Starting a Bed and Breakfast or hotel

Maastricht is popular with tourists and the number of B&B's and hotels is still growing. Do you want to open your own accommodation? Here we briefly explain what you need to do?

Check the zoning plan
Dutch only

Bed and Breakfast (B&B)

At most locations in Maastricht, you are allowed to set up a maximum of 2 rooms in your property for rent to guests. This is what is known as a guesthouse, or B&B. The most important conditions are that you are the main occupant and owner of the property and that you operate the B&B yourself. This use of the dwelling is included in most zoning plans. Check in advance the zoning plan (Dutch only) for your location and take a look at the step-by-step plan 'Starting a B&B' at the ondernemersplein of the Chamber of Commerce (Dutch only).

From 1 October 2022, guesthouses (Bed&Breakfast) will be subject to a registration obligation. Read more about this registration requirement and applying for the registration number on the page Toeristische woningverhuur, melden (in Dutch only).

Small hotel up to 7 rooms

For other small accommodations up to 7 rooms other rules apply. If you wish to start a small hotel, you must always ask permission from the municipality. We assess your initiative against the zoning plan (Dutch only) and the applicable policy rules. Is the chosen location suitable for a small hotel? Are there sufficient parking spaces and does your plan fit in with the neighbourhood? An important requirement for a small accommodation, for example, is that no residential function is lost as a result of its creation. Furthermore, as regards fire safety aspects, a small hotel must also meet the same requirements as a larger hotel.

Hotel with 8 or more rooms

An accommodation starting from 8 rooms is called a large hotel. The supply of hotel rooms in Maastricht is quite well balanced with the demand. We are therefore cautious about adding new hotels. There may still be possibilities (on the market) for innovative concepts that attract new target groups to the city. The establishment of a new hotel requires permission from the municipality. For hotels with 8 or more rooms, a more extensive procedure applies than for smaller accommodations.

You can read more about it in the drop-down menu at the bottom of this page.

Touristic home rental

Renting out homes for tourists means the occasional renting out of your own home when the main resident is, for example, on holiday. You may rent out all or part of your home for a maximum of 60 nights per year if you register for this purpose (Dutch only) with the Municipality of Maastricht.

More information?

Contact Maastricht Business Team.

 

  • If you want to create a hotel in a building with a residential or other use, the following general procedure will apply:

    • if your plan conflicts with the zoning plan, a comprehensive assessment will follow. We will assess your plan in terms of liveability and sustainable spatial planning, etc. Your plan must not harm the residential environment or the parking balance. But spatial quality is also a criterion, as is monumental quality;
    • if a first assessment is positive, you can detail your plans in a feasibility study;
    • a feasibility study must show that this new hotel will bring new target groups to Maastricht, which will result in extra overnight stays in the city. And there must be market space available for the hotel rooms to be added.
    • Of course, all the requirements that apply to a hotel must be met, such as fire safety.