General Terms and Conditions

JAKEL HOSPITALITY · Last updated: September 2026

§ 1 Scope

1. These General Terms and Conditions apply to all contracts between Jakel Hospitality, owner Fabian Jakel, and the respective client for consulting, analysis, concept development, quality management, organisational and other related services.
2. The services of Jakel Hospitality are offered exclusively to entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal entities under public law and special funds under public law. No contracts are concluded with consumers within the meaning of Section 13 BGB.
3. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms and conditions of the client only become part of the contract if Jakel Hospitality has expressly agreed to their validity in text form.
4. Individual agreements, in particular offers, service descriptions and expressly agreed individual arrangements, take precedence over these Terms and Conditions in the event of any conflict.

§ 2 Subject matter and scope of services

1. Jakel Hospitality provides consulting and support services, in particular for businesses in the hotel, restaurant and hospitality industry and related sectors.
2. The range of services includes in particular:
   • hospitality and business consulting,
   • mystery checks and mystery guest analyses,
   • on-site analyses and site inspections,
   • quality and service analyses,
   • analysis of the guest journey and guest experience,
   • development and optimisation of service, operational and guest concepts,
   • quality management and development of quality standards,
   • online and video consulting,
   • preparation of analyses, reports, concepts and recommendations for action,
   • organisation and arrangement of staff training and external trainers, and
   • individually agreed consulting services.
3. The type and scope of the services owed are determined primarily by the respective offer or the individual service agreement.
4. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, Jakel Hospitality owes the professional performance of the agreed service, but not any specific economic, operational or other result.
5. In particular, no specific increases in revenue, cost savings, occupancy rates, guest reviews, quality ratings or other economic results are warranted.

§ 3 Delimitation of consulting services

1. The services of Jakel Hospitality constitute entrepreneurial and operational consulting and support services.
2. In particular, Jakel Hospitality does not provide legal or tax advice or any other services that require a special statutory licence or qualification, unless this has been expressly agreed and is provided by appropriately qualified persons or external service providers.
3. Where legal, tax, technical, hygiene, fire safety or other specialised questions are touched upon in the course of consulting, the client is responsible for having them conclusively reviewed by an appropriately qualified adviser or expert.

§ 4 Conclusion of contract and reservation of dates

1. Offers from Jakel Hospitality are non-binding unless they are expressly designated as binding.
2. A contract is concluded in particular when the client accepts an offer and Jakel Hospitality issues a corresponding order confirmation.
3. Where an advance payment has been agreed for an assignment, a specific on-site or consulting date is only reserved bindingly for the client once the agreed advance payment has been received, unless otherwise agreed in the offer.
4. Until the agreed advance payment has been received, there is no entitlement to have a specific date kept free.
5. The advance payment is credited in full against the agreed total fee.
6. Changes to or extensions of the agreed scope of services may be charged additionally.

§ 5 Mystery checks and on-site analyses

1. Mystery checks and on-site analyses are carried out according to the individually agreed scope of review and serve to assess, on a sample basis, the situation observed at the respective time, in particular with regard to service quality, guest experience, processes and quality standards.
2. The results represent a snapshot. Individual findings do not in themselves permit the conclusion that the observed conditions exist permanently or in all comparable situations.
3. Jakel Hospitality may appear incognito as a regular guest or customer during a mystery check, insofar as this is part of the agreed assignment.
4. There is no permanent or targeted observation of individual employees. Likewise, no audio, photo or video recordings of employees are made.
5. Behaviour, service processes and other matters relevant to the quality assessment that are observed during the mystery check may be documented and included in the analysis. Documentation is generally anonymised and serves to assess service quality, processes and quality standards, not to create personal employee profiles.
6. Assessments are made according to professional and, as far as possible, comprehensible criteria. Subjective perceptions are identified as such where they are relevant to the assessment.

§ 6 Concepts, analyses and recommendations for action

1. Concepts, analyses and recommendations for action are based on the individual task, the information provided by the client and the insights gained by Jakel Hospitality within the agreed scope of services.
2. The decision on whether to implement recommendations lies solely with the client.
3. The client remains responsible for all business decisions and their implementation.
4. Jakel Hospitality gives no guarantee that the implementation of a recommendation will lead to a specific economic or operational result.

§ 7 Client’s duty to cooperate

1. The client provides all information, documents, access and contact persons required for the proper performance of the assignment in good time.
2. The client is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided.
3. If a service cannot be performed, or cannot be performed as agreed, due to missing, late or incorrect cooperation by the client, agreed deadlines are extended appropriately.
4. Any additional effort resulting from this may be charged additionally after prior consultation.

§ 8 Organisation and arrangement of staff training

1. Where Jakel Hospitality organises or arranges staff training, seminars, workshops, trainers or comparable services of external providers, the service of Jakel Hospitality is limited to the agreed organisation or arrangement service.
2. The contract for the actual training service is generally concluded directly between the client and the respective external provider, unless expressly agreed otherwise.
3. In the case of a pure arrangement or organisation service, Jakel Hospitality is not responsible for the professional delivery or success of the training provided by a legally independent third-party provider.
4. Jakel Hospitality remains responsible for the proper performance of its own agreed organisation and arrangement service.

§ 9 Fees, advance payment and terms of payment

1. The amount of the fee is determined by the respective offer or an individual agreement.
2. Unless expressly stated otherwise, all prices are net plus the applicable statutory VAT.
3. Jakel Hospitality may request a reasonable advance payment for the binding reservation of a date or before the start of a project. The amount and due date of the advance payment are stated in the respective offer.
4. The advance payment is credited against the total fee.
5. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within 14 calendar days of the invoice date, unless a different payment term is stated on the invoice or in the offer.
6. Additional services that are not part of the originally agreed scope of services and are provided at the client’s request may be charged additionally.
7. In the event of late payment, the statutory provisions apply.

§ 10 Travel, accommodation and incidental costs

1. Where travel or overnight stays are required to carry out an assignment, a flat rate for travel, accommodation and incidental costs may be agreed.
2. The amount of the respective flat rate is stated in the offer and depends in particular on the place of performance, distance, travel time and the effort required to carry out the assignment.
3. The agreed flat rate covers only the travel, accommodation and incidental costs specified in the respective offer.
4. Exceptional additional costs that were not foreseeable when the contract was concluded are only charged additionally after prior consultation with the client.
5. Third-party costs that have already been incurred and are non-refundable remain unaffected by the cancellation provisions of § 11, insofar as they have become useless due to a cancellation or postponement initiated by the client.

§ 11 Cancellations and postponements

1. Agreed and bindingly reserved dates may be cancelled or postponed by the client in text form.
2. In the event of a cancellation or postponement of a bindingly reserved date initiated by the client, Jakel Hospitality is entitled to claim the following lump-sum compensation, based on the net fee agreed for the date concerned:
   • up to and including 14 calendar days before the agreed date: free of charge,
   • 13 to 7 calendar days before the date: 30%,
   • 6 to 3 calendar days before the date: 50%,
   • less than 72 hours before the date, or in the event of non-attendance or impossibility of performance for reasons within the client’s sphere of responsibility: 80%.
3. The client is expressly entitled to prove that Jakel Hospitality has suffered no loss or a significantly lower loss.
4. Jakel Hospitality reserves the right to prove that a higher loss has been incurred. A higher amount may only be claimed if the statutory requirements for this are met.
5. Advance payments already made are credited against any compensation owed under this section. Any remaining credit balance in favour of the client will be refunded.
6. Travel, accommodation or other third-party costs that have already been incurred and can no longer be cancelled may be charged additionally in the amount actually incurred, insofar as they are not already covered by an agreed flat rate or lump-sum compensation. The same cost item is not charged twice.
7. Jakel Hospitality is entitled to postpone a date for an important reason for which Jakel Hospitality is not responsible. This includes in particular illness, force majeure, significant traffic or travel disruptions or comparable exceptional circumstances. In this case, an alternative date will be offered as promptly as possible.

§ 12 Confidentiality

1. Jakel Hospitality treats non-public information of the client that is recognisably confidential as confidential.
2. This applies in particular to internal operating processes, economic key figures, business strategies, quality problems and other internal company information.
3. This obligation does not apply to information that is already publicly known, becomes publicly known without breach of a confidentiality obligation, or must be disclosed on the basis of statutory provisions or an official or court order.
4. Supplementary confidentiality agreements may be concluded separately for individual projects.

§ 13 Rights of use and work results

1. Concepts, analyses, reports, presentations, checklists, assessment models, templates and other work results created by Jakel Hospitality may be protected by copyright or otherwise.
2. Once the agreed fee has been paid in full, and unless otherwise agreed, the client receives a simple (non-exclusive) right of use, unlimited in time and territory, for its own business purposes.
3. Passing on or publishing work results to external third parties, as well as reselling them or otherwise exploiting them commercially in their own right, requires the prior consent of Jakel Hospitality, unless this is necessary for the intended use of the agreed service or has been expressly agreed otherwise.
4. Use within affiliated companies or a hotel group is only included if this has been agreed in the respective offer.
5. General methods, templates, assessment structures, procedures and the know-how of Jakel Hospitality existing before the start of the respective assignment remain with Jakel Hospitality.

§ 14 Liability

1. Jakel Hospitality is liable without limitation for damage caused intentionally or through gross negligence, and for damage resulting from injury to life, body or health.
2. In the event of a slightly negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation, liability is limited to the damage that was foreseeable and typical for the contract at the time the contract was concluded. Essential contractual obligations are those whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the client may regularly rely.
3. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded to the extent permitted by law.
4. Jakel Hospitality is not liable for economic or operational disadvantages solely because a professional recommendation or a proposed concept does not achieve the economic success expected by the client.
5. Where Jakel Hospitality merely arranges external training providers or other independent service providers, Jakel Hospitality is not liable for breaches of duty by the respective third-party provider, unless Jakel Hospitality is liable due to its own breach of duty.
6. The above limitations of liability do not apply where Jakel Hospitality has given an express guarantee or where mandatory statutory liability provisions prevent them.

§ 15 Data protection

1. Personal data is processed in accordance with the applicable data protection regulations.
2. Further information on the processing of personal data can be found in the privacy policy of Jakel Hospitality.
3. Where processing on behalf of the client within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR takes place in the context of a specific assignment, the parties will, where necessary, conclude a separate data processing agreement.

§ 16 Force majeure

If an agreed service cannot be provided, or cannot be provided on time, due to force majeure or other exceptional circumstances for which Jakel Hospitality is not responsible, agreed deadlines are extended appropriately.

This may include in particular natural events, official measures, strikes and significant, unforeseeable traffic or travel disruptions.

§ 17 Set-off and right of retention

The client may set off counterclaims insofar as these are undisputed or have been finally established by a court. Mandatory statutory rights of the client remain unaffected.

The client may only exercise a right of retention on the basis of counterclaims arising from the same contractual relationship.

§ 18 Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
2. If the client is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the registered place of business of Jakel Hospitality is – to the extent legally permissible – the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with the contractual relationship.
3. Jakel Hospitality remains entitled to sue the client at the client’s general place of jurisdiction.
4. In cross-border contractual relationships, mandatory statutory provisions that preclude a choice of law or an agreement on the place of jurisdiction remain unaffected.

§ 19 Final provisions

1. Individual agreements between Jakel Hospitality and the client take precedence over these General Terms and Conditions.
2. For reasons of proof, amendments and additions to the contract should be made in text form. Individual arrangements remain unaffected by this.
3. Should any provision of these General Terms and Conditions be or become invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the legal consequences are governed by the statutory provisions. The validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.