‘Drip Pricing’: Omni Hotels Hit with Class Action Over Allegedly Undisclosed Resort Fees Added to Guests’ Bills

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A proposed class action lawsuit challenges Omni Hotels’ alleged practice of adding undisclosed resort fees to customers’ bills at checkout, an unlawful trade practice known as “drip pricing.”

Filed against Omni Hotels and Resorts and Omni Hotels Management Corporation, the case claims the hotel operators’ “drip pricing” practice has caused consumers to end up paying a higher price than advertised for rooms at the companies’ California locations, including in San Diego, Los Angeles, Rancho Mirage, Carlsbad and San Francisco.

According to the case, the Federal Trade Commission describes drip pricing as an unlawful trade practice “where companies advertise only part of a product’s or service’s price but then reveal other charges later as the consumer goes through the buying process.”

Omni Hotels applies this technique by adding a resort fee/destination charge to customers’ bills after the nightly price was already advertised, the suit charges.

“Consumers see a lower advertised base rate for their rooms but end up paying a higher price and are compelled to pay a higher rate that was not disclosed at the outset,” the complaint relays.

The plaintiff, who stayed at the defendants’ San Diego location in September 2019, says she noticed the resort fee appended to her bill only after checking out of the hotel.

According to the suit, the FTC warned the hotel industry in 2012 that the advertised hotel room price should include resort fees and be provided to consumers “at the outset,” instead of during the checkout process.

The case, which has been removed from San Diego County Superior Court to California’s Southern District Court, looks to cover anyone who paid for rooms at an Omni hotel in the state anytime within the past four years and until preliminary approval or judgment is entered.

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