A luxury resort in northern San Diego County recently began banning guests under the age of 18 from staying overnight to create a “tranquil” experience for adults.
The move by the Alila Marea Beach Resort, located in the city of Encinitas, has raised the question of whether making a hotel “adult-only” potentially violates California civil rights laws that ensure equal access to businesses and public accommodations.
The hotel said on its website that the policy, which went into effect on Feb. 14, aims to create an experience “tailored to adult travelers seeking relaxation, exploration and a peaceful stay by the beach.”
It mirrors other Alila Marea properties across the world, including two in California, that only accommodate adults on site. However, a spokesperson for the resort said kids are still welcome to attend events on-site or dine at its restaurants.
The policy is also not unique among short-term accommodations in San Diego County. Countless hostels have age restrictions in place, as well as other major resorts like a Vista health spa hotel and the two major casino resorts — Sycuan and Viejas.
So, is Alila Marea Beach Resort’s policy legal? Experts say it depends.
California has rather broad protections against discrimination by businesses under a 1959 law called the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The law prevents enterprises from implementing policies that arbitrarily deny equal access to their services based on a person’s characteristics, like race or sex.
According to the state’s Civil Rights Department, unlawful policies could be akin to a doctor refusing to treat a patient who has been diagnosed as HIV positive, hosting “ladies night” discounts at a bar, or preventing someone with a service dog from entering a store.
That’s not to say businesses have to serve everyone. Legal experts explain there needs to be a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason or compelling social interest to restrict its business to a subset of the public.
Examples offered by state officials include rental car agencies not renting to people under 25 years old, a funeral home excluding uninvited guests from a private service, or a restaurant refusing to serve a customer with a history of disruptive behavior.
As for hotels, there can be sound reasons for implementing age-restrictive policies, notably if allowing kids would violate other state laws — as in the case of San Diego’s casino resorts due to the state’s minimum gambling age of 21.
But beyond that, businesses like hotels are generally not allowed to adopt blanket policies prohibiting guests under a certain age, even if they are “nosier, rowdier, more mischievous and more boisterous” than adults, as the California Supreme Court wrote in a 1983 opinion.
Whether Alila Marea Beach Resort’s policy would hold up against legal snuff remains an open question, because it’s unclear if maintaining a peaceful environment for adults is a compelling enough reason to exempt the civil rights law.
Violations of the law could hit the hotel with a $4,000 fine for each instance.
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to the hotel and Hyatt for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.
