We Need Federal Legislation on Hotel Resort Fees

Everyone reading this website knows that hotel resort fees are a consumer scam. They exist so the hotel can lie about the advertised price. That said, the fees have impacts far beyond consumers. They hurt hotel workers who see a loss in tips at hotels with resort fees. They reduce the number of visitors for conventions and conferences. They allow the hotels to cheat tens of millions of dollars of hotel taxes in cities like New York. For these reasons and many more, we need national legislation to combat these hidden, deceptive fees.

In addition to all of these reasons, the recently filed Nebraska and DC Attorneys General lawsuits against Marriott and Hilton will impact these fees. These cases were brought by the Attorney General based on existing state consumer protection laws. That hypothetically means that if the DC and Nebraska cases were to be successful, there would not just be no resort fees allowed at hotels in DC and Nebraska but residents of Nebraska and DC would be unable to be charged the deceptive fees while traveling. How would Las Vegas function if DC and Nebraska residents were not charged resort fees but residents in Georgia and Arizona were charged them. Hypothetically any Attorney General could bring suit to protect the residents of their state but so far only DC and Nebraska have taken action. For the free market to work correctly in America, and for all residents of this great nation to be charged one price, we need to know the price to make an informed decision. It’s time for national legislation on hotel resort fees. I could not be more excited that the day is finally here. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Congressman Jeff Fortenberry have shown true bipartisan problem solving in introducing this simple, common-sense bill.

Press Release: https://ebjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/representatives-johnson-and-fortenberry-introduce-bipartisan-legislation

Final Bill Number: HR 4489