“But who is a traveler?”
“One who is absent from his home, whether on pleasure or business.[122] A townsman or neighbor, who is actually traveling, may be a guest.[123] In a New York case, where a resident of the town left his horses at the inn stables, it was decided that the proprietor was not liable for them.[124] So if a ball is given at an hotel the guests present cannot hold the proprietor liable for any losses occurring while they are tripping the light fantastic toe, as he did not receive them in his public capacity.”[125]
“But,” remarked a person standing by, “but how would it be if a traveler left his baggage at an hotel and stopped elsewhere?”
“If one leaves any dead thing, as baggage, at an inn he will not be considered a guest;[126] if, on the other hand, he leaves a horse, he becomes entitled to all the privileges and immunities of a guest, even though he himself lodges elsewhere.”[127]
“Why the difference?” quoth one.
“I might, perhaps, be more correct if I said that on this point the authorities are antagonistic.[128] The distinction, however, was made because, as the horse must be fed, the innkeeper has a profit out of it, whereas he gets nothing out of a dead thing.[129] One need not, however, take all his meals or lodge every night at the inn where his baggage is. It is sufficient if he takes a room and lodges or boards at the house part of the time.”[130]
“I think I have heard that if one makes an agreement for boarding by the week, he ceases to have the rights of a guest,” said the previous speaker.
“The length of time for which a person resides at an hotel does not affect his rights, so long as he retains his transient character;[131] nor does he cease to be a guest by proposing after his arrival to remain a certain time, nor by his ascertaining the charges, nor by paying in advance, nor from time to time as his wants are supplied,[132] nor even by arranging to pay so much a week for his board, if he stays so long, after he has taken up his quarters at the house;[133] but if when he first arrives he makes a special agreement as to board,[134] or for the use of a room,[135] he never becomes a guest, and the innkeeper’s liability is totally different, being only that of an ordinary bailee. One visiting a boarder at an inn is a guest, and the keeper is liable for the loss of his goods, though not of the boarder’s.”[136]
“And when does a person cease to have the rights of a guest?” again queried the questioner.
I replied, “An innkeeper’s liability, as such, ceases when the guest pays his bill and quits the house with the declared intention of not returning, and if he then leaves any of his possessions behind him, the landlord is no longer liable for their safe keeping, unless he has taken special charge of them, and then only as any other common bailee would be.[137] And this appears to be so, even when an arrangement has been made for the keep of the guest’s horse.[138] Unless specially authorized, a clerk cannot bind his master by an agreement to keep safely a guest’s baggage after he leaves.”[139]