How much did rodent noise pollution cost a hotel in Crete? | German court ruling

A family of German tourists was awarded a reduction in the price of their trip to a hotel in Crete by the Munich Regional Court due to the noise caused by rodents in their room.

The reservation for a two-week stay at the hotel was worth a total of 5,326 euros. However, on the very first night, the desired peace was seriously disturbed, as, according to the man of the family, the rodents were gnawing and scratching loudly on the wall of the hotel room.

The Munich Regional Court awarded the holidaymakers a reduction of 684 euros. However, the judges rejected any further compensation.

After three nights, the family reported the problem to the travel agent and moved to another room. The man of the family demanded a significant reduction in the price of the trip for the first four days, as well as around 856 euros in compensation for “lost vacation time”.

The court stated in its reasoning that there was no doubt about the detailed description of the family. This was supported by the fact that the family had moved to a significantly smaller room. “Objectively speaking, no reasonable traveler would choose a significantly smaller room, unless there was some deficiency in the larger room”, the court stated.

For the first four days of the trip, the court set a price reduction of 45%, corresponding to 684 euros. However, it did not grant a larger reduction for the day of the move, as changing rooms are usually carried out without much effort by the hotel staff.

The judges dismissed the claim for damages for loss of enjoyment of the holiday: First, the reduction awarded was below the 50% threshold, which is usually considered the threshold for this by case law. Second, the services included in the booking were not defective, with the exception of the disturbance at night. The trip was not affected during the day, said the decision, which is not final.