Protection of Hotel Guests in Nigeria: Remedies without Redress?

Abstract

A hotel guest injured or who has his property damaged or stolen within the hospitium of the hotel expects some form of redress, particularly, through the civil law mechanism. Primarily, civil proceedings is driven to ensure that such persons are compensated for the damaged suferred.  Such compensation is directed at restoring the victim to the position he would have been but for the injury.  This is captured in the maxim, ubi jus ibi remedium.[1] Besides criminal liability, the liability of service providers in the hospitality services in Nigeria is largely contract-based.   Legislative intervention provides protection for injured consumers of hospitality services in Nigeria. This paper critically analyses these remedies to discover whether indeed they effectively redress the injury suffered by consumers.

Keywords: Consumer protection, remedies, compensation, hospitality services, damages.

[1] That is, no injury without a remedy.