Hotels and motels are actually not supposed to charge different rates for different people, only based on room type. Why? Racism. In the past they would refuse to rent a room to people of color, and then later say OK but at a huge price increase.<p>For this reason jurisdictions have min and max room rate hotel laws for a reason. Check the max price on back of the room door when you check in. Show that to the manager, if they refuse to honor it, well the lawsuit will be welcome.<p>The airline thing is interesting because they sometimes show different prices depending on the browser you use on what device.<p>That sounds like a major lawsuit waiting to happen.
<i>“The computer sets the algorithm and as hotel business increases, the rates increase. I have nothing to do with that,” he said at the time.</i><p>Blaming it on "the computer" is so 70s. That and, as another commenter points out, one best hope that none of those customers are a minority as the "the computers ate my baby!" excuse might not sit so well with a judge.
Hotels fall into a class of businesses that are considered a public good, much like taxi companies. As such, there are often really strict regulations on what hotels can charge customers. Some of it is to prevent racist practices, but some of it is to prevent straight-up profiteering in emergency situations.<p>As others have noted, most states require that hotels post their maximum rates on cards inside the room for this very reason. I’m not sure, but I expect that the hotel’s business tax may be based on those maximum room rates. There must be some incentive not to just make those max rates “one meeeeelion dollars”.<p>The unwritten rule is that we expect hotels to be there in times of crisis to house the population. There are also a ton of regulations around things like keeping an up-to-date guest register, providing a phone in every room, and providing a hotel safe. This is part of the reason that hoteliers get so upset at Airbnb - they aren’t subject to any of the regulations that hotels are, which helps them undercut their pricing, and which also leaves their patrons open to abuse.