Omni Hotels Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Undisclosed Resort Fees

Customers in a class action lawsuit claim that Omni Hotels Corporation tacks on undisclosed “resort fees” to mislead consumers about the real price of their hotel rooms.

Plaintiff Armando Samaniego says he booked a hotel room from Omni Hotels and the company’s owner, TRT Development Company.

He claims that he was quoted a rate of $269 per night, but was charged an additional $30 fee that was undisclosed before he made his purchase.

The Omni Hotels class action lawsuit alleges that Omni routinely charges this fee to consumers without disclosing it, in an attempt to get consumers to believe the price is lower than it is, thereby choosing Omni over competing hotels and purchasing a hotel stay that they might not otherwise purchase.

As a result, Samaniego claims that he and other similarly affected consumers were financially injured by Omni’s practice, and seeks damages on behalf of himself and others. In addition, the plaintiff is seeking an injunction to stop Omni from continuing its allegedly unlawful pricing practice.

The Omni Hotel class action lawsuit states that thousands of consumers have been financially injured by the additional fees if they booked hotel rooms online or through one of the company’s contact phone lines. 

The Omni resort fees class action lawsuit claims that the company calls traditional fees a “resort fee,” allegedly covering services and amenities that come with the room, including in-room WiFi, use of the hotel gym, free phone calls, and in-room coffee and tee.

However, this charge is reportedly charged whether or not a customer uses the services. Additionally, this charge covers amenities usually offered for free at other hotels, as part of the nightly room fee.

To support the claim that Omni’s pricing strategy is misleading, the Omni Hotels pricing class action lawsuit notes that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called “drip pricing,” or the practice of disclosing one fee and tacking on additional fees without disclosing them to a customer, misleading to consumers.

The Omni hidden resort fees class action lawsuit claims that the FTC notes that the hotel industry is especially notorious for this kind of practice, and used Omni Hotels pricing structure specifically as an example of the practice.

According to the complaint, “research from the Stern School of Business has shown that consumers were more likely to buy products or choose series when those products and services were advertised using the drip pricing model and that disclosure of mandatory fees reduced buying intentions.”

Based on this research, Samaniego claims that Omni Hotels has misled consumers and falsely advertised its hotel room prices, thereby violating the California False Advertising Act, the California Unfair Competition Law and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

The plaintiff is represented by Todd D. Carpenter of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP.

The Omni Hotels Undisclosed Resort Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Samaniego v. Omni Hotels Management Corp., et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-01372, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: The Omni Hotels Undisclosed Resort Fee Class Action Lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on July 21, 2018.