O Local Accommodation (AL) is today a regulated activity, with its own legislation in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, established by Ordinance No. 83/2016, of August 4, 2016, of the Regional Secretariat for Transport and Tourism.

 With its publication, the following were defined:

• Local accommodation establishments;
• The minimum requirements for safety, hygiene, facilities, equipment and services provided to guests;
• The maximum capacities of the establishments and respective accommodation units;
• The goods and services included in the price of accommodation and the rules relating to registration, advertising, identification of establishments and the provision of information for statistical purposes.

It should be noted that «hostel»is the type of accommodation whose demand for the services provided is lower, with the capacity for accommodation being greater, compared to the other types. This is because there is a great demand for this type of accommodation, particularly by the younger public. This typology belongs to Local Accommodation in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, contrary to what happens at national level.

Types of Local Accommodation

With regard to typologies, LA establishments can be integrated into the following categories:

a) Rooms in the lessor's residence (exploitation of rooms in the lessor's residence, in a number greater than three, is considered to be covered by subparagraph d);

b) Housing (local accommodation establishment whose accommodation unit is made up of an autonomous, single-family building);

c) Apartment (local accommodation establishment whose accommodation unit consists of an autonomous fraction of a building. The sets of apartments located in the same building or in adjacent buildings and operated by the same entity may have up to 20 beds, including convertible beds, where these cannot exceed the number of fixed beds, and a maximum of 10 rooms);

d) Accommodation establishments (local accommodation establishment whose accommodation units consist of rooms. Accommodation establishments can have up to 20 beds, including convertible beds, which cannot exceed the number of fixed beds, and a maximum of 10 rooms and can occupy the entirety or autonomous fraction of a single building or a group of contiguous buildings);

e) Hostel (establishment that results from the use of existing buildings, located in urban centers; the predominant accommodation unit is the bed in a dormitory, considering whenever the number of beds in a dormitory is greater than the number of beds in a room; the establishment which has a maximum of 6 beds per bedroom, including bunk beds and convertible beds; the establishment with a maximum of 30 beds, including bunk beds and convertible beds, the latter cannot exceed the number of fixed beds and a maximum of 10 rooms and may occupy the entirety or autonomous fraction of a single building or a group of contiguous buildings).

Accommodation Units

The houses or apartments represent a single accommodation unit, the accommodation units of the accommodation establishments are exclusively rooms, which can be single, double or triple, while the hostelsare beds in dorms and rooms. The latter can be single, double or triple. Bedrooms are spaces intended for the function of sleeping, for more than one guest, in which the accommodation unit is the bed, which is sold individually.

Procedure and Registration

The marketing of local accommodation establishments presupposes the existence of an authorization to use or a valid title to use the property, with the exception of establishments installed in properties built before 1951. For the purposes of verifying the minimum requirements, the applicant must deliver to the respective chamber municipal an application (annex I of this ordinance), accompanied by the following documents:

a) Document proving the applicant's legitimacy;

b) Term of responsibility, issued by a qualified technician, in which the electrical, gas and water heater installations comply with the legal standards in force;

c) Property plan, with an indication of the accommodation units to be allocated to the intended activity;

d) Name and tax identification number of the owner of the establishment, in particular for electronic consultation of land books.

Within a maximum period of 60 days, the city council must carry out an inspection of the establishment. The registration will be assigned a sequential number and communicated to the owner of the establishment, who must indicate this number in all correspondence, publicity and disclosure of the establishment.

General and Specific Requirements

With regard to the general and specific requirements of local accommodation establishments, these can be found in annexes II, III and IV of this Order. Compliance with the rules with Advertising, Identification Plate and Complaints Book are also requirements. Local accommodation establishments that take the type of lodging establishments may be subject to other installation and functioning requirements.

Advertising, Nameplate and Complaints Book

Advertising, commercial documentation and merchandising of local accommodation establishments must indicate their name, followed by the expression “local accommodation” or the abbreviation “AL”. Establishments must affix an identifying plaque on the outside, next to the main access (Annex V of this ordinance), and have a complaints book. The original of the complaint sheet must be sent to the Regional Tourism Inspection, to inspect and instruct the foreseen administrative infraction processes.

Statistic

Owners of establishments must also carry out a mandatory monthly registration of the number of guests and overnight stays or nights, broken down by nationality, in accordance with the electronic form provided by the regional directorate responsible for tourism. The information must be sent electronically to the regional management, by the tenth working day of the month following the one to which it reports.

Sanction

In case of non-compliance with the provisions of this ordinance, except in the foreseen exception, the registration of the establishment is cancelled.

Exceptional Standard

The requirements provided for in paragraphs 14 to 18 and 22 to 24 of Annex IV to this ordinance, do not apply to establishments existing at the date of entry into force of the ordinance, provided that the respective holders present the application to which they apply.

Attachments

The attachments to this ordinance must be consulted, which contain the most important requirements for houses , apartments, lodging establishments, rooms in the lessor's residence and hostels..

Read more: https://jo.azores.gov.pt/api/public/ato/bf4476c3-9353-4479-b317-71309ead7fa7/pdfOriginal