Qun Mang Posted November 29, 2005 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 116 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 678 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 15 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/26/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted November 29, 2005 Top Paris hotels get five-star fines for price-fixing Nov 28 1:24 PM US/Eastern The Ritz, the George V and four other of Paris's top hotels -- all of them world-famous institutions that have lodged entertainers, princes and presidents -- have been fined tens of thousands of euros (dollars) each for price-fixing, France's anti-trust authority said. The hefty punishment was meted out Friday by the Competition Council after it found that the six hotels collaborated by exchanging confidential business information to artificially keep prices high on rooms and services. A total of 709,000 euros (829,000 dollars) was levied against the hotels, the others of which were the Meurice, the Bristol, the Plaza Athenee and the Crillon. The cartel came to light after a French television programme revealed in 2001 that the sales directors of the hotels met regularly to swap statistics and agree on certain prices. The establishments constitute the top-end of the hotel sector in Paris. According to the Competition Council, the Crillon -- a favourite of Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- received the heaviest fine, 248,000 euros. A standard room at that hotel, off season, costs 500 euros a night, according to its web page. Its priciest suite costs 8,080 euros a night in high season. The hotel Meurice was fined 55,000 euros, the Bristol was fined 81,000, the Ritz was fined 104,000 euros, the Plaza Athenee was fined 106,000 and the George V was fined 115,000 euros. Copyright AFP 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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