You were disappointed by the quality of the hotel service? The number of stars did not correspond to the standard you paid for? Make a complaint - at the outset of the holiday period the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection reminds hotel clients of their rights

UOKiK carried out a pilot enquiry into the operations of 17 hotels and boarding houses in the Małopolskie and Podkarpackie provinces. Its aim was to establish whether the businesses used misleading advertising and to check if they had the documents confirming that the facilities fulfilled the necessary requirements. As a result, the President of the Office launched proceedings concerning practices violating collective consumer interests against six of the businesses.

The irregularities concerned misleading consumers as to the type and category of the facilities. Some businesses called themselves a “hotel” or “boarding house” without the permission to do so. The law determines in detail the requirements that must be met for a facility to be called a hotel or a boarding house, which concern the equipment, the scope of the services provided (including catering services), the size of the rooms, etc. A facility is classified under the particular type and category by the appropriate local authority body (the province marshal), who checks if the businesses comply with the necessary requirements.

Consumers may choose among eight types of hotel facilities, including motels and camping sites. If they decide to stay in a hotel or a boarding house, they often have to pay higher prices. Therefore, they have the right to expect a service of a certain standard. Calling their facilities hotels or boarding houses illegally, the businesses mislead their consumers as to the quality of the services they offered.

What is particularly concerning is the fact that in many cases the businesses were unaware that their practices were illegal. All the businesses whose practices were questioned declared readiness to cooperate with UOKiK and they are now in the process of voluntarily removing the irregularities. The Office is planning further actions aimed at monitoring the market.

At the same time UOKiK reminds consumers that every hotel and boarding house should display the following information in a visible place:

• Business name and address of the service provider,
• Type and category of the facility,
• Scope of services provided along with their basic prices,
• Information on the facility’s adaptation to the disabled persons’ needs.

Before you go on a journey, it is worth asking the organisers or the service providers themselves for documents confirming that the hotel or boarding house has been classified under the specified type and category. The requirements to be fulfilled by hotel facilities are specified in detail in the law.

If the hotel turns out not to fulfil necessary requirements, you may make a claim. If you signed the contract with a travel agent, it is the agent who is liable for failure to perform or undue performance of the contract. In such a case you should complain to the agent. If, however, you entered into the contract directly with the hotel or boarding house, you must complain to the owner of the facility.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWNpZWxvY2hAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE]

UOKiK Kraków Branch
Pl. Szczepański 5, 31-011 Kraków
Tel. (+48 12) 422 96 16, 421 75 79
faks (+48 12) 421 75 79, 421 74 98
E-mail: [SCODE]a3Jha293QHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]