More than seven in 10 Americans would be deterred from booking a hotel room in Los Angeles if hotels there house homeless people next to paying guests, according to a new poll commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and conducted by Morning Consult.
Los Angeles residents are set to vote in March 2024 on the Los Angeles Responsible Hotel Ordinance, which would create a program under which the city’s Housing Department would “identify hotels with vacant rooms, refer unhoused families and individuals to such hotels, and provide payment at a fair market rate for their lodging.” The ordinance would also prohibit hotels from “discriminating against unhoused people for their participation in this program, or the fact or perception, that they are unhoused. It requires hotels to report the number of vacant hotel rooms and other information to the Housing Department on a regular basis.”
The ballot initiative is supported by Unite Here Local 11, a labor union that represents LA-area hotel workers. If the ballot initiative passes, LA would become the first city in American history to require hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests.
Survey Findings
The poll of 2,203 U.S. adults was conducted Sept. 18-20. Among the key findings:
- 72 percent of respondents said they would be deterred from booking a hotel room in Los Angeles if hotels there are required to house homeless people next to paying guests. That number jumps to 83 percent among those who have previously visited LA.
- 71 percent of respondents said they would be deterred from visiting Los Angeles for leisure or vacation if hotels take in homeless people. That number jumps to 80 percent among those who have previously visited LA.
- 70 percent of respondents said they would be deterred from attending a business conference in Los Angeles. That number jumps to 79 percent among those who have previously visited LA.
- 71 percent said they are concerned about the safety risks to hotel staff and guests.
- 71 percent of respondents said they are concerned about hotels reducing the amount or quality of amenities.
- 70 percent of respondents said they are concerned about the risk of damage to hotel property.
- 75 percent of respondents said they are concerned that the solution ignores the root causes of homelessness, and 74 percent said they are concerned that the policy fails to address long-term housing needs of homeless people.
According to a July survey of 500 Los Angeles residents conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for AHLA, nearly all (98 percent) Los Angeles residents say that the current homelessness situation in the city is a “major problem or crisis.” A significant majority (82 percent) of residents said that the government, not hotels, should be responsible for a solution to the crisis. Union members (81 percent), working-class individuals (79 percent) and self-identified liberals (76 percent) said that it is the government’s responsibility to address this crisis. Residents “overwhelmingly” said that permanent supportive housing (61 percent) should be prioritized for housing homeless people, with only five percent saying that hotels with vacant rooms should be prioritized. According to AHLA, this result “transcends all partisan and demographic lines.”
Next Steps
According to the City of Los Angeles Initiative, Referendum & Recall Petition Handbook, Unite Here can withdraw the ballot initiative as long as it does so 88 days before the election, or Dec. 8. According to AHLA, Unite Here leaders have made the issue a focal point in collective bargaining negotiations with LA-area hotels.
The Los Angeles City Council has yet to hold a hearing regarding the economic impacts this policy would have on the city. AHLA is calling on the council to hold an economic impact hearing as soon as possible and to enact a resolution in opposition to the ballot measure to more clearly inform the public of the council’s stance on the measure.
“Homelessness is a serious and complex problem that can only be addressed by professional social and health care workers with specialized training. Unite Here’s insistence on forcing hotel workers and guests to deal with this issue is dangerous,” AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers said in a statement. “If Unite Here succeeds in turning all LA hotels into homeless shelters, eventually there will be no hotels—and no hotel workers—left in the city. Safety concerns will prevent workers from taking hotel jobs and drive tourists to other locations. That’s a fact, and these poll results prove it. That’s why we’re calling on Unite Here to drop its dangerous demand to turn hotels into homeless shelters—in LA or any other city where they might try it.”