Hotels can refuse to serve tap water, Italy’s top court rules

Spectators wave an Italian flag during the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Montenero di Bisaccia to Blockhaus, Sunday, May 14, 2017. (Alessandro Di Meo/ANSA via AP)

MILAN, Italy — Italian hotels can refuse to serve their guests tap water, Italy’s highest court ruled in response to a tourist’s complaint against a luxury hotel in a ski resort in the Dolomites.

The tourist sued the five-star Hotel Sassongher in Corvara, where she stayed for the 2020 New Year holidays, after it refused to give her tap water during meals, offering instead mineral water at €7 (approximately $11) per bottle.

She sought more than €2,700 (approximately $4,300) in damages.

In a ruling issued in late April but reported by national media this week, the Court of Cassation said Italian law did not oblige bars or restaurants to serve tap water to customers, upholding the earlier findings of two lower courts.

The claimant had argued that, under “constitutional and national sources,” water is a natural good and a universal human right, and that the free provision of a minimum amount necessary to meet essential needs must be guaranteed.

Hotel Sassongher declined to comment, while the lawyer for the tourist did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There is no single European law requiring all member states to provide free tap water on request. The EU Drinking Water Directive encourages restaurants to serve it, but does not impose a general obligation.

Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro, editing by Alvise Armellini, Kirsten Donovan, Reuters