Hotel Law Blog

12 October 2017
Click here for the latest articles on Resort Fee Litigation.

Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry.

What does the FTC say is your potential liability for mandatory hotel charges?

In evaluating what you should do about the new furor over mandatory hotel charges, it would be helpful to have a clearer understanding of what the FTC seems to be saying on the issue. The chart below is our translation into “street English” of the FTC pronouncements discussed earlier. (See How Resort Fees became an explosive $2.7 billion issue which contains links to the original FTC press release of November 29, 2012 and the most recent FTC Economic Analysis of Hotel Resort Fees of January 2017.)

We believe we understand what the FTC is saying. We may not agree with it. We do not know whether the Trump administration will rein in the FTC on its perceived mission regarding resort fees, and we do not know whether the current FTC position will be upheld as a valid interpretation of the law. However, courts normally accord great deference to the interpretation of agencies charged with administering their laws, and it is imprudent to ignore the FTC’s recent actions.

In weighing options, even if they ultimately win on legal issues, hoteliers should also consider the negative effects of litigation — including direct costs in terms of legal fees, senior management time, and good will. And there are a number of worrisome plaintiffs who may pursue the issue, including the FTC, State Attorneys General, other governmental and consumer groups, and class action plaintiffs’ lawyers. Any victories by the hotel industry may be largely offset by the costs to obtain them.

So what are your options on mandatory Resort Fees?

The basic thrust of the actions by the FTC, the investigation by the State Attorneys General and most consumer class action suits is that it is a deceptive and misleading business practice for hotels to advertise their room rate online unless the first and most prominent price given includes all mandatory Resort Fees and other charges. They say that it is not sufficient to give the room rate and then have a less prominent disclosure of additional charges. CONTINUE READING →

 
06 October 2017
Click here for the latest articles on Resort Fee Litigation.

Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry.

Resort Fees are a $2.7 billion issue — a juicy target for Federal and State governments as well as plaintiffs’ lawyers

It is very likely that the Resort Fee issue will present challenges in the near future to all stakeholders in the hospitality industry. The prior articles in this series talked about what Resort Fees are, and key developments that warn of an eruption of government and private claims over Resort Fees.

This article provides a brief history of how Resort Fees have grown to be a $2.7 billion a year issue in an emotionally charged dispute between antagonists. We think this background is important for the correct analysis of problems and solutions involved with Resort Fees.

Dangerous misconception about drip pricing for Resort Fees

The emergence of Resort Fees and the government’s failure to take action for many years has apparently led to a dangerous misconception, at least in light of fast-unfolding events. This misconception is that it is OK to advertise room rates (without the Resort Fee) on your website, as long as the Resort Fee is disclosed somewhere — in the fine print or otherwise — before the consumer books the purchase. Some would argue that this was never OK, but recent developments make this a perilous position. This is not OK according to the FTC 2017 Report and other consumer groups. (see the previous article regarding the eruption of government and private claims over Resort Fees)

Early rumblings.

Hotels have charged various service fees for decades. We found references to Resort Fees in 1997. In 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed against Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood for imposing mandatory “energy surcharges” to guest bills. In 2006, Wyndham settled an action by the Florida Attorney General over undisclosed automatic surcharges under investigation since 2001. In 2012, the FTC took a series of actions described below in response to consumer complaints of mandatory fees and drip pricing.

Big tremors.

On November 28, 2012, the FTC published a press release about a formal warning it had issued to 22 hotel operators notifying them that their pricing may violate section 5 of the FTC Act as fraudulent, deceptive and misleading business practices. The warning letter noted that price quotes for room rates without mandatory fees sometimes had footnotes or separate disclosure of the additional fees, but suggested that this treatment might be inadequate. The letter said, “These practices may violate the law by misrepresenting the price consumers can expect to pay for their hotel rooms.” CONTINUE READING →

 
03 October 2017
Click here for the latest articles on Resort Fee Litigation.

Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry.

Resort Fees: It is not just the FTC. Now there are 47 Attorneys General focused going after perceived abuses of Resort Fees

Consumer complaints have been protesting Resort Fees for almost two decades. In 2012, the FTC took its first major action. The hotel industry took some action, but many consumer groups and regulators apparently don’t think it is enough.

In May 2016, a national investigation was initiated by the Attorneys General of 46 states and the District of Columbia as to whether DC’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (the “CPPA”) and similar acts of other states have been violated by deceptive price advertising techniques related to drip pricing regarding Resort Fees.

On June 7, 2017, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (joined by the other 46 states) filed an action against Marriott to enforce subpoenas related to this investigation, and we are now aware that a number of owners, operators, and brands are receiving subpoenas or inquiries from other State Attorneys General relating to this task force’s nationwide investigation.

The rhetoric in the papers filed by the DC Attorney General is predictable: The FTC issued warnings about drip pricing in the hotel industry in 2012. Despite national criticism of the practice and consumer complaints, it appears the practices have continued.

Click here to read the papers in the lawsuit in DC v Marriott filed June 7, 2017.

What is your action plan for compliance and defense of Resort Fee litigation?

If you don’t have an action plan now, you should get started before you are served with a subpoena or complaint. We expect a flurry in the near future and are already assisting clients in dealing with a broad range of Resort Fee strategies and assessments.

Why do something NOW? Here is why. This is serious! CONTINUE READING →

 
29 September 2017
Click here for the latest articles on Resort Fee Litigation.

Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry.

Impending eruption of government and private litigation over Resort Fees (mandatory service fees). Big shaking again. Is this the big one?

Two significant developments may signal an eruption of government and private claims over Resort Fees — (1) publication of the FTC 2017 Report and (2) commencement of proceedings regarding Resort Fees by a national task force of Attorneys General for 46 states plus the District of Columbia. This article focuses on the FTC Report. The next article will discuss the national task force.

The FTC issues its 2017 Report on Resort Fees

In January 2017, the FTC’s Bureau of Economics published a 44-page report entitled “Economic Analysis of Hotel Resort Fees” (the “FTC 2017 Report” or the “Report”).

The Report sets forth an aggressive regulatory position suggesting that it is a deceptive and misleading practice to advertise hotel rates without including Resort Fees, unless the total price (with Resort Fees) is the first and most prominently displayed price (in position and font characteristics) so consumers can easily comparison shop. It is not enough to disclose Resort Fees after the “room only” price even if this disclosure is made prior to booking a room. However, once the all-inclusive price has been disclosed, it is permissible to give a breakout of the total price into Resort Fee and other components.

The Report finds that “separating mandatory resort fees from posted room rates without first disclosing the total price is likely to harm consumers by increasing the search costs and cognitive costs of finding and choosing hotel accommodations.” The Report also finds that this drip pricing approach is unlikely to result in any benefits to offset the harm to consumers. Apparently, the Report’s authors find that the harm to consumers who may incur greater search costs and/or make incompletely informed decisions (and pay more for a room) justifies damages or enforcement actions under section 5 of the FTC Act.

Some highlights from the FTC 2017 Report

Here are some bullet point highlights extracted from the Report. CONTINUE READING →

 
25 September 2017
Click here for the latest articles on Resort Fee Litigation. 

Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry.

Impending eruption of government and private litigation over Resort Fees (mandatory service fees) 

There were earthquakes and tremblors for at least 17 years before Pompeii was destroyed in the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  The past is prelude.

What are Resort Fees?

We define “Resort Fees” as any mandatory fees or surcharges to hotel guests that are not included in the stated price of the room. These Resort Fees are usually described as covering a bundle of services, facilities or amenities, but the key element is that these charges are not optional and do not depend upon whether a guest actually uses of any of bundle’s benefits.

The FTC has described Resort Fees as part of one subset of a bigger problem involving two pricing practices: partitioned pricing and drip pricing. According to the FTC’s January 2017 Economic Analysis of Hotel Resort Fees, “Partitioned pricing involves dividing the price into multiple components without disclosing the total. Drip pricing is the practice of advertising only part of the product’s price upfront and revealing additional charges later as consumers go through the buying process.”

What is the Resort Fee issue?

The government is on a mission to eliminate the practice of hotels charging their guests undisclosed Resort Fees, and is going after hotels for massive fines and penalties.

The first warning signs of an explosion of litigation over Resort Fees go back some 17 years to about the year 2000, when Resort Fees began to gain popularity with hotels and started a wave of consumer complaints about mandatory surcharges or other fees automatically added to a guest’s hotel bill. Although mandatory service fees may have different names, the most popular name for them is Resort Fees.

We are accustomed to seeing litigation trends take form quickly, and there is reason to believe that a new pressure is gathering critical force on the Resort Fees issue. We will discuss this serious threat of litigation in detail later. CONTINUE READING →