Smoke in a Hotel room fine

Winty

Hi

I am staying in a hotel tonight in Manchester.
A sign in my room tells me that the Hotel is smoke free and If I smoke in my room I will be fined £100 for cleaning.

On a legal point can a company ie the hotel fine me. I know the Government or a Council but can the hotel?

thebiglad

Winty wrote: »

Hi

I am staying in a hotel tonight in Manchester.
A sign in my room tells me that the Hotel is smoke free and If I smoke in my room I will be fined £100 for cleaning.

On a legal point can a company ie the hotel fine me. I know the Government or a Council but can the hotel?

Of course they can - it is a cleaning charge. Similar to being sick in a taxi.

djk1000

I'm no expert on law, but my take on it is that yes they can apply this charge, they may call it a fine but it is just a charge, it is part of the contract you entered to stay in the hotel.

However, you formed the contract with the hotel before you got to the room, unless you were made aware of this charge at the time of signing in/paying up, then you'd have a good chance of fighting it. I can't remember the case name, but there was precedent for this when a couple had stuff stolen from their hotel room, the hotel had a sign in the room saying that they accepted no responsibility for theft, the judge said that the disclaimer would have to have been highlighted as they were checking in, as that was where the contract was formed.

drunkmonkey

If you need a smoke go to the jacks in your room, they usually have fans that get rid of the smell and there's no real fabrics for the smoke to stick to. It's always worked for me if I can't get a smoking room, a balcony or a different hotel.

dermot_sheehan

it's technically not a fine but a liquidated damages clause for breach of contract
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidated_damages