France's reputation as one of the world's prime holiday destinations took a hit yesterday as reports revealed the soaring cost of its hotels and dubious hygiene standards in its tourist-friendly restaurants.
The average price of a French hotel room has risen by 41% since 2001 - more than double the rate of inflation, according to figures released by the national institute for statistics, L'Insée. Customers looking to spend the night in a three-star hotel are now likely to have to pay €137 (£109), compared with just €96 eight years ago.
This year costs have risen even more steeply, with average hotel room prices going up by 7.4% in the first six months of 2008 - more than three times the rate of inflation. "The soaring price of petrol has made hotel owners' gas and electricity bills even bigger," said Geraldine Seroussi, head of statistics at L'Insée. Also to blame, she added, were rising food prices and several hikes in the minimum wage.
According to the Committee for the Modernisation of French Hotels (CMHF), the higher cost does not reflect higher standards. "Many customers grow tired or disillusioned when confronted by the rise in prices, which hasn't necessarily been accompanied by an improvement in the quality of service," said Mark Watkins, president of the CMHF, which classes a quarter of the country's 18,000 hotels as rundown.
The standards of another key area of French tourism were also called into question yesterday by figures showing more than one in four seaside restaurants, cafes and snack bars were found to have poor hygiene conditions.
Of the 9,403 establishments inspected this summer, more than 2,600 were found to be in breach of hygiene law, said the minister for agriculture, Michel Barnier. The 37 worst offenders had been ordered to close, he added, while hundreds more had had their kitchens raided after they were found to be serving food unfit for consumption. The amount of food stocks seized came to about 30 tonnes of waste - up from 13 tonnes last summer.
Monique Eloit, spokeswoman for the agriculture ministry's food directorate, said the eateries that had fallen foul of the law were those where basic cleaning had not been done, staff clothing was dirty, or the food had been badly stored.
