Pohle D

General Terms and Conditions

I.    Scope

1. These Terms and Conditions apply to contracts for the letting of Apartment rooms for accommodation and to all other customer-related activities and services provided by the respective Pohle D apartment (hereinafter referred to as “the Apartment”). The term “Apartment Accommodation Contract” shall include and replace the following terms: lodging contract, guest admission contract, apartment contract, apartment room contract.
2. The customer’s own Terms and Conditions shall only apply if they have previously been expressly agreed in writing.

II.   Contract agreement, contracting parties and limitations

1. The contract becomes valid when the Apartment accepts the customer’s application. If the Apartment makes the customer a firm offer, then the contract takes effect with the customer’s acceptance of the Apartment’s offer. Room bookings should be confirmed in writing.
2. The contracting parties are the Apartment and the customer. If a third party has placed a reservation on behalf of the customer, the customer and the third party shall be jointly liable to the Apartment for all obligations arising from the Apartment Accommodation Contract, insofar as the third party shall provide the Apartment with an appropriate statement to this effect.
3. As a matter of principle, all claims made by the customer and/or the third party against the Apartment shall lapse 1 year after their declaration which initiates the normal limitation period in accordance with Article 199 paragraph 1 of the Czech Civil Code.
   Claims for compensation against the Apartment lapse at the latest after a term of 3 years from the dereliction of duty, dependent on the time of cognisance, and after a term of 10 years from the dereliction of duty, irrespective of the time of cognisance. These limitations do not apply …
   – in the event of claims arising from intent or gross negligence on the part of the Apartment and/or its vicarious agents.
   – in the event of damages caused by negligence and arising from damage to life, limb or health.
   In the event of material and financial damages caused by negligence, these limitation restrictions shall not apply in cases where a fundamental contractual duty has been breached. Fundamental contractual duties are duties, the fulfilment of which is substantial to the contract, and on which the customer may depend.

III.  Services, tariffs, payment, offsetting

1. The Apartment is obliged to make available the rooms that the customer has reserved and to provide the services that have been agreed.
2. The customer is obliged to pay the current or agreed Apartment prices to hire the room and any other services he has made use of. This also applies to services and expenses that he requests the Apartment to make over against third parties. The agreed prices shall be understood to include taxes and local duties at the rates applicable at the time the contract was agreed. This does not include local duties, such as visitors’ tax, which, in accordance with the respective local legislation, the guest is liable to pay personally. In the event of an increase, subsequent to the contract agreement, in the statutory rate of turnover tax or the new introduction, alteration or repeal of local taxes or duties relating to the subject of the agreement, then the contractually agreed price may also be increased proportionately. In cases of contracts with consumers, this shall only apply should the period between the agreement of the contract and its fulfilment exceed 4 months.
3. The Apartment is entitled to take into account increased prices for rooms or other Apartment services when determining whether or to what extent to concur with subsequent customer wishes for a reduction in the number of rooms or Apartment services and/or the length of period booked by the customer.
4. Apartment invoices without a payment date are payable in full within 10 calendar days of receipt. The Apartment is entitled to demand payments outstanding at any time, and to require immediate payment. In the event of delay in payment, the Apartment is entitled to demand the appropriate legal late payment interest of 9% above the current basic interest rate, or 5% above the basic interest rate in the case of legal transactions involving the customer. Furthermore, the Apartment can charge a fee of EUR 5.00 for every reminder on payment arrears that it sends. The Apartment reserves the right to provide evidence of entitlement to a higher claim to damages.
5. When the contract is agreed, or subsequently in accordance with the legal regulations governing package holidays, the Apartment is entitled to request an appropriate advance or security deposit. The amount of advance payment and the payment deadlines may be agreed in writing in the contract.
6. In individual substantiated cases, e.g. customer payment arrears or extension of the scope of the contract, the Apartment is entitled, even after the contract has been agreed, to demand an advance payment or a security deposit in terms of paragraph 5 above, or to increase the contractually agreed advance payment and/or security deposit up to the full payment amount due.
7. The customer can only offset or reduce the Apartment’s payment demands by means of an unchallenged legal claim.

IV.  Withdrawal of the customer (counter-order or cancellation) / failure to make use of the Apartment’s services (no show)

1. The customer’s withdrawal from a contract agreed with the Apartment is only possible if such right of withdrawal is expressly agreed in the contract, if some other statutory right of withdrawal applies, or if the Apartment expressly agrees to the cancellation of the contract. The agreement of a right to withdrawal and any such agreement to the cancellation of the contract should each be submitted in writing.
2. Provided that a date (optional) for withdrawal from the contract without penalty has been agreed between the customer and the Apartment, the customer may withdraw from the contract without penalty up to this date, without the Apartment making any claim for payment or compensation. The customer’s right to withdrawal is extinguished if he does not exercise his right to withdraw vis-à-vis the Apartment in writing by the agreed date.
3. If a right of withdrawal has not been agreed or has already expired, then no statutory right of withdrawal or cancellation shall be deemed to apply, and should the Apartment not agree to cancellation of the agreement, then the Apartment retains the right to claim the agreed payment even if the services have not been utilised. The Apartment is obliged to balance against its claim income from other rental made of the rooms and from expenses saved. If the rooms are not otherwise let, the Apartment is entitled to apply a flat rate reduction for expenditure saved. In such cases the customer is obligated to pay at least 90% of the contractually agreed price for overnight stays, with or without breakfast, and for package arrangements involving outside services, 70% for overnight stays with half board, and 60% for full board arrangements. The customer is entitled to provide evidence that such claims have not arisen or are unjustifiably high.
4. Insofar as the Apartment calculates its actual losses, the maximum amount of compensation shall equal the contractually agreed price of the services to be supplied by the Apartment less the value of the expenditure saved by the Apartment together with the amount that the Apartment acquires through the alternative use of the Apartment’s services.
5. The compensation regulations referred to above shall apply accordingly if the customer does not claim the room or services he has reserved without informing the Apartment of this in good time (no show).
6. 
   V. Withdrawal by the Apartment

1. Provided that the customer’s right to withdraw without penalty within a particular time period has been agreed in writing, the Apartment is also for its part entitled to withdraw without penalty within this time period if applications from other customers for rooms reserved under contract are to hand, and the customer does not waive his right to withdraw within 2 weeks of having been contacted to this end by the Apartment. In the event of the customer failing to respond within this deadline, the Apartment is entitled to withdraw.
2. The Apartment is also entitled to withdraw from the contract if an advance payment as agreed or as demanded in accordance with III. paragraph 5 is not made, even after an appropriate period of grace set by the Apartment has elapsed.
3. Furthermore, the Apartment is entitled to withdraw from the contract in exceptional circumstance, if so justified for well-founded reasons, especially in the event that …
   –   an act of God or other circumstances beyond the control of the Apartment make the fulfilment of the contract impossible;
   –   rooms are booked giving a misleading or a false description of essential facts (e.g. in respect of the customer, financial solvency or the purpose of the accommodation);
   –   the Apartment has good grounds for supposing that the use of the Apartment services might jeopardise the smooth running of the Apartment’s operations, or the safety or the reputation of the Apartment in the public eye in a way that is beyond the control or scope of the Apartment’s organisation;
   –   there is any breach of I. paragraph 2.
4. If the Apartment justifiably withdraws, the customer shall have no right to claim for compensation.

VI.  Provision, handing over and returning the room

1. Unless otherwise expressly agreed, the customer has no right to demand the provision of specific rooms.
2. The reserved rooms shall be available to the customer by 2:00 p.m. at the earliest on the agreed date of arrival. The customer has no right to demand that rooms should be provided earlier.
3. On the agreed date of departure, rooms must be vacated and at the Apartment’s disposal by 11:00 noon at the latest. If there is delay in vacating the room, the Apartment may invoice for its use beyond the contract period up to 6:00 p.m. at 50% of the current daily letting price, and at 100% from 6:00 p.m. onwards. Any contractual claims made by the customer cannot be justified on these grounds. The customer is at liberty to provide evidence that the Apartment had no claim or a significantly lower claim on payment for its use. Moreover, the Apartment reserves the right to establish proof of and charge for a higher rate of compensation.
   VII. The Apartment’s liability

1. The Apartment and its vicarious agents shall, in accordance with statutory provisions, be liable for damages arising from wilful or grossly negligent behaviour. The same shall apply to damages to life, limb or health resulting from negligence. In cases of property and financial damages caused by negligence, Pohle D and its vicarious agents shall only be liable if and when a fundamental contractual obligation been breached, however such liability shall be limited to foreseeable and contractually typical damages when the contract was entered into; fundamental contractual duties being such, the fulfilment of which is substantial to the contract, and on which the customer may depend. Should any faults or shortcomings arise in the services provided by the Apartment, the Apartment will make every effort to correct this if the customer has brought these to its attention or made his objections promptly known. The customer is obliged to make reasonable effort to rectify any fault or minimise any possible loss or damage, and to bring any faults or damage immediately to the Apartment’s attention.

VIII. Final provisions

1. Any amendments or additions to this contract, the acceptance proposal or these General Terms and Conditions for Apartment Accommodation Contracts must be made in writing. Any unilateral alterations or additions by the customer shall be void.
2. Place of fulfilment and place of payment shall be the same as the registered office of the respective Apartment.
3. The sole court of jurisdiction for commercial transactions, including cheque and currency disputes, shall be Cologne. Insofar as a contracting party fulfils the requirements of Article 38 paragraph 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) and has no general place of jurisdiction within Czech, the Apartment’s registered office shall act as the place of legal jurisdiction.
4. Czech law alone shall apply. The UN Sales Convention and conflict of law legislation are hereby precluded from applying.
5. In the event of individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions for Apartment Accommodation Contracts being or becoming ineffective or void, the validity of the remaining provisions hereof shall in no way be affected. Otherwise, statutory provisions shall apply.    

Last revision: May 2015