoice; with regard to a guest who is a consumer, this applies only if the invoice specifically draws attention to these consequences. For each reminder sent after default has occurred, the hotel may charge a reminder fee of € 5.00. The guest remains free to prove that a lower damage has been incurred.
5. The hotel is entitled to demand from the guest, at the time of conclusion of the contract, an appropriate advance payment or security in the form of a credit card guarantee, a deposit or similar. The amount of the advance payment and the payment dates may be agreed in the contract in text form.
6. In justified cases, e.g. arrears of payment by the guest or an extension of the scope of the contract, the hotel is entitled, even after conclusion of the contract and until the beginning of the stay, to demand an advance payment or security as set out in paragraph 5 above, or an increase of the advance payment or security agreed in the contract up to the full agreed remuneration.
7. The hotel is further entitled, at the beginning of and during the stay, to demand from the guest an appropriate advance payment or security as set out in paragraph 5 above for existing and future claims arising from the contract, insofar as such payment has not already been made pursuant to paragraph 5 and/or paragraph 6 above.
8. The guest may only set off claims against a claim of the hotel if they are undisputed or have been finally established by a court.
IV. Withdrawal by the guest, cancellation
1. The hotel grants the guest the right to withdraw from the contract at any time. The following provisions apply:
a) In the event of the guest’s withdrawal from the booking, the hotel is entitled to appropriate compensation.
b) Instead of a specifically calculated compensation, the hotel may choose to claim damages in the form of a flat-rate compensation. The flat-rate compensation is 80 % of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays with breakfast. The guest is free to prove that the hotel has suffered no damage or that the damage suffered is lower than the flat-rate compensation claimed.
c) If the hotel calculates the compensation specifically, the amount of compensation is at most the contractually agreed price for the service to be provided by the hotel, less the value of the expenses saved by the hotel and less what the hotel earns by otherwise using the hotel services.
2. The above provisions on compensation apply accordingly if the guest does not make use of the booked room or the booked services without informing the hotel in good time.
3. If the hotel has granted the guest in the contract an option to withdraw from the contract within a certain period without further legal consequences, the hotel has no claim to compensation. Decisive for the timeliness of the withdrawal is its receipt by the hotel. The guest must declare the withdrawal in text form.
V. Withdrawal by the hotel
1. If the guest has been granted a cost-free right of withdrawal pursuant to Section IV paragraph 3, the hotel is likewise entitled to withdraw from the contract within the agreed period if enquiries from other guests for the booked rooms exist and the guest, upon enquiry by the hotel, does not waive his or her cost-free right of withdrawal pursuant to Section IV paragraph 3.
2. If an agreed advance payment or security, or one demanded pursuant to Section III paragraph 5 and/or 6 above, is not made even after expiry of a reasonable grace period set by the hotel, the hotel is likewise entitled to withdraw from the contract.
3. The hotel is further entitled to withdraw from the contract, in particular if
• force majeure or other circumstances for which the hotel is not responsible make performance of the contract impossible;
• rooms are booked under misleading or false statements of material facts, e.g. regarding the identity of the guest or the purpose of the stay;
• the hotel has reasonable grounds to assume that use of the hotel services may jeopardise the smooth running of business, the security or the public reputation of the hotel, without this being attributable to the hotel’s sphere of control or organisation;
• unauthorised subletting or re-letting within the meaning of Section II paragraph 3 occurs;
• a case under Section VI paragraph 3 applies;
• the hotel becomes aware of circumstances indicating that the guest’s financial situation has deteriorated significantly after conclusion of the contract, in particular if the guest fails to settle due claims of the hotel or provides no sufficient security, so that the hotel’s payment claims appear endangered;
• the guest has filed a petition for the opening of insolvency proceedings over his or her assets, has given a statement of assets pursuant to Section 802c of the German Code of Civil Procedure, has initiated an out-of-court debt settlement procedure or has ceased making payments;
• insolvency proceedings are opened over the guest’s assets or the opening is rejected for lack of assets.
4. The hotel must inform the guest of the exercise of the right of withdrawal without undue delay in text form.
5. In the aforementioned cases of withdrawal, the guest has no claim to damages.
VI. Arrival and departure
1. The guest acquires no claim to the provision of specific rooms unless the hotel has confirmed the provision of specific rooms in text form.
2. Booked rooms are available to the guest from 3:00 p.m. on the agreed day of arrival. The guest has no claim to earlier availability.
3. Booked rooms must be taken up by the guest by 6:00 p.m. at the latest on the agreed day of arrival. Unless a later arrival time has been expressly agreed, the hotel has the right to allocate booked rooms to others after 6:00 p.m., without the guest being entitled to claim compensation. The hotel has a right of withdrawal in this respect.
4. On the agreed day of departure, the rooms must be vacated and made available to the hotel by 11:00 a.m. at the latest. After that time, the hotel may, in addition to any further damage incurred, charge the daily room rate for additional use of the room until 6:00 p.m., and from 6:00 p.m. 100 % of the full applicable room rate. The guest is free to prove to the hotel that no damage, or a significantly lower damage, has been incurred.
VII. Liability of the hotel, limitation
1. Should disruptions or defects occur in the hotel’s services, the hotel will endeavour to remedy them upon the guest’s prompt complaint. If the guest culpably fails to notify the hotel of a defect, no claim to a reduction of the contractually agreed remuneration arises.
2. The hotel is liable in accordance with the statutory provisions for all damage resulting from injury to life, body or health, as well as in the event the hotel has assumed a guarantee and in the case of fraudulently concealed defects.
3. For all other damage not covered by Section VII paragraph 2 and caused by slightly negligent conduct of the hotel, its legal representatives or its vicarious agents, the hotel is liable only for the breach of an essential contractual obligation, i.e. an obligation whose fulfilment is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the contract and on whose observance the guest may regularly rely. In these cases, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract. Liability for intent and gross negligence, and liability under the Product Liability Act, remain unaffected.
4. The above limitations of liability apply to all claims for damages irrespective of their legal basis, including claims in tort. The above limitations and exclusions of liability also apply to any claims for damages by a guest against employees or vicarious agents of the hotel. They do not apply to liability for a defect after assumption of a guarantee for the quality of an item or work, to fraudulently concealed defects, or to personal injury. Liability for intent and gross negligence, and liability under the Product Liability Act, remain unaffected.
5. For items brought in, the hotel is liable to the guest in accordance with the statutory provisions, i.e. up to one hundred times the accommodation price, but at most up to € 3,500.00. For valuables (cash, jewellery, etc.), this liability is limited to € 800.00. The hotel recommends making use of the option to store items in the central hotel safe.
6. Where the guest is provided with a parking space in the hotel garage or in a hotel car park, even for a fee, no contract of safekeeping is thereby concluded. The hotel has no duty of supervision. The hotel is not liable for loss of or damage to motor vehicles parked or manoeuvred on the hotel premises or their contents, unless the hotel, its legal representatives or its vicarious agents are responsible for intent or gross negligence. In this case, the damage must be reported to the hotel at the latest when leaving the hotel premises.
7. Wake-up calls are carried out by the hotel with the greatest care. Claims for damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intent, are excluded.
8. Messages, mail and parcels for guests are handled with care. The hotel undertakes delivery, storage and – upon request and for a fee – forwarding of the same, and upon request also of lost property. Claims for damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intent, are excluded. After a storage period of one month at the latest, the hotel is entitled to hand over the aforementioned items to the local lost property office, charging an appropriate fee.
9. Claims for damages by the guest become time-barred after two years at the latest from the time at which the guest becomes aware of the damage, or, irrespective of such awareness, after three years at the latest from the time of the damaging event. This does not apply to liability for damage resulting from injury to life, body or health, or to other damage based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the hotel, a legal representative or a vicarious agent of the hotel.
VIII. Final provisions
1. Amendments or additions to the contract, the acceptance of the offer or these Terms and Conditions should be made in text form. Unilateral amendments or additions by the guest are invalid.
2. The place of performance and payment is the location of the hotel.
3. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
4. Should individual provisions of these Terms and Conditions be or become invalid or void, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. Otherwise, the statutory provisions apply.
5. In case of doubt, the German version of these Terms and Conditions prevails over this English translation.
Status: October 2026