Santa Monica's hotels support thousands of local jobs, fund essential city services, and keep our tourism economy vibrant. Right now, they need our help.
See the Community ImpactWhen visitors come to Santa Monica, they don't just stay in hotels — they eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, and enjoy our beaches, arts, and culture. A strong hospitality industry is the engine that keeps our whole local economy running.
Hotel guests pay Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), a major source of city revenue that helps fund schools, parks, public safety, and infrastructure throughout Santa Monica.
Hotels are one of the largest direct employers in Santa Monica, offering jobs at every skill level — from housekeeping and culinary to management and events — for residents across our community.
Visitors who fill hotel rooms also fill local restaurants, visit local shops, and attend local events. Hotels are a key driver of foot traffic and revenue for small businesses citywide.
A vibrant tourism economy supports property values and attracts continued investment in Santa Monica's neighborhoods, amenities, and public spaces.
Major civic events, festivals, and cultural programs often rely on hotel visitors for attendance and sponsorship. A strong hotel sector supports the cultural life of our whole city.
Santa Monica's identity as a world-class destination depends on high-quality hotels that welcome visitors. When hotels thrive, the whole city's reputation benefits.
Santa Monica's tourism industry is still recovering from the pandemic. Visitor volumes remain dramatically below 2019 levels — yet hotels are being asked to absorb rapidly rising mandatory costs in this uncertain environment.
Source: Santa Monica Travel & Tourism. Visitor recovery has stalled — and in 2024, visitor numbers actually declined from 2023.
Santa Monica hotels are doing their best to support good local jobs while navigating a difficult environment. Costs are rising on every front — even as visitor levels remain well below pre-pandemic norms.
Santa Monica's hotel wage ordinance is automatically linked to Los Angeles — meaning local wages rise whenever LA changes its rules, regardless of Santa Monica's own economic conditions. Hotel worker minimum wages are set to reach ~$25/hour in 2026.
Santa Monica residents and elected officials have no say when the linked wages increase. Decisions made by another city automatically affect our local businesses, our workers, and our city budget.
Santa Monica's hotel wage ordinance applies exclusively to non-union hotels — all of them, regardless of size. Unionized properties are fully exempt, operating instead under their own collective bargaining agreements. All hotels compete for the same visitors, conventions, and tourism dollars, but only non-union hotels bear the cost of the mandate.
Beyond wages, hotels are managing higher insurance premiums, increased utility costs, rising property taxes, and inflationary pressures on supplies and services — all at once.
Business travel and international tourism — two of Santa Monica's key visitor segments — have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, leaving hotels with lower average occupancy and revenue.
When revenues are squeezed, hotels delay renovations, reduce services, and put future development projects on hold — all of which affects the visitor experience and Santa Monica's competitiveness as a destination.
Reasonable people can have different views on the right wage level for hotel workers. But here's a question that should matter to every Santa Monica resident: should our hotel wage policy be set locally by people who know and live in this community — or automatically mirrored from decisions made by another city?
Right now, it's the latter. When Los Angeles adjusts its hotel wage requirements, Santa Monica's wages automatically follow — with no local input, no local vote, and no consideration of Santa Monica's unique economy, recovery status, or workforce needs.
With the ability to set our own hotel wage policy, Santa Monica's elected officials and residents could weigh all the factors that matter to our community:
This isn't about opposing fair wages — it's about ensuring that major decisions affecting Santa Monica's economy are made by and for Santa Monica, based on our own data and our own community's values.
Residents deserve to know who is funding political campaigns and influencing City Council decisions in Santa Monica. Unite Here Local 11 — a regional hospitality union whose members largely do not live in Santa Monica — has become one of the most powerful political forces in our local elections and policy debates.
Unite Here Local 11 poured $275,000 into a single Santa Monica City Council election PAC in 2024 — "Renters and Workers for Santa Monica" — with the majority coming directly from the union's national office. The PAC supported four specific candidates and ran opposition spending against an incumbent councilmember. All four union-backed candidates won seats on the council.
The union formally sponsored a PAC backing a slate of four council candidates in 2024. The slate — endorsed by Unite Here before the race began in earnest — swept all four available seats, giving the union-backed coalition a commanding majority on the City Council.
Residents have repeatedly pushed back against development projects the union supported. When the union lobbied for The Plaza at Santa Monica — the large mixed-use project at 4th/5th & Arizona — a city planning commission survey found 60% of Santa Monica residents opposed the project. The union also supported a controversial hotel redevelopment at Bergamot Station Arts Center that residents strongly opposed.
Most recently, the union has been actively campaigning to place housing and other development on the Santa Monica Airport land — a 227-acre site that voters approved in 2014 (Measure LC) to become a Great Park. The union is helping gather signatures for a ballot measure that would override Measure LC and convert up to 25% of the parkland to housing. Many residents and advocacy groups, including Santa Monica Forward, oppose the effort, warning it risks derailing decades of public planning for the park.
The hotel worker wage ordinance the union championed applies primarily to non-union hotels. Unionized properties operate under separate collective bargaining agreements. Critics note this structure gives the union a financial incentive to push mandates on competitors — not just to raise wages, but to pressure non-union hotels to organize.
During hotel strikes, union members organized early-morning picket lines with bullhorns in Santa Monica neighborhoods, generating significant complaints from residents. When the City Council explored a noise ordinance in response, the union mobilized hundreds of members to fill council chambers — and the ordinance effort was abandoned.
The fundamental question isn't whether hotel workers deserve fair wages — they do. The question is whether a well-funded outside organization should effectively control Santa Monica's City Council and shape local policy to serve its own institutional interests, even when those policies conflict with what Santa Monica residents actually want.
Sources: Santa Monica Daily Press; Santa Monica Next; InfluenceWatch; SM Mirror; Eyes on 11; public campaign finance disclosures. All factual claims are drawn from documented reporting and public records.
Santa Monica's hospitality economy belongs to all of us. Here are four meaningful ways you can help protect it — and ensure local policy reflects the real interests of our community.
One of the most direct things you can do is support local hotels and their on-site restaurants. Every visit helps sustain jobs, generate tax revenue, and demonstrate that our hospitality economy is worth protecting. Choose Santa Monica first when hosting out-of-town guests, planning a staycation, or looking for a great meal.
Reach out to Santa Monica City Council and share your perspective on hotel wage policy, local control, and outside influence in our elections and policymaking. Elected officials need to hear directly from residents — not just from well-funded outside organizations. A personal email or phone call carries real weight.
City Council meetings are open to every resident. Showing up — even just to observe — sends a signal that the community is paying attention. When hotel policy is on the agenda, your presence in the room matters. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St.
When hotel wage policy comes before the Council, provide public comment in support of a small-property exemption and greater local control over Santa Monica's hotel wage policies. Advocate for affordable, balanced policies — and push back against outside influence that doesn't reflect our community's values. You don't need to be an expert; you just need to show up and speak.
Questions or want to get more involved? Reach out directly.
Email Us: savesantamonicahotels@gmail.comThis isn't a choice between workers and businesses. Santa Monica can — and should — do both. We believe in an approach guided by facts, transparency, and genuine local accountability.
The future of Santa Monica's hospitality industry — and the thousands of jobs and millions in community revenue it supports — depends on fair, locally guided policy. Add your voice today.
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