Of course, there is something wrong with the hotel. This hotel collected the deposit but did not continue to sign the main contract guaranteed by the deposit. You can sue for double the deposit. This is a simple case, and the litigation cost is 51 yuan. You can use a summary procedure.

Regarding the deposit, the Contract Law, the Guarantee Law and the judicial interpretation of the Guarantee Law in the Supreme People's Court all clearly stipulate: "The parties agree to pay the deposit. If the party receiving the deposit refuses to conclude a contract, it shall double the deposit. " The signing between your friend and the hotel is not a formal contract, but a letter of intent. The nature of the deposit set up in the letter of intent is a contractual deposit, that is, the deposit set up to ensure the conclusion of the main contract (the main contract is the fact that you go to eat and they provide you with food and then you pay), and its legal effect takes effect when your friend delivers the letter of intent for the deposit to the hotel. When the guaranteed signing of the main contract does not happen, the party who violates the promise will be punished by the deposit.

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< Security Law of the People's Republic of China >:

Chapter VI Fixed Payment

Article 89 The parties may agree that one party shall pay a deposit to the other party as security for the creditor's rights. After the debtor performs the debt, the deposit shall be used as the price or recovered. If the party paying the deposit fails to perform the agreed debt, it has no right to demand the return of the deposit; If the party receiving the deposit fails to perform the agreed debt, it shall return the deposit twice.