Despite being hailed as one of the most exclusive resorts in Europe, the town’s mayor has condemned the “disgusting” practices of restaurants after they demanded a minimum spend of more than €5,000 to book a table. , reports the local publication Nice Matin, citing Business Insider.

Nice Matin notes that depending on the restaurant, the minimum consumption can be as high as €1,500 per person and over €5,000 for lunch.

“It’s simple, when you make a reservation, they clearly tell you: ‘we have a table for 5,000 euros, okay?’ If not, then there is no other table,” said a man who got into this situation.

Several people familiar with the situation said the “technique” has begun to annoy even the most affluent customers, and people resent being told the thickness of their wallets before they even sit down at a table and have a chance to look at the menu. .

French journalists also found that some restaurants demanded higher tips or simply turned away customers who were deemed to have insufficiently high bills in the past.

An industry source explained to a local newspaper how the system works by restaurant owners and managers:

“They ask you for your first and last name. It checks if you are registered in their registry. It then estimates the amount you’ve already spent if you’ve ordered drinks etc. If there is no name or you do not belong to the first category, we will inform you that the restaurant is full until the end of August. Then we will gladly refer you to one of the other restaurants in the group.”

The mayor of the resort says that local residents are being driven out of St. Tropez

Sylvia Siri, the mayor of Saint-Tropez, began to denounce the practice, despite being elected to lead one of the most expensive cities in France and a favorite vacation spot for celebrities from Hollywood and the world.

“This practice is abhorrent to the resort and therefore to our clientele as well as to local residents,” she told Nice Matin.

“We’ve already been kicked out of our apartments and soon we’ll be kicked out of our restaurants as well because we won’t be able to eat out,” she added, referring to stand-alone booking apps like Booking in the first part of the comment. com or Airbnb, which caused protests in several European cities.

Siri also said he would start talking to restaurant owners and warned them they risk losing their licenses if their establishments are found guilty of “creating illegal customer databases” or “extortion.”

Several surveys conducted in recent years have shown that local residents of Saint-Tropez are fed up with exorbitant prices, poor service and low-quality restaurant staff.

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