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E. Guests’ Illegal Acts
❊Explain the effects, if any, concerning the status of a would-be guest who registers at a hotel giv-
ing false information or who is involved in illegal activities.
F. Termination of a Guest-Innkeeper Relationship
❊Explain the factors that terminate the innkeeper-guest relationship.
❊Explain that guests are allowed a reasonable time after vacating the room during which they con-
tinue to qualify as guests. The length of this period (half an hour, one hour, or longer) depends on
the facts of each case.
G. Landlord-Tenant Relationship
❊Explain that the innkeeper’s responsibilities to a tenant differ from those owed to a guest.
■To be a guest, a person must be a transient; that is, his stay at the inn is temporary.
■If the person is staying on a permanent basis, he is a tenant.
■Whether a hotel patron is a tenant or a guest is determined from a number of factors.
•The terms of the contract between the parties.
•The more control and supervision retained by the hotel, the more likely the patron is a guest.
•The shorter the rate interval, the more likely the patron is a guest.
•The longer the occupancy, the greater the suggestion the patron is a tenant.
•Incidental services are offered, as are frequent services.
•Cooking facilities are more frequently associated with a landlord-tenant relationship than
innkeeper-guest.
•Hotel rooms virtually always are furnished; rooms intended as apartments are less likely to be
furnished.
■Explain that none of these factors alone determines the legal relationship; the more the
circumstances resemble a landlord-tenant relationship, the less likely an innkeeper-guest
relationship exists.
H. Answers to Case Example Questions
7-1-1. What one fact in this case, if changed, would have resulted in the plaintiff winning the
lawsuit?
If the plaintiff had been a guest at the hotel, rather than merely a patron at the bar, he would
7-2-1. Assume you are on the jury in this case. Based on the information available, would you
hold that the plaintiff was a guest? Why or why not?
If the student claims that the plaintiff was a trespasser, the basis would be that Howe asked
for a room for four oil men and Langford agreed to provide two rooms for four men,
7-3-1. Why do you think the court ruled that plaintiff was a guest?
Although the plaintiff was not registered at the hotel the night that the suitcase was stolen,
she was registered for a two-week stay beginning the following night. The likely reasons the
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7-3-2. What role did her intent to rent a room play in the determination that she was a
guest?
Plaintiff’s intention to rent a room was a significant factor in the court’s decision. To qualify
7-3-3. Suppose the plaintiff did not have reservations and the hotel was full, but she was allowed
to leave her bags for the day while she looked for a room elsewhere. Would the plaintiff
qualify as a guest?
7-4. How does this case expand our definition of a guest?
This case teaches that it is not necessary for a traveler to register at a hotel to qualify as a guest.
I. Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions
❊Review Questions
1. What role does registration play in the formation of the innkeeper-guest relationship?
2. Under what circumstances can a person who has not registered at a hotel be considered
a guest?
In some circumstances a person who has not registered at a hotel nonetheless qualifies as a
3. What is the significance of someone qualifying as a guest?
A hotel owes certain duties to guests that it does not owe to nonguests. The hotel’s liability
4. Does a person who is attending a half-day seminar at a hotel without registering for a
guest room qualify as a guest?
5. When does an innkeeper-guest relationship terminate?
The relationship ends when any of the following occurs: (1) the contracted time for the room
6. What are some factors that distinguish a guest from a tenant?
The main differences are the following: the duration of the stay (a tenant’s is longer); the
proprietor’s right to enter the room (the right to enter a guest’s room is greater than the
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❊Discussion Questions
1. Which of the following qualify as guests?
A. A patron of a hotel beauty shop who works in an office nearby.
B. A person who has a reservation at a hotel and enters the hotel’s hospitality van at the airport,
handing her luggage to the driver, who accepts it.
This person qualifies as a guest. She intends to utilize the hotel’s overnight accommoda-
C. A person who registers for a room for two weeks.
D. A resident of the area in which a hotel/resort is located who takes tennis lessons twice a week
from the professional on the hotel premises.
2. What is the significance of someone qualifying as a guest?
When someone qualifies as a guest the hotel has a duty of reasonable care. The hotel owes a
3. Under what circumstances might a guest’s illegal activity on hotel premises affect the li-
ability of the hotel for injuries to that guest?
Illegal activity committed by a plaintiff decreases the hotel’s liability only when the illegal act
4. The Mandarin Hotel provided rooms on a nightly, weekly, and monthly basis. Jim rents
a room by the week. What additional information would you need to determine whether
Jim is a guest or a tenant?
5. At what point in the hotel check-in process do you think a person should first be
deemed a guest? Why? How does your answer compare to the decisions in the cases in
this chapter?
This question can only be answered by looking at the facts and circumstances of each case. The
key, of course, is intent—intent on the part of the would-be guest to be received as a guest
In the three cases where this issue is raised—Langford v. Vandaveer, Adler v. Savoy Plaza,
Inc., and Freudenheim v. Eppley—the courts focused on intent. In Langford, the appellate
court reversed the lower court, holding that whether the plaintiff was a guest was a question
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❊Application Questions
1. Sarah is having her wedding reception at the local Holiday Inn. Her parents contracted
with the hotel for the use of a banquet room and catering facilities. Sarah and her then-
husband will leave immediately after the reception for their honeymoon in another
state. Some out-of-town guests will be staying at the hotel overnight. Who is a guest of
the hotel? Why do the others not qualify?
The only people in this example who qualify as guests are the out-of-town friends staying at
the hotel overnight. Sarah’s parents do not qualify as guests even though they contracted with
2. Fran flew from her home in Butte, Montana, to New York City. She planned to meet a
friend at the airport for dinner. While waiting for the friend, she noticed a hospitality
van from the hotel at which she had reservations for that evening. She gave her luggage
to the driver so she would not have to worry about her suitcase during dinner. Does
Fran qualify as a guest?
3. Mindy had reservations to stay at the Islander Inn for a week. After she was there for
three nights, she received a call advising that her father was quite ill. She immediately
left the Inn and returned home. For what period of time was Mindy a guest? When did
she cease being a guest?
4. Jerry made reservations at the Snowway Motel near a ski center. Before the trip, he hurt
his foot working out on a stair climbing machine and was unable to ski. He told his
friend, who decided to go skiing in Jerry’s stead. When the friend arrived at the hotel,
he explained the circumstances to the motel proprietor, who agreed to rent the room to
the friend. Was Jerry ever a guest of the motel? Why or why not? Does the friend qual-
ify as a guest? Why or why not?
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