Short answer. Yes. Article 2004 of the Civil Code gives a hotel the right to retain the things you brought in as security for unpaid charges for lodging and the supplies ordinarily furnished to guests. The hotel may hold your belongings until the bill is settled.
What the law says
The hotel-keeper has a right to retain the things brought into the hotel by the guest, as a security for credits on account of lodging, and supplies usually furnished to hotel guests.
Civil Code, Article 2004 — Hotel-Keeper's Right of Retention. Read the full provision →
The hotel's right to keep your belongings
Article 2004 of the Civil Code provides: "The hotel-keeper has a right to retain the things brought into the hotel by the guest, as a security for credits on account of lodging, and supplies usually furnished to hotel guests." This is a statutory lien — a right the law gives the hotel over your possessions, without requiring any advance agreement. When you check in and bring belongings into the room, those items become security for whatever the hotel is owed. If you cannot settle the bill at check-out, the hotel may hold on to them until the debt is paid.
What the right covers
The right of retention attaches to the room charge itself — the cost of lodging — and to supplies usually furnished to hotel guests. That phrase covers items ordinarily billed as part of the hotel stay, such as meals taken in the hotel restaurant, laundry services, minibar consumption, and similar amenities that are a regular part of hotel accommodation. What matters is whether the credit arose from the hotel stay in the ordinary sense. The statute does not limit the lien to the room rate alone, but it does tie it to the guest's use of the establishment.
What this means for you as a guest
If you find yourself unable to pay at check-out, the hotel is within its rights to decline to release your luggage or other items until the account is cleared. This is not the same as the hotel owning your things — the right is one of retention, meaning the hotel holds them as security and must return them once the debt is settled. The hotel cannot simply sell or dispose of your property arbitrarily; its right is to keep them, not to appropriate them.
Balancing the hotel's right against abuse
While the right is clear, it is bounded. The hotel may retain only what is needed as security for the specific debt it is owed from the stay. It cannot refuse to release your belongings for debts unrelated to lodging and usual supplies, nor can it use the retention as a pretext for something else. If there is a genuine dispute about the amount of the bill — for example, charges you believe are wrong — that dispute does not erase the lien, but it is a matter you can raise directly with the hotel and, if necessary, through appropriate channels.