Opinion ID: 2823818
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The InnkeeperâGuest âSpecial Relationshipâ

Text: Â¶26Â Â Â Â Â Â This court and successive versions of the Restatement of Torts have long recognized the innkeeperâguest relationship as a âspecialâ one, conferring a duty to exercise reasonable or ordinary care under the circumstances and giving rise to an affirmative duty to aid or protect. Â¶27Â Â Â Â Â Â This courtâs first pronouncement on this topic occurred in Burchmore v. Antlers Hotel Co., 130 P. 846, 847 (Colo. 1913). The plaintiff in Burchmore was injured during a hotel stay when a makeshift dining room chair collapsed during dinner. Id. at 846. This court implicitly treated the innkeeperâguest relationship as special when it stated that a hotelâs use of reasonable care is the proper benchmark for evaluating a negligence claim. See id. at 848.Â Â¶28Â Â Â Â Â Â More recently, in University of Denver v. Whitlock, this court observed that the innkeeperâguest relationship falls within the group of â[s]pecial relationships that have been recognized by various courts for the purpose of imposition of a duty of care.â 744 P.2d at 58. Whitlock involved neither a hotel nor a guest; instead, a student sued the university for injuries sustained in a trampoline accident on land that a fraternity leased from the school. Id. at 55. However, we focused extensively on the types of relationship in which a duty arises. Id. at 56â59. We also made clear that, when a special relationship exists, liability can result both from misfeasance (active misconduct causing a positive injury to others) or nonfeasance (passive inaction or a failure to protect from harm). Id. at 57â58. Â¶29Â Â Â Â Â Â We observed in Whitlock that the law appears âto be working slowlyâ toward recognizing a duty to aid or protect those in a dependent or mutually dependent relationship. Id. at 58. We cited with approval section 314A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, see id., which states that an innkeeper âis underâ the following duty to its guests: â(a) to protect them against unreasonable risk of physical harm, and (b) to give them first aid after it knows or has reason to know that they are ill or injured, and to care for them until they can be cared for by others.â Restatement (Second) of Torts Â§ 314A (1965) (âSpecial Relations Giving Rise to Duty to Aid or Protectâ) (emphasis added). 4