Committee passes hotel service-disruption bill with amendments requiring notice and capped reimbursements

The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce passed SB83 SD2HD2 on April 2, 2026, with a set of amendments aimed at clarifying notice requirements and guest remedies for hotel service disruptions.

SB83 would require hotelkeepers to provide adequate notice of service disruptions to third-party vendors and guests under certain conditions. The committee adopted amendments to: add planned major construction (renovations) to the list of covered disruptions (excluding emergency repairs from storms), delete a provision on rodent/lice/bedbug language at the request of a labor union representative, require hotels to reimburse guests for the value of lost services or amenities (capped at the room value and determined in good faith by the hotel), and define timing for notice (within 24 hours of receiving notice of an anticipated disruption or five days prior, whichever is less).

Mona Moriardi, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, urged strong enforcement and defended a damages provision that would bar hotels from charging fees to guests who terminate because they unexpectedly encounter a work stoppage or lockout. "The prohibition on hotels collecting a fee or penalty from a guest who walked into a situation they didn't know a lockout was going on…is contrary to our consumer protection mission," Moriardi said.

Labor advocates and consumer groups backed the bill and sought broader coverage of disruption types, including utility outages and construction. Ben Saddowski of Local 5 supported expanding the definition of service disruption and stronger remedies, noting hotels often have advance knowledge that guests do not.

Hotel industry representatives opposed the bill as drafted, arguing it groups disparate disruption types together and may be operationally difficult—particularly when hotels lack guest contact information to provide advance notice. Stephanie Dano of the Kohala Coast Resort Association asked the committee to narrow or defer the measure to address operational realities.

The committee negotiated amendments that aim to balance consumer protections and operational feasibility by narrowing which construction events trigger notice, capping reimbursements at room value, and setting a clear notification window tied to when hotels receive notice.

The chair called the roll and reported that the committee adopted the chair's recommendation to pass SB83 with amendments.