Marriott and Hyatt don’t mess with Texas

Booking a hotel room online and seeing a rate by far more when finalizing the reservation is misleading, but hotels love it.

Resort or destination fees are erroneous fees imposed by many hotels in the United States and other regions.

In 2021 MGM was sued for imposing such fees and making them mandatory.

Don’t mess with Texas made Marriott enter into a voluntary agreement to display all “resort fees prominently” on its website Bonvoy and other booking engines.

For a consumer, it has become more and more confusing and misleading trying to compare hotel rates.

As eTurboNews reported over the years, resort fees are hidden price increases with little or no value to the consumer.

When resort fees become a mandatory part of a room rate, they should be included, the World Tourism Network argued.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agrees and alleges that hotel companies engage in fraudulent and anti-competitive practices by misleading consumers in advertisements that prevent comparative shopping and charging millions of dollars in hidden fees.

Ken Paxton is the 51st Attorney General of Texas. He was elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn into office on January 5, 2015. He was re-elected to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022.

“In recent years, travelers have been caught by surprise with costs much higher than the room rates they believed they had booked,” said Paxton in a statement to Reuters news agency.

Attorney General Paxton led several nationwide lawsuits against deceptive opioid marketing, advertisements, and programs while ensuring that recovered funds were adequately directed.

Marriott denied it misrepresented room rates, mandatory fees, or total price in its advertising, nor did it violate Texas consumer protection laws. Marriott said this to settle a pending liability lawsuit by the State of Texas.

Going to the Marriott website Bonvoy, it appears the largest hotel company now has the option to show final rates with all taxes and fees included.

This type of all-inclusive rate had been the norm for airlines for a few years and was always the standard in Germany.

The hotel operator did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

The Texas Attorney General was pleased to observe:

“Marriott is now taking proactive steps to promote price transparency. In contrast, other major hotel chains have defended their deceptive practices and will face the full force of the law for their actions.”

Yesterday Hyatt Hotels and Resorts were named a defendant in a Texas lawsuit for misleading consumers with marketing and charging hidden fees.