A five-star hotel in Italy that repeatedly refused to serve a guest tap water at its restaurant did not break any laws, the country’s top court has ruled.
The woman filed a lawsuit after hotel staff said they would only serve her bottled water during a stay at the end of 2019, according to a court ruling seen by CNN. She’d argued that access to water was a fundamental right.
However, the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the decision not to serve tap water was lawful. The case was taken to the Supreme Court after being rejected by a court in Rome and an appeals court.
According to the ruling, the woman stayed at the Hotel Sassongher, located in Italy’s northern Badia region, between December 26, 2019, and January 3, 2020. She was on a half-board package that excluded drinks, for which she had paid 5,712 euros ($6,654).
During dinner, she’d asked to be given tap water and offered to pay for it as a service charge, but hotel staff would only provide bottled water at a price of around 7 euros ($8.15).
