What must a hotel or B&B in France display?
The reference text is the French order (arrêté) of 18 December 2015 on price advertising for commercial tourist accommodation. According to the ministry’s answer published in the Journal officiel on 2 January 2018, it applies to hotels, tourist residences and chambres d’hôtes, but not to meublés de tourisme (gîtes). It simplified the older rules and takes online booking into account.
This guide covers France only and brings together what official sources confirm, place by place. For the exact wording of an obligation, the order’s text on Légifrance is authoritative. In the UK, different price display rules apply.
Outside the premises
A traveller walking past your door should be able to see your price without coming in. The ministry states that a hotelier may display outside a price that is updated continuously according to their pricing policy: the price can change with the date and demand, as on your website.
For a chambre d’hôtes, the official page « Ouvrir une chambre d’hôtes » requires a notice outside near the entrance, with prices including all taxes.
Good practice for the outside notice
- Readable from the street, at eye level, lit in the evening
- Prices including tax, marked « TTC » (toutes taxes comprises)
- Clear about what the price includes (breakfast or not)
- The date the price applies to, if it changes by day
- If you use a screen or chalkboard updated daily: check it every morning
Free tool, no sign-up
Google Business description generator
A clear description for your Google profile that says what the stay includes, under 750 characters.
At reception and in the rooms
Inside, the aim is that guests know the price of anything they pay for before they use it.
In a hotel
According to the ministry’s answer, the obligation to display prices behind bedroom doors has been removed. Prices of extra services must however be available by any means: a folder in the room, a TV page, a touch screen, a document at reception.
In a chambre d’hôtes
The Service-public page lists what to display outside, at the reception point and in each room:
- The room price: night with breakfast
- Extras, for example for late check-out
- Internet access, stating whether it is free or paid
- The evening meal price, including drinks
- The tourist tax rate when charged per guest
- Prices of other services
- Arrival and departure times
This list is also a good base for a hotel, even if the format can be freer there. A simple solution in a hotel is a one-page price list in a folder in each room and the same page at reception: breakfast, late check-out, extra bed, parking, pets, minibar or drinks, laundry, and any other paid service, each with its price including tax. Date the page, so you can tell which version a guest saw. For the tourist tax, see our guide tourist tax in France.
Model price notice to copy
[Name of the establishment] — Our prices (all taxes included / toutes taxes comprises)
Double room: from €[amount] per night, [breakfast included / breakfast extra: €[amount] per person]
Family room (up to 4 people): from €[amount] per night
Extra person (extra bed): €[amount]
Late check-out (until [time]): €[amount], subject to availability
Internet (Wi-Fi): [free / amount]
Evening meal: €[amount] per person, drinks included, on request
Pets: [welcome, €[amount] per stay / not accepted]
Tourist tax: €[amount] per adult per night, extra (under-18s exempt)
Arrival: from [time]. Departure: before [time].
Payment methods accepted: [list]
Consumer mediator: [name, website address]
Write it in French first; add English below if useful. Print it large for reception and in A5 for each room (chambre d’hôtes). Update it at every price change, and on 1 January for the tourist tax.
On your website and platforms: the final price
The order also covers online sales. The ministry’s answer of 29 May 2018 quotes its article 4: the final price must be known to the consumer throughout the booking process, whether the booking is made with the establishment, on its website or on a third-party site (platform, price comparison site).
- Show the total price for the chosen dates from the first step
- Make clear what is not included: breakfast, tourist tax, cleaning, service fees
- Do not add fees that only appear at the last step
- Repeat the same total in the confirmation email
- Check your platform listings show the same items (cleaning fees, tax)
For the confirmation, use our booking confirmation email templates. And remember your website’s legal pages: see small business website legal pages.
Receipts, invoices, police forms and the mediator
Beyond display, some documents must be given or kept. The Service-public page for chambres d’hôtes sets them out:
| Document | When | Keep for |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt (note) for a private guest | Compulsory above €25 including tax, on request below; in 2 copies | 2 years |
| Invoice for a business guest | Always, with the compulsory mentions (including the €40 fixed recovery fee) | 10 years |
| Police form (fiche de police) | For every foreign guest, European guests included (not minors) | 6 months |
The consumer mediator
Since 1 January 2016, every business selling to consumers in France must offer them a consumer mediation scheme (article L. 612-1 of the French Consumer Code), as the 2018 ministerial answer recalls. In practice: join a mediator (often through your trade body) and give its name and website on your site, in your terms of sale and on your reception notice.
The most common mistakes, and how to avoid them
Most display problems do not come from trying to hide anything, but from a notice forgotten for years. Here are the situations to watch.
- The outside notice has not kept up with your prices: you raised your rates on your website, but the sign at the entrance still shows those from two years ago. Pick a date (1 January, with the tourist tax) to review everything.
- Breakfast is unclear: « from €79 » without saying whether breakfast is included. Always spell it out.
- Fees appear at the moment of paying: cleaning, linen, parking, tourist tax. Anything paid for must be known beforehand, online and on site.
- Prices excluding tax for private guests: your private guests must see prices including all taxes.
- Listings that differ between platforms: an extra shown on your website but not on a platform leads to complaints. Reread your listings once a season.
- A mediator nobody can find: guests must be told about it, not just have it filed in a drawer.
Displaying in several languages
In France, write the notice in French first, for all your guests. If you welcome many foreign travellers, add a translation underneath: fewer complaints, and a welcoming touch that guests mention in reviews. English-speaking owners sometimes do the reverse: write in English first and forget the French version, which French guests and inspectors will read.
And if a guest complains?
Reply in writing, quickly, based on what was displayed and confirmed to the guest. If the disagreement continues, refer the guest to your consumer mediator: that is exactly its role, and it is often quicker for everyone.
Checklist before an inspection
- Price including tax visible from outside, up to date, stating what it includes
- Prices of services available at reception (and in each room for a chambre d’hôtes)
- Breakfast, internet, extras, meals: prices shown
- Per-guest tourist tax displayed at this year’s rate
- Arrival and departure times shown
- Final price shown from the start of the online booking, no hidden fees
- Consumer mediator named on the website and at reception
- Receipt book or invoicing software up to date, copies kept
- Police forms for foreign guests from the last 6 months filed
- Platform listings consistent with your displayed prices
Keep a dated copy of each version of your price notice: if there is a complaint, you can show what was displayed that day. Guests who find prices clear also leave better reviews: see more Google reviews for your hotel or B&B.
This guide for your trade
All guides · Hotel, B&B and holiday let (9)
Go further
Sources
The rules quoted in this guide come from these official pages, checked on October 28, 2026.
- French ministerial answer (Journal officiel, 2 January 2018): order of 18 December 2015 on accommodation price display
- French ministerial answer (Journal officiel, 29 May 2018): final price online, consumer mediation
- Entreprendre Service-public (French government): opening a chambre d’hôtes (display, receipts, police forms)