Six luxury hotels in Paris have been found guilty of fixing their room rates as part of a cartel and have been fined by the the Conseil de la Concurrence, France’s equivalent of the Competition Commission.

The Bristol, Crillon, George V, Meurice, Plaza Athénée and the Ritz have been ordered to pay fines ranging from £35,000 to £159,000. The Crillon in the Place de la Concorde, where room rates start at £320, attracted the largest fine.

The fines follow the publication of a four-year-long report looking at the pricing strategies of the six hotels, which was launched after allegations about price fixing were made on French television channel M6. The report says the hotels met on a weekly or monthly basis to exchange information on historic room rates but also to discuss future plans.

The report goes on to say that an oligopoly existed in the luxury hotel market in Paris because the six hotels were the only in the French capital to offer the combination of prestigious central locations, a high proportion of suites among their room stock, gastronomic restaurants, exceptional facilities and a high staff/guest ratio.