Olympics: in Paris, hotel prices are calming down, Airbnb prices are soaring

Clémence Vallée has just rented her three-room apartment located in the inner suburbs on Airbnb. “Usually, I use HomeExchange (non-profit exchange site, Editor’s note) but here, the opportunity was too good,” she explains to AFP.

Asking rate: 250 euros per night, determined based on other advertisements spotted in the area. “It’s been two weeks since I published the ad, I haven’t had any demand yet,” she says, ready to adjust prices if necessary.

Caroline, who does not wish to give her name, regularly sublets her Parisian three-room apartment on the platform, with the agreement of its owners, for 90 euros per night. During the Olympics, Airbnb's algorithm suggests a price between 200 and 250 euros per night: "it's tempting but it also raises ethical questions," she confides to AFP.

In certain areas, the surge in prices is spectacular: "I have a friend in République (more central area, Editor's note) to whom the Airbnb algorithm suggested a price of 540 euros per night for his small one-bedroom apartment", says Caroline.

According to data analysis site AirDNA, in Paris, rates during the Olympics are currently reaching 619 euros per night on average on Airbnb, almost double the average rate of 298 euros paid for reservations already made.

But not sure that these high prices will find takers: Airbnb underlines to AFP that "The average price of stays booked on Airbnb has been stable since the start of the year, because more and more Parisians are offering their accommodation for the Games in order to to increase their income. Stays on Airbnb during the Games are expected to have a considerable positive economic impact, generating nearly a billion euros in France, according to a recent Deloitte report."

alternatives

Alternatives like the HomeExchange site are also in full swing with a tripling of house exchanges in the Paris region over the period (July 26-August 11).

At the same time, the price of hotel nights in Paris and the suburbs during the Games has started to decline, even if average prices remain around three times higher than those charged during the summer of 2023.

According to a barometer from the Paris tourist office in February, the prices of a hotel night in Greater Paris during the Olympics fell on average by 4,4% compared to those posted at the start of the year, to 481 euros, and 6% during the Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8), to 227 euros.

In the Best Western network, the average price currently in Paris is 450 euros, the general manager for France, Olivier Cohn, told AFP.

The group recommends a price range for its establishments of 250 to 550 euros depending on the location and range of the hotel, which corresponds to approximately a doubling of the usual prices.

“We are not yet full but we know that Paris will have a great summer. We are asking more questions about other destinations,” remarks Mr. Cohn.

In mid-December, the Olympic Committee returned some of the pre-booked rooms in host cities at a rate negotiated in 2018, a standard procedure for major events.

Two other deadlines are planned in April and June: rooms that the organization no longer needs will be vacated.

“Hotels that have gone too high will adjust their prices,” Eric Viale, general manager of Southern Europe at IHG (Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, etc.), explains to AFP.

Without giving an average price for the group, he estimates that "we remain at the price levels practiced for other major events", even if he does not rule out an increase "if there are more requests than there are. 'offers'.

Accor boss Sébastien Bazin also recommends prices in his hotels similar to those of Fashion Week or Auto Show type events, even if he explained during a press briefing at the end of February that he had no control over the franchisee pricing policy.

In any case, the period will be good for hoteliers: five months before the start of the Games, reservation rates are approaching 70% in Paris, according to the latest observatory from MKG and the Alliance France Tourisme, a sharp increase by compared to last summer.

And some towns close by train also intend to do well: Châlons-en-Champagne thus highlights “rooms ten times cheaper than in Paris”.