(a) A hotel permit shall allow the retail sale of alcoholic liquor to be consumed on the premises of a hotel. The annual fee for a hotel permit shall be as follows: (1) In towns having a population according to the last-preceding United States census of not more than ten thousand, one thousand four hundred fifty dollars, (2) in towns having a population of more than ten thousand but not more than fifty thousand, one thousand eight hundred fifty dollars, and (3) in towns having a population of more than fifty thousand, two thousand six hundred fifty dollars.

(b) A hotel permit for beer shall allow the retail sale of beer and of cider not exceeding six per cent of alcohol by volume to be consumed on the premises of a hotel. The annual fee for a hotel permit for beer shall be three hundred dollars.

(c) (1) A patron of a dining room, restaurant or other dining facility in a hotel may remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption provided the patron has purchased a full course meal and consumed a portion of the bottle of wine with such meal on the hotel premises. For purposes of this section, “full course meal” means a diversified selection of food which ordinarily cannot be consumed without the use of tableware and which cannot be conveniently consumed while standing or walking.

(2) A partially consumed bottle of wine that is to be removed from the dining facility premises within the hotel pursuant to this subsection shall be securely sealed and placed in a bag by the permittee or permittee's agent or employee prior to removal from such premises.

(d) “Hotel” means every building or other structure kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to the public to be a place where food is served at all times when alcoholic liquor is served and where sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to transient guests, where, in towns having a population according to the last-preceding United States census of forty thousand or less, not less than five rooms are used for the sleeping accommodations of transient guests and food is served at least five days a week, and where, in towns having a population according to the last-preceding United States census of over forty thousand, ten or more rooms are used for the sleeping accommodations of transient guests and food is served at least seven days a week and, in any case, having one or more dining rooms where meals are served to transient guests, such sleeping accommodations and dining rooms being conducted in the same building or buildings in connection therewith, and such building or buildings, structure or structures being provided, in the judgment of the department, with adequate and sanitary kitchen and dining room equipment and capacity, and having employed therein such number and kinds of servants and employees as the department may, by regulation, prescribe for preparing, cooking and serving suitable food for its guests. Golf facilities and swimming pools within the confines of the entire property owned by and under the control of the permittee or backer shall also be considered part of the hotel premises.

(1949 Rev., S. 4243; 1951, S. 2158d; 1969, P.A. 349, S. 1; 1972, P.A. 233, S. 1; P.A. 75-641, S. 5; P.A. 93-139, S. 16; P.A. 04-33, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 336.)

History: 1969 act revised provisions so that women could sell liquor at bars, where previously they could not and prohibited women not involved in sales from standing at bars where previously they could not “sit or stand” at a bar; 1972 act deleted discriminatory provision re women; P.A. 75-641 changed numeric Subsec. indicators to alphabetic indicators; P.A. 93-139 added the annual fee for each hotel permit and added Subsec. (c) defining “hotel”; P.A. 04-33 added new Subsec. (c) permitting a patron to remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption, and relettered former Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fees in Subsecs. (a) and (b).

Cited. 119 C. 437; 121 C. 443; 157 C. 315; 158 C. 362; 184 C. 75.

Cited. 36 CS 305.