Las Vegas Strip hotel operators fixed room rates, lawsuit claims

Las Vegas Strip hotel operators fixed room rates, lawsuit claims

Article brief provided by Las Vegas Review-Journal
  • McKenna Ross and Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal
January 25, 2023 9:32 PM
  • McKenna Ross and Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal

A class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges hotel operators on the Las Vegas Strip colluded to artificially inflate the prices of hotel rooms to above competitive levels.

Attorneys with Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman say a revenue management platform employed by a majority of Strip hotels uses real-time pricing and supply information data from competitors on the platform to design rate recommendations that “unlawfully maximize profits for its hotel operator users.”

Operators price rooms independently in a competitive market. However, information shared and algorithms set through the platform Rainmaker displaced normal competitive pricing and led to increased room prices, according to the suit filed in the U.S. District Court.