Marriott International Agrees To Address Barriers To Making Reservations For Accessible Rooms At Marriott-Branded Hotels

DENVER – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced today that it has reached an agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Marriott International, Inc. (Marriott), to address barriers to making reservations for accessible rooms at Marriott-branded hotels across the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Marriott will make improvements to a wide range of its reservation processes to make it easier for hotel guests to reserve and stay in the accessible rooms they need to accommodate their disabilities. Marriott will also pay a $50,000 civil penalty.

Marriott is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and is one of the world’s largest hotel chains, with direct management of over 600 hotels in the United States as well as over 5,000 hotels in the United States franchised under more than 20 hotel brands (see below for list of brands). Most hotels under Marriott brands are owned and operated by independent franchisees, but Marriott operates a centralized reservation system.

“Today’s agreement with Marriott International will significantly improve the experience for individuals with disabilities when they reserve accessible rooms at Marriott-branded hotels,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch. “We commend Marriott International for addressing obstacles these individuals face in obtaining the accommodations they need. This agreement reflects our commitment to enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires equal treatment for people with disabilities.” 

ADA Rules for Hotel Guests Who Need Accessible Rooms

In 2010, to further implement the ADA as it applies to hotels and other types of temporary lodging, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued the Reservation Rule, intended to ensure that individuals with disabilities making reservations for hotel rooms with accessible features could do so on an equal basis as other individuals reserving hotel rooms. In explaining the need for rules covering hotel reservations, DOJ observed, “Each year the Department receives many complaints concerning failed reservations [for accessible rooms],” and “individuals with disabilities expressed frustration . . . because of shortcomings in [then] current hotel reservations systems.”  

The rule requires hotels to facilitate accessible room reservations on an equal basis as reservations for other rooms by (1) providing detailed information about accessible features in hotel guest rooms; (2) ensuring that accessible guest rooms are held for use by individuals with disabilities; (3) reserving specific types of accessible guest rooms, and (4) ensuring that those rooms are held for the individuals with disabilities who reserve them.

Also in 2010, the DOJ adopted revisions to the ADA Standards for Accessible Design and issued Guidance on those Standards (the 2010 Standards). The 2010 Standards require hotels to offer and maintain minimum numbers of guest rooms with accessible features, and to provide choices of the types of accessible guest rooms that are comparable to the choices provided to other guests.

The Reservations Rule, 2010 Standards, and other materials can be found at www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Investigation

DOJ received a number of complaints from individuals with disabilities relating to the reservation of accessible rooms at Marriott-branded hotels. The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s investigation of Marriott’s reservation practices encompassed a wide range of issues, and included examining how guests make reservations in a variety of contexts, including through Marriott’s website (marriott.com), by telephone through Marriott-operated call centers, through third-party websites such as Expedia.com and Booking.com, and using points earned through Marriott’s customer loyalty program, Bonvoy.

Based on its investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office found that guests faced barriers in making reservations for accessible rooms, both online and through the phone, and that Marriott did not always make all of its accessible rooms available to guests to reserve. Specifically, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that Marriott’s reservations practices had the following major deficiencies that violated the ADA:

• Many Marriott-branded hotels did not have any accessible rooms listed on Marriott’s centralized electronic reservations system.
• Many Marriott-branded hotels did not have the minimum number of accessible rooms required by the ADA Standards listed on Marriott’s centralized electronic reservations system.
• Information about accessible rooms was not readily available on Marriott’s website, which made it more difficult for a guest to independently assess whether a hotel could meet guests’ accessibility needs.
• Before October 2022, guests could not use third-party websites such as Expedia.com or Booking.com to guarantee reservations for accessible rooms at Marriott-branded hotels.

Marriott denies the allegations and denies that it violated the ADA. The agreement reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not an admission of liability by Marriott.  

Changes to Marriott’s Reservations Systems in the Settlement Agreement

To resolve the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s investigation, Marriott agreed to make a number of changes to its reservations policies and practices as part of a comprehensive settlement agreement, including taking the following actions:

• Marriott will require that all Marriott-branded hotels accurately list their accessible-room inventory on Marriott’s centralized electronic reservations system.
• Marriott will list the inventory of accessible rooms for each Marriott-branded hotel in a single location on the hotel’s website.
• Marriott will require that accessible-room inventories at Marriott-branded hotels are made available to the major third-party hotel reservations websites.
• Marriott will make additional accessible rooms available for reservation using Marriott’s Bonvoy rewards-points system.
• Marriott will train its call-center employees on the procedure for handling requests for accessible-room reservations.
• Marriott will track complaints from guests about issues relating to reserving accessible rooms.
• Marriott will require Marriott-branded hotels to report whether they are in compliance with the minimum number of accessible rooms required by the ADA Standards. 

This agreement with Marriott covers room reservations made at hotels located in the United States under the following hotel brands: AC Hotels by Marriott, Aloft Hotels, Autograph Collection Hotels, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Edition, Element Hotels, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Four Points, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, Le Méridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Moxy Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, Residence Inn, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, SpringHill Suites, St. Regis, TownePlace Suites, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, and Westin.

Additional information about the civil rights enforcement program for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/civil-rights-enforcement. To report a possible civil rights violation to the DOJ outside of Colorado, please visit https://www.civilrights.justice.gov/.

This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeyen Wu.

Settlement Agreement