Lodging - HospitalityLawyer.com®

Chicago Passes Short-Term Rental Ordinance

by Thomson Reuters in Legal, Lodging. Posted November 3, 2016

The City of Chicago enacted an ordinance that regulates Chicago’s shared housing and vacation rental industry (shared housing ordinance). The shared housing ordinance imposes regulations, registration and licensing requirements, booking surcharges, and reporting requirements on short-term residential rental intermediaries and advertising platforms. Hosts that operate more than one short-term rental in Chicago are also subject ...

New IRS Safe Harbors for Publicly-Financed Properties Help Hotel Industry

by Thomson Reuters in Hotel Development, Lodging. Posted November 2, 2016

The IRS recently issued new guidance on safe harbor provisions in management contracts for publicly-owned, bond-financed properties. These safe harbor provisions affect a variety of real estate assets including hotels and other privately managed public properties. On August 22, 2016, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2016-44, which provides new guidance on safe harbor provisions for management ...

Reading the Fine Print: Changes in Legal Framework for the Assessment and Display of Service Charges

by Garvey Schubert Barer in Food & Beverage, Hotel Development, Legal, Lodging. Posted October 24, 2016

by Ruth Walters Service charges, administrative charges, surcharges, house fees—whatever you call those charges assessed for food and beverage service in restaurants and in hotels—the rules about how they need to be disclosed to guests and how they must be allocated are propagating. More and more cities, municipalities and other local legal bodies are taking ...

Hotel Price Gouging

by Sandy Garfinkel in Legal, Lodging. Posted October 20, 2016

When Hurricane Matthew barreled down on parts of Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and then veered toward several southeastern states, those who could fled while others waited it out in emergency shelters or with families. But for many, hotels are the only option. With natural disasters like hurricanes, floods or tornadoes seeming to happen ...

Social Media Policies Help Limit Liability

by Michelman Robinson in Hotel Development, Human Resources, Lodging. Posted October 11, 2016

A thorough policy helps define what your employees can and can’t say about the company on social channels. As a hotel executive, imagine that one of the managers you oversee shares that an employee is disparaging you and the company on Twitter. You jump online to find a member of your staff posted the following ...

Firearms Law Issues in the Hospitality Industry

by Dewey Brackin in Hotel Development, Insurance & Loss Prevention, Legal, Lodging, Safety & Security. Posted September 13, 2016

I. INTRODUCTION The focus of this paper is specifically on the federal and statewide gun regulations which affect the hospitality industry. Citizens and entities are subject to the authority of both the state and federal governments, and therefore subject to all federal and state laws. A. Federal Law. The right to keep and bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment ...

Hotels and Restaurants; Prime Real Estate for Slip and Fall Accidents

by Eckert Seamans in Food & Beverage, Insurance & Loss Prevention, Lodging, Risk Management, Safety & Security. Posted August 26, 2016

By David B. Willis, MemberEckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC – Boston Slip and falls are the number one cause of accidents in hotels, restaurants and public buildings according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Injuries from a seemingly incidental fall here or trip there are estimated to cost some $70 billion annually according to ...

The Attack on the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel That Never Happened

by Hayley Pham in Lodging, Safety & Security. Posted August 8, 2016

Fred Burton of Stratfor reflects on his “experience as a counter terrorism agent for the U.S. State Department” with this piece on the investigation surrounding the terrorist infatuation with this popular and historic New York hotel. He covers his teams approach to stop the attack cycle and analyzes their “counter-surveillance methods” Click here to download ...

Accommodating Transgender Guests in Hotel Restrooms, Locker Rooms Is a Balancing Act

by Fisher Phillips in Human Resources, Legal, Lodging, Travel. Posted August 5, 2016

If you work in the hospitality industry, you no doubt realize that for all of the hotel rooms around the globe, there is no room for discrimination. Claims of bias can have devastating consequences on a brand as well as rippling economic effects. To put that into perspective, the NBA’s recent decision to pull its ...

What is a Safe Floor? – Expert Article

by Robson Forensic in Food & Beverage, Insurance & Loss Prevention, Lodging, Safety & Security. Posted April 26, 2016

Do you provide a safe floor for your guests? What about your employees? Slip, trip, and fall injuries are accidents; however, they could be the result of not providing a safe floor. Although each case is unique, there have been found to be “common factors” in these situations. Anthony Shinsky of Robson Forensic explores what ...

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