Marriott CEO Doesn't Think Resort Fees Are Going Away, Despite Lawsuit

July 13, 2019

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2 min read

Marriott CEO Doesn't Think Resort Fees Are Going Away, Despite Lawsuit

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Arne Sorensen, CEO of Marriott, told LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Dan Roth in a recent interview that Marriott is ready to face the pending lawsuit concerning resort fees filed by DC Attorney General Karl Racine head on. Racine announced Tuesday that he is suing the world’s largest hotel chain for “charging consumers deceptive resort fees when booking hotel rooms.”

In response, Sorensen said in the interview, "We’ll obviously fight it. We think it’s wrong."

DC Attorney General Suing Marriott Over ‘Deceptive Resort Fees’

When asked about the lawsuit and the need for these fees, Sorensen replied, "Of course we’ve got resort fees in the hotel industry, you've got baggage fees in the airline space. None of us as consumers necessarily love it. What we’ve tried to do is to be very clear about our disclosure."

While Sorensen did acknowledge that not every property should be or will be charging resort fees in the future, he didn't back down on the fees as a general rule, saying, "I don’t think they're going away."

While Sorensen's comments make it clear that Marriott is ready to fight in court to defend charging resort fees separately from nightly rates, it remains to be seen exactly how the courts will rule in the case. For now, resort fees are here to stay for the foreseeable future.