City Attorney lawsuit cracks down on hotel booking scam

San Francisco, CA (July 29, 2026)—San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a lawsuit today against two hotel booking sites, GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com, for imitating authentic hotels and scamming travelers into paying significantly higher rates. The City Attorney also sued the websites’ hotel room inventory supplier, Booking Holdings, for aiding this unlawful scheme. The lawsuit seeks to end this scam and secure restitution for Californians who were harmed.

“Tourists simply trying to check in are getting cleaned out by this hotel booking scam,” said City Attorney Chiu. “These companies mislead consumers into thinking they’re booking directly with a hotel, charge exorbitant rates, and impose inflexible cancellation policies. With inflation straining household budgets, these excessive markups only add to the burden. These scams hurt travelers as well as our local hotels, workers and businesses. We are asking the Court to shut these scams down and help us get people their money back.”

“Scams like this don't just drain a traveler's wallet, they wear away the trust San Franciscans place in the people and institutions meant to serve them,” said Treasurer José Cisneros. "We launched StopScams SF to protect consumers and bolster the City's defenses against these crimes. The City Attorney's lawsuit sends a clear message to bad actors targeting our residents, businesses, and tourists: San Francisco is fighting back.”

“We applaud our City Attorney for taking action to protect consumers and hold accountable companies that misrepresent themselves,” said Alex Bastian, President & CEO of Hotel Council of San Francisco. “These deceptive practices can mislead travelers, damage the reputation of our hotels, and force hotel employees to spend valuable time and resources resolving problems they did not create. San Francisco's hospitality industry welcomes millions of visitors each year, supports thousands of jobs, and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that funds essential city services. Protecting the integrity of our hotels means protecting one of San Francisco's most important economic engines. We appreciate the City Attorney's leadership in standing up for consumers and our hospitality community.”

“These hotel booking scams take elaborate steps to mimic real hotels, which takes a toll on real hospitality workers,” said Lizzy Tapia, President of UNITE HERE Local 2. “Travelers who overpay for hotels because of this scam are understandably frustrated, but often complaints fall on hotel workers who are left to fix problems they didn’t create. Artificially inflated hotel prices mean visitors spend less locally or may choose not to visit at all, which hurts the hospitality industry. We appreciate the City Attorney for holding these companies accountable and recognizing the impact on our hotel and restaurant workers.”

Background

Since approximately 2022, GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com have been impersonating real hotels and overcharging travelers up to 85 percent.

Both companies utilize Google and other search engine ads to ensure their websites appear at the top of hotel-specific search results. The websites replicate authentic hotel booking portals, using misleading URLs like “hotelname.bookonline.com.” The booking portals give little indication that they are third-party sites.

The sites may list a phone number with an area code local to the hotel. In some instances, consumers have called one of these phone numbers, and the call agents do not disclose they are with a third-party booking site. Reservations on these websites typically require upfront payment in full, are often nonrefundable, and cost significantly more with less flexible terms than when booking direct.

Travelers often discover they have overpaid on these third‑party sites when they try to modify or cancel their reservation and learn from the hotel that the booking was made through a third party. Others realize the issue when they look closely at their confirmation emails and see they were not sent by the hotel at all. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports over 1,800 nationwide consumer complaints against GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com, and the latter has the lowest BBB rating of “F.”

This scam impacts San Franciscans and Californians who travel as well as San Francisco’s tourism industry. Tourists may be dissuaded from booking hotels in San Francisco or California due to inflated prices on these sites. Travelers who do make reservations have less money to patronize local businesses because of the higher prices they paid for hotel rooms. When travelers learn they have paid more than the hotel’s advertised rate, complaints are often directed at hotel staff since travelers do not realize they booked with a third-party.

These websites rely on hotel room inventory from Booking Holdings, which distributes hotel inventory to third-party websites. Booking Holdings is aware of the websites’ deceptive practices, fails to prevent it, and directly profits from the scheme.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the People of the State of California, alleges the websites engage in deceptive business practices in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. The lawsuit also alleges Booking Holdings aided and abetted the hotel booking scam. The People seek to end to this unlawful scheme, secure restitution for impacted Californians, and recover civil penalties.

The case is People of the State of California v. BookOnline.com, LLC, et al., San Francisco Superior Court. View the complaint.

Tips

Any person who has been the victim of these websites or has relevant information, is welcome and encouraged to contact the City Attorney’s Office through its consumer complaint web portal or hotline at (415) 554-3977.