Taylor

—We decide in this appeal that the 90-day limitations period of Code of Civil Procedure section 341a “for the recovery or conversion of personal property, wearing apparel, trunks, valises or baggage” left at a hotel does not apply to actions seeking damages against the hotel based on negligence or breach of contract. We therefore reverse the judgment with instructions to the trial court to overrule the demurrer of defendant Forte Hotels International (FHI) to plaintiff Linda Taylor’s third amended complaint.

Factual and Procedural Background

We accept as true the allegations of Taylor’s complaint describing her experiences in August 1986 following her stay at FHI’s Viscount Hotel in New York City. She alleges that after checking out and paying her hotel bill, she asked a Viscount employee to safeguard her luggage while she ate breakfast at the Viscount’s restaurant. The employee agreed to do so. When Taylor returned to retrieve her luggage, the employee told her the luggage had been stolen.

On July 12, 1988, Taylor filed the underlying action against FHI on various theories. Her third amended complaint, the subject of this appeal, contained two causes of action:…