Is it true that French Airbnb hosts make you bring your own linens – including bedsheets and towels? Let’s take a look at what the French law says about the issue.
If you have ever tried to book an Airbnb in France, you might notice that the owner asks you to bring your own bedsheets and towels.
According to French law, bed linens and towels are not required in Airbnbs – every rental must contain basic amenities which includes bedding (a bed and a comforter or blanket) but that does not mean bed sheets must be included.
Although most Airbnbs do in fact provide linens, a significant minority don’t, and for some reason this seems to be more common in mountain resorts.
When booking, therefore, make sure you check the ‘amenities’ section of the property listing to see whether the host provides towels and bed linens.
Arriving to find that these are not provided is very annoying, especially if you came by train or plane and therefore didn’t have the option to pack extra linens.
If a rental says they will provide the linens and once you’ve checked in and realise they haven’t, the Airbnb platform is legally allowed to penalise them for false advertisement – make sure you screenshot the property description and take photos at check-in.
In some cases, if the rental does not provide the linens, they will direct you to a store nearby which offers renting bedsheets and towels for reasonable prices.
In other cases, homeowners offer to rent them for a small fee – again this seems to be weirdly prevalent in the resort towns of the Alps.
However on its official website, Airbnb encourages all hosts to provide basic amenities, which include toilet paper, soap in the shower, and to wash your hands, a towel per traveller, pillows, as well as bed sheets for each bed.
At check-out, check carefully the instructions from the host – some hosts expect you to strip the beds and/or put linens in a particular place, and will impose extra cleaning fees if you don’t follow these instructions.
