Answer
Which payment processor is best for European hotels?
For European independent hotels in 2026, Stripe is the default payment processor below EUR 500K monthly card volume (1.4% + EUR 0.25 per European-card transaction). Above that volume, Adyen Interchange++ pricing typically becomes cheaper. PMS-native options (Mews Payments, Cloudbeds Payments) bundle authorisation-hold flows with the folio at competitive rates.
Decision logic
Three thresholds matter: under EUR 500K monthly volume, Stripe wins on simplicity plus competitive pricing; above EUR 500K, Adyen Interchange++ wins on cost; for properties on Mews or Cloudbeds wanting native folio integration, the PMS-bundled payment layer wins on operational simplicity. See /payment-processors/ for vendor-by-vendor references.
GDPR and SCA
All three options support PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication out of the box. Auth-then-capture flows for pre-arrival authorisation work natively in all three. See the no-show pre-arrival auth pattern for the operational workflow.