“Innkeepers are liable to an action if they refuse to receive a
guest without just cause. The innkeeper is even indictable for
the refusal, if he has room in his house and the guest behaves
properly.”[191]
And Professor Parsons, in his work on Contracts, so familiar to lawyers
and students, says:--
“He cannot so refuse, unless his house is full and he is
actually unable to receive him. And if on false pretences he
refuses, he is liable to an action.”[192]
The importance of this rule in determining present duty will justify
another statement in the language of a popular Encyclopædia:--
“One of the incidents of an innkeeper is, that _he is bound
to open his house to all travellers, without distinction,
and has no option to refuse such refreshment, shelter, and
accommodation as he possesses_, provided the person who applies
is of the description of a traveller, and able and ready to pay
the customary hire, and is not drunk or disorderly or tainted
with infectious disease.”