Hotel and restaurant law is an area of law that governs the operation of hotels, motels, inns, restaurants, and other establishments that offer shelter and accommodations for compensation. State law, as opposed to federal law, primarily governs hotels and restaurants within the jurisdiction they sit in.
Historically, the law required hotels to provide lodging, food, and drink for guests, as well as a stable for guests’ horses, in order to be construed as a hotel in the eyes of the law. To account for modern changes, courts no longer require food, drink, or a stable to be provided. Rather, most states simply define a hotel as “an establishment which provides lodging for transients” (see: Schermer v. Fremar Corp). For example, California Civil Code Section 1861.1 states that a “’hotel’, ‘motel’, ‘inn’, ‘boardinghouse’, and ‘lodginghouse keeper’ means any person, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, public entity, or agent of any of the aforementioned, who offers and accepts payment for rooms, sleeping accommodations, or board and lodging and retains the right of access to, and control of, the dwelling unit.” Additionally, motor courts and tourist camps are legally designated as inns or hotels.
Because hotels and restaurants affect public health and welfare to a high degree, states have the authority to exercise police power over these businesses and regulate them within reason. Most states delegate this authority to administrative agencies, such as a state department of health. Since hotels and restaurants are still largely private businesses, however, they are not subject to regulation by a public utilities commission. Individual municipalities can also adopt their own ordinances to regulate hotels and restaurants within their jurisdiction.
Both hotels and restaurants are governed by Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code as far as the services they render. The express and implied warranties apply to both hotel rooms and food items served in restaurants. But most of the law governing hospitality stems from case law.
See also:
- Commercial law
- Zoning
- Consumer protection
- ADA requirements (especially hotels)
- National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
- Tax law
- Civil rights
Federal Material
U.S. Code
- Various sections of the following titles of the U.S Code affect operation of hotel and restaurant industries:
Federal Regulations
- Various sections of the following titles (as well as others) of the Code of Federal Regulations affect operation of the hotel and restaurant industries:
State Material
State Statutes
- State Statutes Dealing with Health
- State Statutes Dealing with Labor
- State Statutes Dealing with Unemployment
Key Internet Sources
Federal Agencies
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Labor
[Last updated in June of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]