How to price B&B rooms: setting the right nightly rate, with a worked calculation

How do you price a B&B room?

In France, the official page « Ouvrir une chambre d’hôtes » confirms that the nightly rate is free and depends on comfort, services and how attractive the area is. Nobody imposes a price on you. That is exactly why you need a method: many owners copy the neighbour’s price without knowing whether it covers their own costs.

The method works for a B&B and almost unchanged for a holiday let (replace breakfast with end-of-stay cleaning), in France, the UK or elsewhere. The French rules quoted apply to France. All amounts are examples: redo the calculation with your figures.

Step 1: list your costs, fixed and per night

Separate two families of costs. Fixed costs are there even if nobody comes. Per-night costs only exist when a room is occupied.

Yearly fixed costs (example, 2 rooms)

Cost of one occupied night (example, double room)

For per-night costs, the most reliable approach is to record your purchases for a month and divide by the nights sold. Guesses are almost always too low.

Step 2: calculate your floor price

Estimate honestly how many nights you will sell in the year, across all rooms. For a first year, be cautious.

Below €38.71, every night costs you money. Between €38.71 and €68.71, you work unpaid. The €68.71 figure is your base, not the neighbour’s price.

Step 2b: add what is taken from your takings

What you take is not what you keep. Two deductions are calculated on the price, not on your margin:

• Social charges or tax on takings: in France, Service-public gives a rate of 21.2% of takings for a B&B run as a micro-enterprise (check your own situation; in the UK your tax depends on your profits and allowances).
• A platform’s commission, when the booking comes through one (the rate depends on the platform and your contract; we use 15% for the example).

That gap of almost €15 per night is why every booking received direct, on your website or Google profile, matters so much. If you charge VAT (in France, above the basic exemption thresholds), add it on top: 10% on accommodation and evening meals.

Step 3: compare with places around you

The floor price tells you what you need; the market tells you what travellers will pay at your place. Do this check once a season:

1. Pick a precise date (a Saturday in May, a Tuesday in November).
2. Search Google Maps and one or two platforms for places within 15 minutes of you.
3. Keep 5 truly comparable places: same type (B&B, not hotel), same capacity, similar comfort.
4. Note for each: price for two with breakfast, private bathroom or not, rating and number of reviews.

In this example, a room with a private bathroom and few reviews sits around €90 to €95. With a direct price of €87.20 you are within the market; you can aim for €92 and go up as your reviews grow. If your floor price were above every comparable place, you would need to review your costs or add value (bathroom, evening meals, services).

To go further in watching your neighbours, see local competitor analysis on Google Maps.

Step 4: build a seasonal grid

One price all year leaves money on the table in summer and puts guests off in winter. Start from your base price and apply simple coefficients:

Check that the low-season price stays above your floor price (here €87.20 direct, so €78 does not fully pay your work). That can be a deliberate choice to fill quiet nights, or you can offer « 3 nights for the price of 2.5 » instead.

To spot holidays, bank holidays and events, use our small business marketing calendar.

The most common pricing mistakes

• Copying the neighbour’s price without knowing your own costs: they may have a paid-off house, no bathroom to pay back, or an evening meal that makes their margin.
• Forgetting your time: an occupied night means welcome, breakfast, cleaning, linen and shopping. If that time is not in the price, you work for free.
• Thinking in displayed price rather than what you keep: charges and commissions are calculated on the price and sharply reduce what you keep.
• Underpricing the first season: a very low price attracts guests who only compare price, and it is hard to go back up. A time-limited launch offer works better.
• One price all year: you lose money in summer and guests in winter.
• Extras poorly announced: an extra discovered on arrival costs more in bad reviews than it brings in.

Extras, discounts and evening meals

Extras let you keep a clear headline price while charging for what costs you. Everything you charge for should be displayed with your prices.

• Extra guest (extra bed): cover at least one more breakfast and set of linen
• Single night in high season: a supplement rather than a refusal
• Late check-out: a fixed amount, subject to availability
• Pet: a flat fee per stay for the extra cleaning
• Long stay: a discount from 4 or 5 nights, which saves you mid-stay changeovers

Pricing an evening meal

Work out the cost of ingredients and drinks for one meal, then apply a multiplier that covers your time. Example: starter, main, dessert, wine and coffee for one person cost €11 in shopping; with a 2.5 multiplier the meal is €27.50, rounded to €28 including drinks.

What to display (France)

In France, prices are shown including all taxes, with: the nightly rate with breakfast, extras, internet access (free or paid), the evening meal price including drinks, and the tourist tax when charged per guest. See price display rules for hotels and B&Bs in France.

When and how to review your prices

A price is not set forever. Review it at least once a year, and whenever one of these signs appears:

• Your rooms are full weeks ahead in mid season: your price is probably below the value you offer
• Your costs have risen (energy, insurance, breakfast supplies)
• You have added value: private bathroom, new beds, evening meals
• Your rating and number of reviews have clearly improved
• Comparable places around you have changed their prices

Change prices for future bookings, never for confirmed ones. Tell your regulars with a simple message: see our templates to announce a price increase.

The table to keep every month

Occupancy is nights sold divided by nights available (2 rooms × 31 days = 62 in May). If occupancy is high and the direct share is rising, you can raise prices carefully; if it drops while neighbours are full, look first at your photos, reviews and visibility before cutting prices.

The steps at a glance

The five-step method for a nightly rate that covers your costs and stays in line with the market.

1. List your costs. Yearly fixed costs and the cost of an occupied night (breakfast, linen, energy, supplies).
2. Calculate the floor price. Fixed costs ÷ expected nights + cost of a night + pay for your work.
3. Add deductions. Divide by (1 − charge rate), then by (1 − commission) for platform bookings.
4. Compare with the market. Note the price of 5 comparable places on the same date and position yourself.
5. Build seasonal rates. Low, mid and high season coefficients, minimum stays and displayed extras.

This guide for your trade

• Hotels and accommodation
• Online booking for B&Bs

Go further

• How to open a B&B (chambre d’hôtes) in France
• How to open a gîte in France
• Tourist tax in France (taxe de séjour)
• How to announce a price increase
• B&B and guest house website
• Online booking with no commission