INNKEEPER

innkeeper. A person who, for compensation, keeps open a public house for the lodging and entertainment of travelers. • A keeper of a boarding house is usu. not considered an innkeeper. — Also termed hotelkeeper. [Cases: Innkeepers 3. C.J.S. Inns, Hotels and Eating Places §§ 2–4.]

“The innkeeper is the person who on his own account carries on the business of an inn. In other words, he is the proprietor of the establishment. The person actually employed as manager, though he has the whole direction of the enterprise, is not an innkeeper if he is acting on behalf of someone else. Thus the salaried manager of a hotel owned or operated by a corporation is not held responsible as an innkeeper; the corporation is the innkeeper.” John H. Sherry, The Laws of Innkeepers § 2.6, at 15 (rev. ed. 1981).

[Blacks Law 8th]