Lodging: what the host owes the guest and the guest owes the host

It is Chapter VIII of Title II of Book Five of the Civil Code of 2020, Articles 1364 to 1366: the contract by which someone provides lodging in exchange for a retribution, and each party’s obligations.

Guests and hosts under a lodging contract governed by the Puerto Rico Civil Code.

• That the host bind itself to provide lodging and the guest to pay a retribution: that is Article 1364’s definition.Verified against the official source
• From the host: a clean room, with facilities for washing and normal services.Verified against the official source
• From the guest: to inform the host of items of considerable value brought into the premises or handed over on deposit.Verified against the official source
• From the guest: to observe the warnings the host has given on how to protect the goods brought in.Verified against the official source

• A record of what was handed to the host on deposit, because Article 1365(b) contemplates precisely that handover.
• A record of having declared items of considerable value: it is a guest obligation under Article 1366(d).

1. 1

   Step 1: What lodging is

   Article 1364: the host binds itself to provide lodging to the guest and the guest to pay a retribution. And the same article adds that lodging may include the provision of food and other services.

2. 2

   Step 2: A clean room with services

   Article 1365(a): provide the guest with a clean room, with facilities for washing and normal services. It is the host’s first obligation, and it is written in those terms.

3. 3

   Step 3: Keeping or admitting what the guest brings

   Subsection (b) requires receiving on deposit, or allowing the guest to bring into the premises they occupy, money, jewels, documents and other goods. The duty covers both routes: deposit and mere bringing in.

4. 4

   Step 4: The three exceptions to that duty

   The same subsection writes them: except where these are excessively valuable or too bulky for the capacity of the premises, or where there is any other just cause. The Code defines none of the three, and this guide sets no measure for them.

5. 5

   Step 5: Measures for life, health and goods

   Subsection (c): take measures to secure the guest’s life and health, as well as the goods the guest brings into the lodging. It is a duty to take measures; the article fixes no amount and no liability cap, and this guide publishes none.

6. 6

   Step 6: Privacy and discretion

   Subsection (d), the least known: respect the guest’s privacy and keep discretion as to the information it obtains by reason of the lodging. The discretion covers information obtained by reason of the lodging, not only what happens inside the room.

7. 7

   Step 7: What the guest owes: paying and caring

   Article 1366(a) and (b): pay the agreed retribution, and use the premises and the furniture and fittings installed there with the care one habitually uses on one’s own goods.

8. 8

   Step 8: Orderly conduct and the rules of the premises

   Subsection (c): observe orderly conduct in conformity with the rules of the premises. The article refers to those rules without saying what they are or what limits they have.

9. 9

   Step 9: Declaring valuables and following the warnings

   Subsections (d) and (e): inform the host of items of considerable value brought into the premises or handed over on deposit; and observe the warnings the host has given on how to protect the goods brought in. Both are guest obligations, and it is worth performing them in writing.

10. 10

    Step 10: What this chapter does not regulate

    There are no rules here on check-in and check-out times, cancellations, refunds or liability caps. Nor are there rates: the retribution is whatever was agreed. Whatever governs endorsed lodgings or short-term rentals lives in tourism and consumer legislation we did not read for this guide.

Lodging is contracted directly with the host; the Code names no agency. Consumer claims over lodging services may have their own administrative forum under statutes we did not read here, and contract disputes are decided by the Court of First Instance.

• As the guest, not declaring items of considerable value: Article 1366(d) makes it their obligation.
• As the guest, ignoring the warnings the host gave on how to protect the goods.
• As the host, flatly refusing to receive on deposit what the guest brings: the duty has three exceptions and you must be in one of them.
• As the host, disclosing information obtained by reason of the lodging.
• Assuming the Code fixes a maximum amount for which the host answers: it fixes none.
• Looking in this chapter for cancellation or refund rules.
• Confusing lodging with a housing lease, which has its own chapter.
• Confusing it with student housing, which has its own special statute.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov