Business Law 101 / HOTEL KEEPERS LIABILITY

By Albert L. Kelley, Esq.

Hotelkeepers have responsibility for any property that has been specifically entrusted to the hotelkeepers care.  A hotelkeeper is anyone operating a transient rental housing facility such as a hotel, motel, or guesthouse.  For the purposes of this article, I will use the word hotel to refer to all transient housing.  These rules do not apply to boarding houses, apartments, or other more permanent living quarters.   Permanent residence is not created merely by length of time; a hotel guest may keep their status, even if they stay at the hotel for a period of months (This is as opposed to a tenant, lodger or boarder.  A tenant is one who has temporary use and occupation of another’s property; a lodger is one who rents a part of another person’s house; and a boarder is one who receives regular meals, either with or without housing).

The duty of the hotelkeeper lies only to the hotel guests.  These are the actual persons registered and staying at the hotel.  People who visit or stay at the hotel at the invitation of a guest are not considered guests of the hotel, and there is no duty as to them.  In most cases, the duty to the guest ends when the guest checks out, however, the duty may continue for an additional period in certain circumstances, such as when a guest checks out but leaves their luggage with the bellcap so they may go sightseeing.

Liability of the hotelkeeper does not apply to everything the guest brings into the hotel; it is limited to those items left in the hotelkeeper’s care.  As indicated above, this includes items left in the bellcap’s chambers, items left with the deskclerk, or items left with the hotel’s catering department, among others.  The key is that the item is specifically entrusted to the hotel, and the hotel has accepted the item and the responsibility for it.  Under Florida law, items left in a hotel room while a guest is out are not protected unless, before the loss, the guest provides the hotelkeeper an inventory of all items in his room, with their value, and allows the hotelkeeper to inspect the inventory.  Only then will the items in the room be covered, and then only up to $500.

In Florida, the hotel does not have an obligation to take any property for safekeeping; the duty to provide for the safety of belongings is with the guest.  If the hotel does accept property, Florida Statutes limit the hotel’s liability for loss to $1,000.00 so long as the hotel gives the guest a receipt for the property (stating the value) which states, in type large enough to be clearly noticeable, that the hotel was not liable for any loss exceeding $1,000 and was only liable for that amount if the loss was the proximate result of fault or negligence of the hotelkeeper.

The hotelkeeper obtains a lien on the baggage of the guest for the amount of the reasonable value of the accommodations.  If the guest has not paid the fee for the stay at the hotel, the hotel may retain possession of any property brought into the hotel, whether or not it is specifically left with the hotelkeeper.  If the guest fails to pay their bill, they may be ejected and the hotel may retain all property in the room.
Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law and labor law at St. Leo University.  He is also the author of “Basics of Business Law” and “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice.  If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.

 

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