In Italian hotels and restaurants, guests are not obliged to serve tap water. Photo is symbolic: Getty Images
She sued the five-star hotel because she was not served tap water
A tourist sued a luxury hotel in the Dolomites because, despite numerous requests, she was not served tap water during her stay, but only paid bottled water. Due to financial damage and emotional distress, she demanded 2,700 euros in compensation. She lost in court.
The tourist, whose origin was not mentioned in the Italian media, spent the Christmas and New Year holidays in 2019 at the five-star Hotel Sassongher in Corvara in Badia and the Italian Dolomites.
She had half-board with breakfast and dinner, for which, according to the newspaper, Corriere Alto Adige paid around 5,700 euros, but drinks were not included in the price.
During meals, the lady repeatedly asked for water from the tap, according to the Italian media, she was even ready to pay for it, but she was not served in the hotel restaurant.
Each time they brought her bottled water for seven euros, and she constantly complained about it during her seven-day stay, saying that she was being forced to buy bottled water, the findings from court documents were reported in an Italian newspaper. She therefore sued the hotel.
An integral part of the service – like bed linen
In the lawsuit, she stated that drinking water is a natural resource and a fundamental human right, and that a free supply of a minimum vital quantity is necessary to meet basic needs and must therefore be provided, the Italian newspaper also reported.
According to her, tap water is an integral part of service in a restaurant or hotel, just like bed linen, a warm room or soap in a bathroom. Due to financial damage and emotional distress, she demanded 2,700 euros in compensation.
It is not a consumer’s right
The first and second instance courts threw out the case, after which she appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest judicial instance in Italy.
Its main task is not to decide the facts of individual lawsuits, but to ensure a correct and uniform interpretation of the law.
The court ruled that there is no law in Italy that requires restaurants and hotels to serve tap water to their guests. Tap water is thus not a consumer’s right, which is why the case was rejected at this stage as well.
We also do not need to provide tap water
In recent years, even in Slovenia, there have been discussions about the possible payment of water from the tap in restaurants, as many restaurateurs complain that even the serving of water incurs costs.
In March last year, at the last minute, the order that restaurateurs should provide free water from the water supply network was removed from the new catering law.
Two years ago, however, we reported on a case where there were female Dnevnik readers in a bar in a Ljubljana shopping center charged for ice.
