“This bill creates a moral hazard by letting big hotel chains harass short term rental competitors, just so the big hotels can further increase their room rates,”said Steve DelBianco, President of NetChoice. [see direct quotes from hotel chain executives below]
“Weakening Section 230 will damage Americans’ ability to communicate online. The bill empowers Marriott to stop us from lawfully earning rental income on our own homes.”
“It’s laughable to hold the Washington Post liable for bad acts associated with rentals that appear in classified ads — but that is what this bill does. This bill is so broad it allows cities to ban home rental ads on craigslist and on any website showing classified ads.”Hotel chain executives have said on record that laws curtailing STRs would allow them to raise prices:
- LaSalle Hotel Properties’ CEO Mark Barnello told his investors that a law curtailing short-term rental services would allow hotels to boost their prices by eliminating competition. Passage of a law liming short-term rental services “should be a big boost in the arm for the business, certainly in terms of the pricing.”
- On an earnings call last year, Jon Bortz, Chief Executive of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which owns Embassy Suites, Doubletree and other hotels, said that Airbnb has put a dent on the company’s “ability to price at what maybe the customer would describe as sort of gouging rates.”