A Pasadena hotel will pay $320,000 to settle a lawsuit in which they are accused of price gouging wildfire victims and other guests during the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the district attorney’s office announced Monday, July 13.
Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation, which owns the Langham Huntington Pasadena, a luxury resort on Oak Knoll Avenue, will pay $300,000 in civil penalties and $20,000 in investigative costs to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office. The corporation did not admit liability and cooperated with the investigation, the district attorney’s office said.
The suit accused the hotel of violating California anti-price-gouging and unfair competition laws when Pasadena hotel guests were charged more than 10 percent over the hotel’s regular rates, according to the district attorney’s office. As the Eaton and Palisades fires raged across Los Angeles County, tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes, some seeking shelter in hotels
Hotel management attributed the pricing differential to an automated pricing tool.
“In the days following the onset of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, an automated pricing tool temporarily generated a limited number of unintended rates, which were subsequently reviewed and updated. All affected guests have since been refunded, reflecting the hotel’s commitment to transparency and fairness. In addressing the matter, we worked constructively with Los Angeles County and, separately, donated more than 1,100 complimentary room nights during the crisis to support first responders and displaced residents. We remain committed to upholding trust and integrity in all aspects of our business,” hotel management said in a statement.
On Jan. 7, 2025, when the Eaton and Palisades fires began, an emergency proclamation was in place, which activated price gouging protections. Price gouging protections put in place by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors were also in place until March 29, 2026.
As part of the settlement, the hotel has to “modify any automated, algorithmic or other pricing systems to ensure prices are not unlawfully increased during a declared state of emergency,” the district attorney’s office said, and refund and pay restitution to eligible guests who stayed at the property during the protected period and paid above the maximum rate allowed.
The refunds owed for the period of time between January and April 2025 is at least $216,000, according to the district attorney’s office.
Any refunds that cannot be issued to guests will be paid to the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.
“The Hotel offers hotel rooms for rent in Pasadena, describing itself as ‘Los Angeles’ original getaway’ that is an ‘iconic landmark hotel located minutes from downtown Los Angeles’ and ‘a renowned Pasadena hotel for more than 100 years.’ The Hotel is a large property that features ‘379 guestrooms including 36 suites, eight cottages, and world-class dining,’” according to a complaint submitted in the lawsuit. The hotel’s website advertises luxury rooms, dining and wellness experiences.
“It is reprehensible to overcharge and take advantage of wildfire victims who were in desperate need of housing as they fled their homes from raging fires last year,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “During a time when our community was meant to come together to help those in need, Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation profited from other people’s tragedies. Since the devastating fires, my office has been working closely with our law enforcement and consumer agency partners to combat price gouging, looting, unlicensed contracting and other crimes of opportunity in disaster zones.”
Airbnb and landlords also have faced lawsuits related to alleged price gouging during the 2025 wildfires.
