Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2025

The bill would make it unlawful for hotels, short-term rentals, and third-party booking sites or intermediaries to advertise, display, or offer lodging prices in interstate commerce without clearly showing the total services price — the base rate plus mandatory service fees — wherever a price appears. It would require that total price be disclosed the moment a consumer first sees the listing and at every point afterward in the purchase process, and would require any government-imposed tax, fee, or assessment to be disclosed before final purchase. Violations would be enforced as unfair or deceptive acts under the Federal Trade Commission Act, with state attorneys general also authorized to sue on behalf of residents. The bill would still allow separate display of individual price components or optional add-ons as long as they are shown less prominently than the total price, and it would preempt conflicting state fee-disclosure laws unless those laws also require the total price to include all service fees. Intermediaries relying in good faith on inaccurate pricing data from a hotel could raise an affirmative defense. The prohibition would take effect 450 days after enactment.

Hotels, short-term rental owners and platforms (such as vacation rental sites), online travel agencies, metasearch and booking intermediaries, and consumers shopping for lodging. State attorneys general and other authorized state officials gain enforcement power, and the Federal Trade Commission is designated as the primary federal enforcer.

Consumers would see the real, all-in cost of a hotel or rental before booking instead of discovering added service fees at checkout, potentially changing how they compare prices across sites. Lodging providers and booking platforms would face FTC and state lawsuits for noncompliance, and would need to overhaul how prices are displayed across advertising, websites, and booking flows.

The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the pricing-disclosure rules using its existing authority over unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act, including investigations and civil actions. State attorneys general or other authorized state officials could independently sue on behalf of residents but must generally notify the FTC first, which may intervene; once the FTC sues a defendant, states are barred from separately suing over the same alleged violations. Intermediaries and third-party sellers can avoid liability by showing they maintained procedures for obtaining accurate pricing, relied on it in good faith, and promptly corrected errors. The requirements apply to all covered entities beginning 450 days after enactment.