State & Local Resort Fees
The hotel industry prides itself on offering an array of amenities and services to ensure guests have what they want and need from their travel experience. Transparency and guest satisfaction are at the core of the industry’s business model. Making sure guests have all the necessary information prior to booking their reservations is paramount.
The hotel industry provides guests full disclosure for resort and amenities fees charged up front. In fact, they were created in an effort to provide consumers with the best value by grouping amenity fees into one cost. If consumers were charged individual fees for all amenities, the cost would likely be prohibitive.
Indeed, these fees are not common practice in the hotel industry. Declining over the past decade, approximately only 6% of hotels currently charge resort fees. These are the properties that have far more available amenities than other lodging facilities.
Our Position
AHLA and its members support consistent disclosure of lodging rates, fees, and taxes by all industry participants. The industry is broadly moving to implement the clear publishing of the total price (including all mandatory, non-government fees) for lodging, so that consumers can more easily navigate the myriad of choices they have when it comes to places to stay.
When evaluating the impact of mandatory fee disclosure legislation, AHLA advocates to ensure that the legislation:
- Creates a consistent standard for the industry
- Creates a level playing field for the entire lodging industry, including short-term rentals, OTAs, and meta-sites.
- Ensures that all fees are included at any point the consumer sees the rate
- Only applies to mandatory fees
- Allows taxes and TIDs to be disclosed at checkout
- Uses objective standard
- Does not allow for private rights of action
Have a question? Contact Sarah at sbratko@ahla.com