An Airbnb concierge contract sets out what the concierge will actually do for your property, at what price and under what exit rules. For a villa, a chalet or a prestigious apartment, a few poorly drafted clauses are enough to turn a promising collaboration into a dispute. This guide reviews, clause by clause, what a demanding owner should read before signing (general information, up to date as of October 2026, to be checked by your lawyer for a significant property).
Airbnb concierge contract: defining the commitment and its scope
Before getting into the figures, you need to know what commitment you are signing. When you use an introduction to a concierge, the contract is concluded directly between you and the chosen concierge: it is the concierge that performs the services, according to its offer and terms, and it is its document that will prevail in the event of disagreement. Three questions frame your reading. The first concerns the legal nature of the contract, which determines what the concierge is entitled to do with your listings and your money. The second concerns the exact scope of services, which should be described with the precision of a hotel specification. The third relates to exclusivity, that is, your freedom to let through other channels or to occupy the property yourself.
Mandate or simple service agreement
The Hoguet law (law no. 70-9 of 2 January 1970) draws a clear line. A concierge that limits itself to practical services (cleaning, linen, welcome, key handover, minor repairs) may operate without a professional licence, provided the listing is in your name, the platforms pay you directly and you approve the prices. As soon as it acts as an intermediary to let the property (carte T) or collects funds on your behalf (carte G, property management licence), it must hold the corresponding licence, issued by the CCI, and sign a written mandate with you (FNAIM report, April 2026). The title of the document is not enough: a contract presented as a service agreement but providing for the collection of rent is in reality a mandate. Ask for the licence number and the financial guarantee certificate, then check that each clause accurately describes what the concierge will do.
The 2025 ministerial leaflet on the loi Le Meur (Le Meur law) provides for a fine of up to €100,000 for any intermediary, concierges included, who assists with an unlawful rental. A serious contract therefore allocates the compliance obligations (registration number, change of use, co-ownership).
A scope of services set down in black and white
The heart of the contract is the schedule of services. It lists what is included in the commission (creating and optimising the listing, pricing, guest messaging, welcome, coordinating cleaning and maintenance, reporting) and what is invoiced separately. For a luxury property, the detail goes further: in-person or self check-in, hours covered, languages spoken, cleaning standard with photo checks, supply and laundering of linen, frequency of visits when the house is empty. Be wary of general wording such as “full management” or “premium support”, which make it impossible to hold anyone to account for a failure. A good schedule reads like a job description: for each task, who performs it, within what timeframe and at what cost.
Exclusivity, distribution channels and personal stays
Most concierges ask for exclusive rental management, which is understandable: you cannot run a calendar that a third party keeps changing. The clause should nevertheless specify what it covers. Does it apply to all platforms, direct bookings, mid-term lettings? If a friend or a loyal client contacts you directly, is the booking subject to commission, and at what rate? The contract also organises your personal stays: notice required to block dates, weeks reserved in high season, services charged when you occupy the house (opening, cleaning, linen). Finally, balanced exclusivity has a counterpart: measurable commitments of means, such as listing on the main channels, a response time for booking requests and a regular review of rates.
Concierge contract clauses: commission, fees and rent collection
Financial clauses account for most disagreements, because they are quick to read and easy to misunderstand. To choose a luxury concierge, comparing percentages is not enough: two offers showing the same rate can produce very different costs depending on the basis of calculation, the list of recharged fees and the flow of money. The contract should make it possible to reconstruct, from a typical booking, what the guest pays, what the platform keeps, what the concierge invoices and what comes back to you. If that reconstruction requires assumptions, the text is too vague. Ask for a sample monthly statement before signing: it is the simplest way to check that the clauses really produce the amounts announced during commercial discussions.
| Clause | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Commission basis | Gross rent or net of platform fees, cleaning fees included or not, rate excluding or including VAT |
| Recharged fees | Closed list, unit prices in a schedule, spending cap without written approval |
| Collection | Direct payment to the owner, or via the concierge (carte G compulsory) |
| Payout | Timeframe after the guest’s departure, detailed statement per booking |
| Tourist tax | Party responsible for collecting and paying it over when the platform does not |
| Onboarding | Set-up fees (photos, inventory, listing) and what happens to them on early exit |
The basis for calculating the commission
The commission is usually expressed as a percentage of rental income, with common ranges of 15% to 30% (rate cards published by industry players, 2026), but a rate means nothing without its base. The contract must state whether it applies to the gross rent paid by the guest or to the amount net of platform fees, and whether cleaning fees recharged to the guest are included in the base. It also indicates whether the rate is expressed excluding tax, with 20% VAT then added where the concierge is liable for it. Finally, look out for special mechanisms: a minimum monthly commission, a different rate on direct bookings, a bonus if a target is exceeded. Each can be justified, provided it is written down, quantified and applied in the same way on every statement.
Recharged fees and spending threshold
Beyond the commission, luxury management generates costs: cleaning, laundry, consumables, welcome products, technical call-outs, pool or garden upkeep. The contract should set out a closed list of these, with unit prices in a schedule or, failing that, the recharging rule (at actual cost against receipts, or with a stated margin). Above all, it sets a spending threshold above which the concierge cannot commit anything without your written approval, except in a defined emergency (leak, heating failure in winter, guest safety). This cap protects both parties: you keep control of the budget, and the concierge can act quickly on small jobs without waiting for your reply. Also insist that each recharge appears on the statement with its supporting document.
Collecting and paying over the rent
Two arrangements coexist. In the first, the platforms pay the rent directly to you and the concierge invoices you for its fees: this is the only possible option if it does not hold a carte G. In the second, the concierge collects on your behalf and then pays you the balance: it must then hold the carte G and provide evidence of a financial guarantee (Hoguet law). In that case, the contract specifies the payout timeframe after the guest’s departure, the account through which the funds pass and the content of the statement. It also deals with the taxe de séjour (tourist tax): when the platform does not collect it, someone must collect it from the guest and pay it to the municipality, and that someone should be named in the contract rather than assumed.
Concierge contract: liability, insurance and data
Once the luxury concierge commission has been understood and negotiated, there remains the part of the contract that is read least and matters most on the day of a claim. A house that welcomes different guests throughout the season is exposed to risks the owner alone no longer controls: breakage, water damage, an accident around the pool, lost keys, a complaint from a dissatisfied guest. The contract must say who is responsible for what, which insurance covers each risk and how evidence is kept. It also addresses a question that has become central, that of data and access: platform accounts, listing photos, guest contact details, codes for connected devices. These clauses should be checked like an insurance policy.
Liability in the event of damage or an incident
The concierge in principle undertakes an obligation of means: it must carry out the agreed tasks diligently, without guaranteeing that no incident will occur. The text therefore describes those tasks in a verifiable way: check-in report and photo inventory for each stay, timeframe for reporting damage, claims to the platform within the required deadlines, preservation of evidence. Be wary of clauses that exempt it from all liability, including for its own faults or those of its subcontractors (cleaning teams, tradespeople). Conversely, a clause making it bear all damage caused by a guest would be unrealistic and is rarely accepted. The balance lies in making it responsible for what it controls: the quality of its work, the safekeeping of keys and the speed of its response.
Property insurance and the concierge’s insurance
Two forms of cover must work together. Yours, first: a non-occupying owner policy or a comprehensive policy explicitly adapted to short-term letting, since many home insurance policies exclude or limit rental activity. The concierge’s, second: professional liability insurance covering damage caused during its work, for which the contract requires a certificate every year. The guarantees offered to hosts by the platforms have their own conditions and limits: they complement these policies without replacing them. Finally, the contract sets out the procedure in the event of a claim (who notifies the insurer, within what timeframe, with which documents). For a house containing artworks or designer furniture, declaring them to your insurer is your responsibility, and putting them away safely should be decided before the first stay.
- The professional licence number (T or G) if the concierge lets or collects on your behalf.
- The financial guarantee certificate when funds pass through it.
- The professional liability insurance certificate for the current year.
- The full rate card for services invoiced outside the commission.
Reporting, data ownership and access
The contract sets the frequency and content of reporting: bookings, income, commissions and fees, condition of the property, incidents, reviews received. It also settles the ownership of what is created during the collaboration. Do the professional photos you paid for belong to you? Is the listing published on your account, with delegated access for the concierge, or on the concierge’s own account? The second option complicates the exit, since the history and reviews remain attached to the account that holds them. On the guest side, the concierge processes personal data (identity, contact details, messages): the text must specify who is the controller within the meaning of the GDPR and how long the data are kept. Finally, access codes, alarm, home automation and smart locks must be capable of being reset at your request.
Terminating a concierge contract: term, notice and exit
The exit is prepared on the way in. An owner may want to change concierge for many reasons (disappointing service, sale of the property, taking management back in-house, a new strategy), and the concierge itself may wish to end the collaboration. The clauses on terminating the concierge contract organise this moment in three stages: the period during which each party is committed, the notice and its conditions, then the return of everything the concierge holds on your behalf. They deserve the same attention as the commission, because a long notice period running in the middle of the season or listings locked on a third-party account often cost more than a percentage point. The rule is simple: each exit obligation must be dated, verifiable and subject to a deadline.
Initial term and tacit renewal
Concierge contracts are often concluded for one year, renewable by tacit renewal, sometimes for a longer term when the concierge has incurred onboarding costs. A fixed initial period is understandable in that case, but it must remain proportionate, and the clause must clearly show the deadline for giving notice of non-renewal. When the owner contracts as a consumer, the French Consumer Code (art. L215-1) requires the provider to inform them in writing, no earlier than three months and no later than one month before that date, of their right not to renew; how this text applies to a furnished landlord deserves to be examined with a lawyer. In any event, note the termination deadline in your diary as soon as you sign.
Notice, breaches and bookings in progress
Notice is set in months and triggered by an identifiable written document (registered letter, email with acknowledgement of receipt). A good clause distinguishes termination for convenience, subject to notice, from termination for serious breach (failure to pay over funds, lack of insurance, loss of the professional licence, repeated incidents), which should be possible more quickly after a formal notice that has gone unanswered. It also settles the fate of confirmed bookings: are they honoured by the outgoing concierge, transferred to the next one or taken back by you, and is commission still due on stays after the end of the contract? Finally, provide for a pro rata refund of flat fees paid in advance. These details prevent a guest from arriving at a house that no one is preparing any longer.
Return of listings, keys and documents
The final clause organises the handover of everything that belongs to you, within a precise timeframe: sets of keys, badges and remote controls, reset codes, an updated inventory, the maintenance log and tradespeople’s contact details, listing photos, the history of bookings and sums received, and any balance of funds held. If the listing was created on your platform account, it is enough to withdraw the concierge’s access. If it was created on the concierge’s account, the contract must say what it will do with it, bearing in mind that transferring a listing and its reviews depends on each platform’s rules. That is why the safest option for a prestige property is to keep ownership of the account from the outset and delegate access only.
Frequently asked questions about the concierge contract
Who drafts the concierge contract?
The concierge generally proposes its own template, which you can have amended before signing, particularly on the commission basis, the spending threshold and the exit. For a high-value property, a review by your lawyer remains a prudent step.
Can a concierge collect my rent without a carte G?
No. Under the Hoguet law, only the holder of a carte G (or a syndic) may hold funds for an owner. Without a licence, the platforms pay you directly and the concierge invoices its fees.
What if the contract says nothing about the exit?
Have it completed before signing: notice, bookings in progress, return of access. After the event, each point is negotiated at the very moment interests diverge.
Our guides help owners of high-end properties understand short-term rentals in France: regulations, tax, and choosing and overseeing a concierge company. They are for information only and do not replace advice from a legal or tax professional.