Amsterdam imposes record fine on illegal hotel

The City of Amsterdaam imposed a record fine of almost E 300,000 on an illegal hotel in the centre of the city.

The exact fine is E 297,000.-, to be shared by the owner of the apartments and a booking agent that does maintenance, cleaning and check-ins and -outs.

The illegal hotel consisted of 11 apartments, that were permanently rented to tourists, throughout the year. One of the rules in Amsterdam is that residential properties can only be rented as a vaction rental for a maximum of 60 nights per year.

The booking agent (Iamb&b) has said they will appeal against the fine.

The apartments are also rented out on AirBnB. Amsterdam has an agreement with AirBnB that the booking site will automatically remove illegal hotels like this. This agreement has not yet entered into effect at the moment. AirBnB lists several thousands of rental apartments in Amsterdam, most of them in the centre. It is assumed that most of these are illegal hotels.