LEGISLATION GOVERNING SHORT TERM ACCOMMODATION IN BUCHAREST
In Bucharest today: companies and individuals brag and advertise their services: “We offer accommodation for short term , luxury apartments, center Bucharest”.
Web sites are pretty well made, so apartments are presented and advirtised on each website togehter with services like cleaning services, transfer from / to the airport, some 7 languages spoken by the staff of the “company”, immediate confirmation, 24h customer assistance, towels and linens, wireless internet, etc, etc.
But guess what? At the check in moment the customer realize that the apartment appearing in the pictures does’t exist in reality, asking for a bill you are offered an excuse, cleanliness is lacking, towels and linens had better days (not to mention cushions and mattresses), furniture is old, in the kitchen: plates, cutlery, pots – when there, are ugly, burned and greasy and you hardly find: coffee makers, microwave ovens, toasters, hair dryers, irons and ironing boards etc.
It is a leap of faith to book accommodation with this kind of providers in Bucharest.
Today, in Bucharest, a company should obey the lay and should meet the legal requirments.
An apartment to be considered an accommodation unit should have all aprovals from Authorities, it should be inspected and classified with 1, 2 or 3 stars by the Romanian Authority for Tourism and should be a VAT payer.
Instead …any owner list his apartment free and unrestrained on Booking.com, Airbnb without caring to pay legal taxes, without notifying authorities, without any concern for the Guest safety… and without even thinking to provide professional services.
So we kindly invite the Guest: the best thing you can do is ask for invoice!
“Airbnb’s legal troubles: what are the issues? Why are Airbnb under attack from the authorities?
Airbnb provides an online platform to allow individuals to rent out their homes, rooms or apartments to visitors. While this is not in itself illegal, in many cases the rentals advertised on the site fall foul of local housing laws and regulations. For example, in New York owners or tenants cannot legally rent their apartments out for short periods (less than 30 days) unless they are also living in the property. There is also a tax issue; in many cities those renting out holiday accommodation are expected to pay a hotel or tourist tax.
Who else is opposed to Airbnb?
Unsurprisingly, the hotel industry. Airbnb make it easy for tourists to find cheap accommodation in desirable locations, massively undercutting the prices charged by hotels and B&Bs. In April the Economist reported that if Airbnb continues to grow at its current rate, by 2016 it will be taking a 10% bite out of hotels’ takings – enough to send many businesses under.”
You can read the rest of the article here: Airbnb’s legal troubles: what are the issues? Source: The Guardian
