Terms of use and intermediation
Technical version dated 18 July 2026
These terms govern access to The Openers and its intermediation service between hosts and guests.
The Openers provides matching, booking, contracting and payment infrastructure. The platform does not itself provide accommodation.
The applicable version is shown before acceptance is requested. Booking-specific terms appear in the summary and in the agreement accepted by host and guest.
Refusing these terms prevents use of account and transaction features but does not restrict access to public legal information.
Terms may change prospectively. A material change is notified before it applies and does not retroactively alter an accepted booking or agreement.
Article 1: Publisher and contacts
The publisher's full identity, registration, address, publication director, hosting provider and consumer mediator are listed in the Legal Notice.
Official details must be configured before production publication. The platform must not use an invented company name, address or DPO title.
Article 2: Nature of the service
The stay agreement is entered into directly by the host and guest. The Openers is not the host, owner, estate agent or an agent responsible for handing over keys.
The host controls the listing, availability, contribution, cleaning and property rules; the host warrants their right to offer it and remains responsible for arranging physical access.
The mandatary feature is disabled. A host may nevertheless enable a technical Nuki tool that creates and delivers a temporary code on the host's behalf, only after the booking checks described in these terms. This tool does not transfer possession of the property, guest reception or responsibility for access to The Openers; it can be disabled and previously issued rights remain revocable.
The Openers may check documents, generate a draft agreement and facilitate payment without replacing each party's legal, tax, insurance or technical advice.
Article 3: Accounts and duties
Users provide truthful, accurate and current information, protect credentials and promptly report suspicious access.
Hosts declare whether they act as traders or private individuals. A trader supplies required business, contact and register information; any paid host supplies tax information needed for DAC7 duties.
Guests comply with the agreement, property, neighbours and displayed rules. Hosts comply with applicable local planning, registration, co-ownership, tax, safety and insurance rules.
An account may be closed on request, subject to data required by law or needed for ongoing agreements, payments and disputes.
Article 4: Listings and host status
Hosts warrant the accuracy of the listing, their right to offer the property and the declared capacity, amenities, availability, prices, fees and restrictions.
For every remunerated short-term rental, hosts declare whether a registration procedure applies and provide the corresponding number before publication. In France, publication is blocked without a positive declaration and a number in the expected format.
The applicable number is displayed on the listing. The Openers performs sample checks using available official interfaces or sources and may unpublish a listing when a number is reported invalid; this check does not replace the host's duties.
Paid listings can be booked only after host-status declaration and provision of required traceability and tax information. Trader or private status and mandatory trader information are shown before booking.
Where the host is a private individual, consumer protections governing the host-guest agreement may not apply. The Openers' own duties remain applicable.
A document check or badge is not an exhaustive legal certification or a guarantee of quality, safety or solvency.
Article 5: Price, fees, tax and card on file
Before a request is sent and before payment, the guest sees the host contribution, cleaning, The Openers service fee, applicable tourist tax, total and, where applicable, the documented-damage cap as separate items.
Guest total = host participation + cleaning + platform service fee + tourist tax. No amount is pre-authorized, reserved or held on the guest’s card.
The card is saved with Stripe consent for a possible deferred payment. A damage claim requires a documented incident, active dispute, mediation, an explicit amount within the contractual cap and, where needed, additional guest authentication.
Service fees are calculated in cents from the booking unit and duration and the property's objective tier. Details and factors are displayed; the agreement type does not create a fictional accommodation price.
Smart-Commodat excludes commercial host remuneration; Smart-Louage requires a justified, capped paid contribution; Smart-Exchange requires linked reciprocal consideration.
No The Openers insurance is included. Each party checks its own cover.
Article 6: Payment and allocation
Payments are processed by Stripe. For a paid booking, the contribution and cleaning are allocated to the host's connected account; The Openers retains its service fee and, where it collects tourist tax, holds it for remittance under applicable rules.
Payment is opened only after required compliance checks and acceptance of the agreement by both parties. A ready host payout account is required where money is due to the host.
Financial records issued by the platform describe flows it actually processes. They must not describe The Openers as the accommodation provider or as issuing the host's accommodation invoice without a separate lawful mandate.
Article 7: Cancellation, refund and withdrawal
Policy FLEXIBLE_48H_2026-07-18: guest cancellation at least 48 hours before arrival receives a full refund.
Within 48 hours, cleaning, tourist tax and unused extras are refunded; host participation and the platform service fee remain due.
Host or platform cancellation receives a full refund. The policy version is frozen in the booking and reproduced in the accepted agreement.
For non-residential accommodation supplied on a specified date or period, the fourteen-day withdrawal right does not apply under Article L. 221-28(12) of the French Consumer Code. Mandatory rights in other situations remain reserved.
Article 8: Ranking and transparency
Main eligibility, filtering and ranking parameters are described on the Platform Transparency page linked in the footer.
By default, newer listings are retrieved first and a video tour is prioritised within each page. Vibe search selects candidates by semantic similarity before applying that order.
Hosts cannot currently pay for higher rank and sponsored placements are not mixed into organic results. Any future activation will be disclosed before it applies.
Article 9: Content and moderation
Users retain rights in listings, photos, messages and comments. They grant a free non-exclusive licence limited to the technical operations needed to host, display, format and distribute content while published.
The platform may restrict unlawful content or content contrary to published rules. Where required by law, reasons and an appeal channel are provided.
Users are responsible for damage directly caused by content they unlawfully publish, without automatically assuming the platform's own fault.
Article 10: Liability
The Openers is responsible for its own intermediary duties, including information it produces, its fee calculation, security within its control and technical operations it performs.
The host is responsible for the property, listing, accommodation and access; the guest is responsible for their conduct and compliance with the agreement. Verification, scoring and document-generation tools are neither exhaustive guarantees nor insurance.
No limitation applies where prohibited by mandatory law, including for personal injury, gross negligence, fraud or breach of mandatory consumer rights.
Article 11: Data, governing law and redress
Data processing, cookies, recipients, retention and rights are described in the dedicated policies. Non-essential trackers activate only after consent.
For remunerated short-term rentals subject to activity reporting, the guest provides each guest's country of residence. The Openers collects nights, guest count, those countries, registration number, exact address and listing URL to perform the applicable regulatory transmission.
An administrative download is not a transmission. Dispatch confirmation is timestamped separately and country-of-residence data then follows the published deletion policy.
French law applies subject to more protective mandatory rules in the consumer's country of residence and mandatory jurisdiction rules.
After a prior written complaint, consumers may refer the matter free of charge to the mediator identified in the Legal Notice, which also contains the publisher's contact details.