Can hotels legally prohibit children?
Since spring holidays begin momentarily and summer holidays are not far away, the question is a wide range of California travelers, parents who reserve their next family and adult vacations looking for an escape without children. And the answer is complicated.
The problem exploded in February when Alila Marea Beach Resort in Encinitas, part of the Hyatt Hotel Empire, announced that it would exclude children as guests during the night, becoming the self -written “only a maritime complex only for adults in southern California.”
This movement on a property in front of the high -profile beach caused a debate on the state obligations of the law and hotels and has seen other California hotels that exclude children. In the Palm Springs area, Las Palmes de Colonia, Fleur Noire, English Estate and Maison Palm Springs are among the accommodations whose websites say they are only adults. The whiskey hotel, which opened on March 12 in Hollywood, is promoted similarly.
“Single only for adults, because that is a kind of vision,” said the general manager of Whiskey Hotel Alan Esparza, pointing out the adult atmosphere in the Hollywood neighborhood of the hotel. Even so, in a hurry, Esparza said: “We make exceptions.”
The conversation approach is section 51 of the State Civil Code, widely known as the UNRUH Law, which is designed to avoid race discrimination, religion, sexual orientation and another 10 “protected characteristics.” Lawyers, industry veterans and consumer defenders have cited this law by stating that prohibiting hotels from hotels is illegal.
However, section 51 does not specify age as a protected attribute, and state officials allow car rental companies to collect rents to drivers under 25 years. But California courts have decided that UNRUH law prohibits owners who refuse to rent families with children.
The Alila Marea Beach Resort in Encinitas.
(Alila Marea Beach Resort)
When asked if it is legal that a hotel in California prohibits children, a representative of the State Civil Rights Department said by email that “the request of the law regarding age discrimination depends on specific facts and circumstances.” The press office of the State Attorney General was equally vague, and said: “We cannot provide legal advice or analysis.” No agency cited legal precedents or previous cases.
Until state officials provide more clarity, they suggested industry veterans and consumer defenders, families must be careful to ensure a hotel policy before booking. That could mean talking to a reservation agent before making an online reservation.
“I think it is really legally problematic” prohibiting children. “I'm not sure why he hasn't been challenged before,” said Jamie Court, president of ConsumerTathatch.org, based in Los Angeles. A hotel “is a place of public accommodation and is discriminating according to the family state.”
In the Court's opinion, “someone can sue. But it should be the Attorney General who goes to the Court if the hotels do not go back after a warning. And it should be the attorney general who writes warning letters … I don't know why the AG and the State have become so shy.”
In a 2023 brochure to its members, California Hotel & Lodging Assn. They warned the hoteliers that the UNRUH law “prohibits hotels from discriminating against minors based on age,” and added: “Some accommodation operators assume that because some young children or other children can participate in inadequate behavior, the hotel has the right to reject accommodation. This is a dangerous wrong idea.”
Even when the minors are not accompanied, the association wrote: “It is illegal to have a general policy” that prohibits them. However, said the association, a hotel “can refuse to accommodate individual children and their parents” if there is “fair cause.” The association spokesman declined to comment on any specific case.
Another veteran of the industry surprised by the situation is Laurie E. Sherwood, partner of the law firm Walsworth, based in Irvine, who has handled cases related to trips for almost 30 years. “My initial reaction at the intestinal level is that hotels are places of public accommodation,” Sherwood said, and that “it is a violation of UNRUH's civil rights law because it is excluding families with children.”
Many California hotels have thought about the problem by restricting children's access without prohibiting them. Some hotels, such as River Lodge Paso Robles, are officially welcome to children, but prohibit any person under 21 years of the pool and the hydromassage bathtub. Other hotels, such as the post Ranch Inn elite in Big Sur, limit the occupation to two people per room.
In vacation rental properties, families can find mixed messages. Airbnb non -discrimination policy prohibits US hosts forbiding children or “charging rates for guests of a certain age.” But Airbnb hosts often describe their properties as “inappropriate” for children under 12 years.
In Alila Tide Beach Resort in Encinitas, which recently prohibited children, general manager Richard Sorensen did not respond to a comment request. The Alila chain, an Hyatt high -end international submarket, also includes hotels in Big Sur (“An experience only for adults reserved for 18 years of age and more ”) and Napa Valley (where a reservation said that families are theoretically allowed, but all rooms and suites are limited to two occupants).
Meanwhile, some consumers have resorted to social networks to talk about how children can ruin the experience of a hotel. A Reddit user who passes through Wowowlo opined in a thread on the issue that “children are only loud, messy and simply do not belong to a five -star hotel. We should be able to have establishments to separate them.”
Beyond California, many destinations allow hotels to prevent children. The Sandals Resorts, all located in the Caribbean outside the United States, have made the absence of children a key part of their identity.
“There is definitely a demand for children free spaces, especially when we are talking about honey moons and things like that,” said DC Vekic, president of Cosmopolitan Travels in Northridge.
