2024-08-24 12:11:08
For years, a businessman has been arguing about the use of a bathrobe corridor. The conflict could now prove expensive for the city of Bad Langensalza.
The Langensalza Municipal Holding (SHL) is threatened with insolvency. A hotel operator from Bad Langensalza is demanding compensation of 1.5 million euros. The reason for the claim is an unjustly terminated contract for the use of a “bathrobe corridor” between the hotel and the Friederikentherme. The contract was terminated four years ago by the Kur- und Tourismusgesellschaft (KTL), a subsidiary of the SHL.
The mayor of Bad Langensalza used clear words to describe the seriousness of the situation at a city council meeting. It looks “shitty,” said Matthias Reinz, according to a report by “MDR.” The holding company’s supervisory board is currently trying to find a way out.
The “Sante Royale Hotel & Health Resort” and the Friederikentherme are connected by a “bathrobe corridor” that allows hotel guests to get directly from their hotel room to the thermal baths comfortably and discreetly. In 2017, the hotel and thermal baths signed a usage agreement that allowed guests to use the corridor free of charge. The agreement also stipulated that guests could enter the baths as often as they wanted for a flat fee. In addition, hotel guests were allowed to use the baths before the official opening hours of 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The hotel was to ensure supervision of this.
But there was never any such supervision. That’s why KTL terminated the contract in 2020. The termination meant that hotel guests could no longer use the “bathrobe corridor” for free, which, according to hotel owner Stefan Kiefer, led to a collapse in booking numbers and significant financial losses.
Kiefer sued and won. As early as August 2022, the Mühlhausen Regional Court ruled that the termination of the user agreement was unlawful. The lack of supervision was not sufficient for an extraordinary termination of the contract because the violation had been tolerated for years. The Jena Higher Regional Court confirmed the ruling in October 2023. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) also made the same decision at the beginning of August.
A verdict in the legal dispute over the claim for damages is now expected at the Mühlhausen Regional Court at the beginning of September. The hotel operator had already been awarded almost 500,000 euros in construction costs for the bathrobe corridor by the Mühlhausen Regional Court in 2022. According to this, the city’s subsidiary, the Bad Langensalza housing association, would have had to cover the costs after the bathrobe corridor was completed.