Tourism Law in Europe

4 accessory services are concerned, to the supply of water, electricity, change of linen, etc., and as far as the complimentary services are concerned, to the required food regime, cleaning and ironing of clothes, the now disused use of the telephone, the garage service, the demand for on-demand television, videos, etc. Authoritative doctrine defines it as that "sui generis contract, of a complex, consensual and bilateral nature, under which one of the parties (the owner of the hostel or hotel) is obliged concerning to the other (guest or traveller) to cede the use of one or more rooms, to provide certain services, to the custody of his luggage and the resale of certain objects or industrial energies, in exchange for a consideration in money" 5 . It is a sui generis 6 , atypical 7 , complex contract “ en el que se combinan el arrendamiento de cosas (para la habitación o cuarto), arrendamiento de servicios (para los servicios personales) de obra (para comida) y depósito, para los efectos que introducen ” 8 , [Sentence of the Supreme Court (STS) of 20 June 1995], and, of a consensual nature, which is perfected by the mere consent between the parties (art. 1258 of the Civil Code, hereinafter, CC), without requiring any special formality (principle of freedom of form contained in article 1278 CC.), being concluded either verbally or in writing, although in the last decade it was common to reserve the form of the contract.) without requiring any special formality whatsoever (principle of freedom of form set out in article 1278 CC), 5 This specific definition is based on the one proposed by PÉREZ SERRANO, N. El contrato de hospedaje en su doble aspecto civil y mercantil , Madrid, 1950, pp. 84 et seq .; se recoge posteriormente por BADENAS CARPIO, J. M. “El contrato de hospedaje”, in Lecciones de Derecho del Turismo , Ricardo García Macho & Andrés Recalde Castells (Dir.), Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2000, p. 285 et seq .; and is followed by all subsequent doctrine. Among them and in alphabetical order: AMAT LLOMBART, P. La contratación en el sector turístico , Tirant lo blanch, Valencia, 2002, p. 322; AURIOLES MARTÍN, A. Introducción al Derecho Turístico , 2 th ed., Tecnos, Madrid, 2005, p. 78; REPRESA POLO, M.ª P. Responsabilidad de los establecimientos hoteleros por los efectos introducidos por los clientes , Ed. Editoriales de Derecho Reunidas, Madrid, 2004, p. 36. 6 For although it has similarities with other legal relationships – such as leasing, purchase and sale, deposit and service contracts – its characteristics and its purpose make it a separate and independent contract. Vid. BADENAS CARPIO, J. M. “El contrato de hospedaje”, op . cit ., p. 286. In turn, JORDANO BAREA, J. B. “Los contratos atípicos”, Revista General de Legislación y Jurisprudencia , no. 195, 1953, p. 60, criticises the nomenclature of sui generis contracts for atypical contracts as being inexpressive and lacking in scientific rigour. 7 In fact, BADENAS CARPIO, J. M. “El contrato de hospedaje”, op . cit ., p. 286, states that this lack of regulation of the tourist accommodation contract has meant that a large part of its content has been configured through uses, customs, regulatory rules and, fundamentally, through agreements between the parties; agreements which, due to their extensive repetition over time, have come to form, according to REPRESA POLO, M.ª P. Resp onsabilidad de los establecimientos hoteleros por los efectos introducidos por los clientes , op . cit ., pp. 47 et seq ., a kind of “social” typicity. 8 In which the lease of things (for room or bedroom), lease of services (for personal services), lease of work (for food) and deposit are combined, for the effects they introduce (author’s translation).