A years-long legal dispute over a denied request for tap water at a luxury Italian alpine hotel has reached a definitive conclusion, with Italy’s highest court upholding the venue’s right to refuse complimentary tap service to guests. The case dates back to the 2019 winter ski season, when an unidentified tourist visited the restaurant at the five-star Hotel Sassongher, located in the scenic Dolomites village of Corvara. When the woman ordered her meal, she asked for a glass of tap water – a request that waiters turned down, instead offering only commercially bottled mineral water priced at €7 (approximately £6) per bottle.
Disagreeing with the hotel’s policy, the tourist launched a legal claim for €2,700 in damages, arguing the denial violated both her consumer rights and a fundamental universal principle. She framed access to water as a basic human right and natural resource that all hospitality venues should be required to provide, comparing the availability of tap water to basic amenities that guests reasonably expect, such as clean sheets on hotel beds and soap in guest bathrooms. Her claim was first filed in a lower court based in Rome, but the case ultimately advanced all the way to the Italian Supreme Court for a final ruling.
In its final judgment, the Supreme Court rejected the tourist’s appeal and dismissed all claims for compensation for both emotional distress and economic harm. Silvio Belardi, legal counsel representing Hotel Sassongher, told local outlet Corriere Alto Adige that the high court’s ruling established a clear precedent: Italian hospitality venues face no legal obligation to serve tap water to customers. “There is no obligation to supply tap water,” Belardi confirmed, summarizing the court’s core holding.
This ruling stands in sharp contrast to regulations in other parts of Europe, including England and Wales, where all licensed hospitality venues are legally mandated to provide free drinking tap water to customers upon request. The BBC has reached out to Hotel Sassongher to request additional comment on the Supreme Court’s decision, and no further statement from the venue has been released as of the latest updates. The case has sparked fresh conversation around consumer expectations, access to water, and regulatory gaps in Italy’s hospitality industry guidelines.