ABSTRACT
In Jarvis v Swan’s Tours (1973), D advertised a house-party skiing holiday at the Hotel Krone in Morlialp, Switzerland, promising participants ‘a great time’. They stated that the hotel’s proprietor spoke English; that the hotel bar would be open several evenings in the week; that there would be a yodeller evening; that there would be the service of a representative; that there would be skis, sticks and boots for hire, among other things. In fact, the proprietor spoke no English; the hotel bar was an unoccupied annex which was open on only one evening; the yodeller evening consisted of one man from the locality who came in in his working clothes and sang four or five songs quickly; the representative was there during the first week but not the second; there were no appropriate skis for hire during the first week. Further, the house party consisted of 13 people during the first week, but only P during the second, and the skiing proved to be some distance from the hotel. P had paid £63.45 for the holiday. The county court judge assessed the defects at 50% but didn’t take into account P’s disappointment at having his fortnight’s holiday ruined. On appeal, the Court of Appeal increased damages to £125, to take account of P’s disappointment. Jarvis was followed in Jackson v Horizon Holidays (1975).
