As tens of thousands seek shelter from the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the short-term rental site Airbnb has made free rooms available to evacuees and major hotels are extending discounted rates to displaced residents.
Those relief measures come as California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned hotels and other businesses against illegal price gouging.
Under California state law, businesses are banned from raising rates for hotel and motel rooms and short-term rentals by more than 10 percent for 30 days after an emergency declaration by a state or local agency.
It’s unclear which, if any, hotels have jacked up prices in response to increased demand. But some social media users claim they’ve witnessed price gouging.
Faze Blanks, a Los Angeles-based actress, posted on X that hoteliers were “doubling prices in safe areas during the fires.”
“We’re literally just trying to stay safe and you’re price gouging,” she tweeted.
We need to publicly shame all LA hotel owners because they are currently doubling prices in safe areas during the fires. We’re literally just trying to stay safe and you’re price gouging.
— Faze Blanks (@melanieshea) January 9, 2025
More prominently, though, the Los Angeles hospitality industry is either slashing rates or, in the case of Airbnb, partnering with the city to offer free rooms as demand balloons.
As of Thursday morning, 130,000 people were under evacuation orders and 350,000 didn’t have electricity as the Santa Ana winds that stoked the initial Palisades Fire Tuesday sparked the Eaton Fire to the north of Pasadena, then the Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills.
The Hotel Association of Los Angeles lists 28 hotels offering “relief accommodations” either through promo codes or a “medical rate.” They include The Biltmore Hotel in Downtown L.A., the LAX Hyatt and Hiltons near the airport, in the Valley and in DTLA.
“Many hotels are also taking in pets,” the hotel association told the Los Angeles Times. “We stand ready to continue assisting Angelenos and first responders during this crisis.”
There are five fires burning across 45 square miles of the greater Los Angeles area. Five people have died in the flames.
The uncontained Palisades Fire has destroyed 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive in L.A. history, according to NBC. An estimated 2,000 structures have been destroyed across the wider Los Angeles market.
The “life-threatening winds” that fanned the initial flames are expected to quiet through the day before strengthening Thursday night
“We are absolutely not out of danger yet,” Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said at a press conference Thursday morning.
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Los Angeles
Homes, commercial buildings burn in Palisades, Malibu, Pasadena foothills