Empire Hotel class action overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Dylan Bittlingmaier filed a class action lawsuit against West 63 Empire Associates LLC.
- Why: Bittlingmaier claims the hotel uses “drip pricing” to mislead consumers about hotel room rates
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
A new class action lawsuit alleges that Empire Hotel uses “drip pricing” to conceal junk fees, misleading consumers into thinking its rooms are cheaper than they actually are.
Plaintiff Dylan Bittlingmaier’s class action lawsuit, filed on Feb. 12 in New York federal court, claims Empire Hotel does not disclose the full price of a hotel room upfront.
Instead, the hotel baits a consumer into believing they are getting a lower price for a hotel room by listing a price on the search page that excludes additional taxes and fees, Bittlingmaier alleges.
“Before a consumer checks out, they are ambushed by expensive fees significantly increasing the total cost of a hotel room,” the Empire Hotel class action lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges Empire Hotel’s fees are hidden and only visible by selecting a hyperlinked “taxes and fees” button. The fees are only shown to consumers after they have clicked through numerous pages and reached the checkout screen, Bittlingmaier claims.
“Drip pricing allows companies like The Empire Hotel to capture consumers seeking out bargains by tricking them into believing they are paying lower prices before adding fees later on in the shopping process,” the lawsuit says.
Empire Hotel violated FTC’s 2025 rule on hotel drip pricing, lawsuit claims
Bittlingmaier argues that in 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned the hotel industry about “drip pricing,” stating that resort fees and other surcharges violate consumer protection law when hotels misrepresent the price consumers pay for their hotel rooms.
More recently, the FTC passed the Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, which went into effect on May 12, 2025, directly prohibiting junk fees as well as the practice of drip pricing.
Despite this, hotel companies continue to charge hidden junk fees to consumers on their websites, the Empire Hotel class action lawsuit says.
Bittlingmaier claims drip pricing robs consumers of the right to know the actual rate they are paying for a hotel and denies them the opportunity to fairly compare hotel rates. Consumers are more likely to pay a higher price when a company engages in drip pricing, and Empire Hotel has profited enormously from these practices, the lawsuit alleges.
Bittlingmaier is looking to represent a class of consumers in the United States who booked a hotel room at Empire Hotel. He asserts claims for unjust enrichment, fraud and violations of New York’s General Business Law.
In other industry news, a revived class action accuses Amadeus IT Group, Hilton Domestic Operating Company, Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, among others, of conspiring to fix prices for hotel rooms by exchanging competitively sensitive information via the Amadeus’ Demand360 platform.
What do you think about the Empire Hotel class action allegations? Tell us in the comments.
Bittlingmaier is represented by Philip L. Fraietta and Julian C. Diamond of Bursor & Fisher P.A.
The Empire Hotel class action lawsuit is Bittlingmaier v. West 63 Empire Associates LLC, Case No. 1:26-cv-01209, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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