The short version
A US inn, hotel, or motel that is open to the public generally has to allow a service dog, even on a no-pets stay, and it may not charge a pet surcharge for that dog. When it is not obvious, staff may ask only two questions: is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task has it been trained to perform. They may not require papers or a vest. They may charge for damage if they charge other guests for the same kind of damage. The regulation does not use the word deposit. An emotional support animal is not a service animal under that hotel rule. Airlines use a different rule and may require a Department of Transportation form. In housing, HUD’s May 22, 2026 enforcement memo says it will pursue a pet-policy waiver only for an animal individually trained to do disability-related work or tasks, and that the older notices treating untrained emotional support animals as a blanket waiver have been withdrawn.
This is general information from the government pages linked here, read on Oct 24, 2026. It is not legal advice and it is not a ruling on your reservation. ADA.gov says its service-animal FAQ and topic page are guidance and are not themselves binding law. The hotel rule quoted here is 28 CFR 36.104 and 28 CFR 36.302(c). The airline rule is 14 CFR Part 382. The housing notes are 24 CFR 100.204, 24 CFR 5.303, HUD’s May 22, 2026 enforcement memorandum, and the Federal Register notice that withdrew the older HUD assistance-animal notices.
The pet fee, and the word deposit
The hotel rule starts with the definition. A service animal is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. The work has to relate directly to the disability. Emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship is not that work. The same definition says a place of public accommodation includes an inn, hotel, or motel, and some other short-term guest-room places that operate like one. It excepts a lodging with not more than five rooms for rent where the proprietor actually lives in the establishment. Whether a particular booking fits that exception is not stated as a checklist you can apply from a brand name.
For a place that is covered, the regulation says the hotel generally must modify its policies to permit the use of a service animal. People with disabilities must be allowed to bring the service animal into the areas guests are allowed to go. ADA.gov’s FAQ says a guest who uses a service animal must have the same chance to reserve any available room, and may not be restricted to a “pet-friendly” room. A “no pets” policy is one of the policies that generally has to be modified.
On money, the regulation says the hotel shall not ask or require the person to pay a surcharge, even if people accompanied by pets are required to pay fees, or to comply with other requirements that generally do not apply to people without pets. The FAQ states the hotel example in plain words: hotels are not permitted to charge guests for cleaning the hair or dander shed by a service animal. A dollar amount for a forbidden cleaning fee is not stated, because the rule is that the fee is not charged.
The word deposit does not appear in 28 CFR 36.302(c) or in the hotel questions on the FAQ. Not stated, as that word. What is stated is the ban on a surcharge and on other requirements that do not apply to people without pets, plus the ban on a cleaning charge for hair or dander. A damage charge is a separate sentence, below.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab)
The two questions staff may ask
When it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, the FAQ says staff may ask only two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.
The regulation says the same two inquiries in slightly different words: whether the animal is required because of a disability, and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. It also says the hotel shall not ask about the nature or extent of the disability, and shall not require documentation such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal. Generally, staff may not ask even those two questions when it is readily apparent that the dog is trained to do the work, for example a dog observed guiding a person who is blind or pulling a wheelchair.
You can answer the two questions. The pages do not require a script, a special phrase, or a printed card. They also do not say the hotel has to take the answers on faith if the dog is out of control or not housebroken. That limit is in the exclusion section.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
Paperwork, certificates, and a vest
The ADA does not require a service animal to be professionally trained. People with disabilities may train the dog themselves. The dog does have to be trained already. A service animal in training is not a service animal under the ADA. The FAQ says some state or local laws cover animals that are still in training. Which states, and what those laws say about a hotel fee, is not stated on the federal pages we read.
Certification is not required. Covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry. The FAQ says people and organizations sell service-animal certification or registration documents online. Those documents do not convey any rights under the ADA, and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal.
A vest is not required either. The FAQ says the ADA does not require service animals to wear a vest, ID tag, or specific harness. The topic page adds the practical point: because a vest is not required, a dog that is wearing a vest is not necessarily a service animal. The dog still has to be trained to perform a task for a person with a disability.
Local vaccination and ordinary dog licensing can still apply. The FAQ says service animals are not exempt from local animal-control or public-health requirements, and that they are subject to the same licensing and vaccination rules as other dogs. A city may not require the dog to be registered as a service animal as a condition of being in public. A voluntary registry is allowed. A hotel demanding an online certificate is a different request from a city license that applies to every dog, and the FAQ treats those as different rules.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
When a hotel can say no, and when it can charge for damage
The regulation gives two reasons a hotel may ask that the service animal be removed. The animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or the animal is not housebroken. If the hotel properly excludes the animal for one of those reasons, it shall still give the person the chance to obtain the goods, services, and accommodations without the animal on the premises. The FAQ says the same thing for a dog excluded as a direct threat or because it is not under the handler’s control: staff must still offer their goods or services to the person without the animal present.
Under control is specific. The service animal must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered unless the device interferes with the work or the person’s disability prevents its use. In that case the person must use voice, signal, or another effective means. The FAQ says under control also means the dog should not be allowed to bark repeatedly in a quiet place. One bark, or a bark because someone provoked the dog, does not by itself mean the dog is out of control. The handler is responsible for toileting, feeding, grooming, and veterinary care. The hotel is not responsible for the care or supervision of the service animal.
The FAQ is direct about the room: hotel guests are not allowed to leave their service animals in the hotel room when they leave. The dog must be under the handler’s control at all times.
Breed is not a reason to refuse. The ADA does not restrict breeds, and a service animal may not be excluded based on assumptions or stereotypes about the breed. A particular dog may be excluded if that dog poses a direct threat, has a history of that behavior, or is not under the handler’s control. A city breed ban has to make an exception for a service animal unless that particular dog is a direct threat. Fear or a generalization about the breed is not the test the FAQ describes.
The FAQ also says service animals may be prohibited if admitting them would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or program. Its examples are not a guest room. They are a dormitory area reserved for students with dog-dander allergies, and parts of a zoo where the displayed animals are the natural prey or natural predators of dogs. A fundamental-alteration rule for an ordinary hotel room is not stated.
Damage is allowed in a narrow way. If the hotel normally charges guests for damage they cause, it may charge for damage caused by the service animal. The FAQ says if a guest’s service animal causes damage to a guest room, the hotel may charge the same fee for damages as charged to other guests. A dollar amount, a standard cleaning rate, and a deposit amount are not stated. The cleaning fee for hair or dander, above, is the charge the FAQ says is not permitted.
More than one service animal is generally allowed when the person uses more than one dog for different tasks, or two dogs for the same task. Staff may ask the two questions about each dog. The FAQ’s limit is practical space, and its example is a crowded restaurant, not a guest room. A hotel cap of one dog, written for pets, is not stated as a cap on service animals.
Religious institutions and organizations are specifically exempt from the ADA, the FAQ says. There may be state laws that apply to them. A hotel that is not a religious organization is not in that sentence.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)
Emotional support animals at a hotel
No. An emotional support animal, a therapy animal, a comfort animal, or a companion animal is not a service animal under the ADA, because it has not been trained to perform a specific job or task. The topic page says the same thing in shorter words: if the dog’s mere presence provides comfort, it is not a service animal under the ADA. If the dog is trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, the FAQ says that dog is a service animal. The label on a vest does not decide it. The training does.
The no-surcharge sentence and the two-question limit are written for a service animal. They are not stated to apply to an animal whose only role is comfort. The federal pages we read do not say “hotels may charge an emotional support animal a pet fee” as their own rule. They say that animal is not a service animal. A hotel’s pet fee, weight limit, and pet deposit, where the hotel publishes one, are the pet policy. Those brand policies are on the US hotel guide and the no-pet-fee guide. They are not restated here.
The FAQ adds one limit on that answer. Some state or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places, and it says to check with state and local agencies. It does not name the states, and it does not say whether any of those laws forbid a hotel pet fee. Not stated, on the federal pages we opened.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
How hotels differ from flying and from housing
These are three different rules. A hotel night is discussed in the ADA materials as a place of lodging. A flight is not. ADA.gov says commercial airlines do not have to comply with the ADA. The Air Carrier Access Act is the law it names for air travel, and it gives the Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division phone number as 202-366-2220. Housing is discussed separately, as dwellings and housing providers. Whether a hotel stay is also a “dwelling” under the Fair Housing Act is not stated on the pages we read.
On a plane, a service animal means a dog, of any breed or type, individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Species other than dogs, emotional support animals, comfort animals, companionship animals, and service animals in training are not service animals under that part. The airline must allow a service animal to accompany the passenger and must not deny it because of breed or type, or because it may annoy people. The airline does not have to accept more than two service animals for one passenger.
The airline may ask two questions that resemble the hotel questions: whether the animal is required because of a disability, and what work or task it has been trained to perform. It must not ask the person to demonstrate the task or ask about the nature or extent of the disability. Unlike a hotel, the airline may also look for physical indicators such as a harness or vest, and it may require the animal to be harnessed, leashed, or tethered in airport areas it controls and on the aircraft. Unlike a hotel, it may require a current DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form as a condition of cabin travel. On a flight scheduled for 8 hours or more, it may also require a current DOT Service Animal Relief Attestation Form. Current means the form was completed on or after the day the ticket was bought. If the reservation was made more than 48 hours before departure, the airline may require up to 48 hours’ notice by those forms. It is not allowed to require documentation beyond those forms, except to comply with a federal, territorial, or foreign animal-transport rule. A hotel may not require that paperwork. An airline may.
The airline generally cannot charge a passenger with a disability for transporting a service animal, or for other services this part requires. It may charge for damage caused by the service animal if it normally charges people without disabilities for similar damage. It may refuse the animal for a direct threat, a significant disruption or behavior that shows it has not been trained to behave in public, a safety or health requirement, or a missing required form. If it refuses, it must give a written statement of the reason, at the airport or within 10 calendar days. What a particular airline charges when the animal is an emotional support animal, and therefore not a service animal under this rule, is that airline’s pet rule. The cabin-pet guide quotes the airline pages we could read.
In housing, 24 CFR 100.204 says it is unlawful to refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services when the accommodation may be necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. The regulation’s animal example is a blind applicant who needs to live in an apartment with a seeing eye dog despite a no-pets policy. It does not mention emotional support animals, pet fees, or deposits.
24 CFR 5.303 is narrower. In the HUD pet-ownership rules for certain elderly and disability projects, that subpart does not apply to animals used to assist, support, or provide service to persons with disabilities, and project owners and public housing agencies may not enforce the pet policies of that subpart against an animal that is necessary as a reasonable accommodation. HUD’s May 22, 2026 memorandum says this public-housing rule was not itself written to impose those pet rules on private owners nationwide.
That memorandum, from Assistant Secretary Craig W. Trainor to FHEO staff, is the current HUD enforcement note we could open. It says FHEO-2020-01 and the 2013 assistance-animal notice were rescinded on September 17, 2025, and that this memo reconfirms those rescissions. The Federal Register notice published April 6, 2026 says the withdrawal was effective September 17, 2025, that the withdrawn documents should not be relied upon as authoritative, and that they have been removed from HUD.gov. The memo says the 2020 notice had said pet fees could not be assessed for untrained emotional support animals. That is the memo describing a notice it says is rescinded. It is not a current instruction to waive those fees.
Going forward, the memo says FHEO will find reasonable cause for failing to waive a pet policy only where the animal has been individually trained to perform work or tasks directly related to the person’s disability. A request to waive a pet policy for a trained animal is presumptively reasonable. A request to waive it for an untrained emotional support animal is not. FHEO no longer expects housing providers to extend the trained-animal accommodation, categorically, to untrained emotional support animals. Unlike the ADA hotel rule, the memo says a Fair Housing Act animal could be a species other than a dog if it is trained to perform a disability-related service. The memo does not say how HUD will process complaints under Section 504 or the ADA. It says nothing in the memo affects the right to file a private lawsuit, which it describes as a civil action within two years. It also says HUD intends later rulemaking. A new regulation replacing 24 CFR 100.204 is not stated as already in effect.
ADA.gov’s FAQ, last updated February 28, 2020, still says housing providers are obligated under the Fair Housing Act to permit, as a reasonable accommodation, animals that work, provide assistance, or perform tasks, or that provide emotional support to alleviate a symptom or effect of a disability. It points readers to HUD’s notice on assistance animals. That notice is among the documents the 2026 Federal Register notice says were withdrawn. The FAQ and the May 2026 memo do not say the same thing. This page does not choose between them. Both were on the public pages we opened.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.3 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.27 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.72 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.73 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.74 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.75 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.78 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.79 (opens in a new tab) · 24 CFR 100.204 (opens in a new tab) · 24 CFR 5.303 (opens in a new tab) · HUD FHEO enforcement memorandum, May 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Federal Register: HUD withdrawal of FHEO guidance (opens in a new tab)
What to do if a hotel refuses
Start with the two answers the FAQ allows the hotel to hear: whether the dog is a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task it has been trained to perform. You do not have to show a certificate, a registration card, or a vest, and you do not have to make the dog perform the task. If the refusal is that the dog is out of control and nobody is getting it under control, or that it is not housebroken, the regulation allows the hotel to remove the dog and still requires the hotel to let you get the room or the service without the dog there.
If the refusal is a no-pets rule, a pet fee, a missing vest, or missing papers, that is not one of the two removal reasons in 28 CFR 36.302(c)(2), and it sits against the modification duty and the ban on a surcharge. The pages do not promise that saying so at the desk will change the answer. They do say where a complaint can go.
ADA.gov’s complaint page lists a hotel as a private business that serves the public. It sorts complaints by subject. Employment goes to the EEOC. Air travel, involving a specific airline, goes to the Department of Transportation. Housing, such as being denied housing or an accessible living space, goes to HUD. Other issues, which is the group that includes a hotel on that page, are filed with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.
The complaint page gives two ways to file with the Department of Justice. Online, by the Civil Rights Division report link on that page. Or by mail: fill out the paper ADA complaint form, in regular or large print, or send a letter containing the same information, to U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530. The questions on the form are not printed in the page we read. Not stated, here.
The same page says the Department cannot investigate every complaint. It may refer a complaint to the ADA Mediation Program, which it describes as voluntary and confidential, or to another federal agency. It may ask for more information or investigate, which could lead to a settlement or a lawsuit. Review can take up to three months. If you have not heard by then, the page says you can call the ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 1-833-610-1264 (TTY). The FAQ says calls to that line are confidential. The FAQ also says individuals who believe they were illegally denied access or service because they use service animals may file a complaint with the Department of Justice, and that they have the right to file a private lawsuit in federal court. This guide is repeating that sentence. It is not telling you to sue, and it is not telling you that a complaint will succeed.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov file a complaint (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
The Pawsport
A weekly note of pet-friendly trips: cities, walks, and stays that are glad you brought the dog.
Hotels, planes, and housing
The same dog can be treated three ways. Read the row for the trip you are actually taking. “Not stated” means the page we opened does not say.
| Question | Hotel | Plane | Housing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which rule | An inn, hotel, or motel that is a place of public accommodation, plus some other short-term guest-room places that operate like one. A lodging with five or fewer rooms for rent, where the owner lives there, is the exception in the definition. | Airlines. ADA.gov says the ADA does not cover commercial airlines. The rule we read is 14 CFR Part 382. | Housing providers and dwellings. Whether a hotel stay is also a dwelling is not stated on these pages. |
| Pet fee | No surcharge, even when people with pets pay a fee. No cleaning charge for hair or dander. The word deposit is not stated. | A carrier generally cannot charge for transporting a service animal. What it charges for an animal that is not a service animal is that airline’s pet rule. | 24 CFR 100.204’s example is a seeing eye dog in a no-pets building. It does not mention a fee. HUD’s May 22, 2026 memo says it will pursue a refused pet-policy waiver only when the animal is individually trained to do disability-related work or tasks. |
| Paperwork | Staff may not require a certificate, a license, or other proof. The Department of Justice does not recognize online service-dog certificates. | The airline may require the DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form, and on a flight of 8 hours or more a relief form. Other paperwork is not allowed except to meet a government animal-transport rule. | The May 2026 memo says the 2020 notice’s documentation guidance is rescinded. A replacement form is not stated. |
| Vest | Not required. A vest does not prove the dog is a service animal. | Staff may look at a harness or vest as one indicator, and may require a harness, leash, or tether. A vest is not stated to be mandatory. | A vest rule is not stated in 24 CFR 100.204 or in the May 2026 memo. |
| Emotional support animal | Not a service animal if it only provides comfort by being there. A dog trained to take a specific action for a disability, including a psychiatric disability, is a service animal. | Emotional support animals are not service animals under 14 CFR 382.3. | The May 2026 memo says an untrained emotional support animal is not a presumptive reason to waive a pet policy. ADA.gov’s February 28, 2020 FAQ still describes a broader housing duty and points to a HUD notice that has since been withdrawn. |
| Removal and damage | The hotel may remove the dog if it is out of control and the handler does not act, or if it is not housebroken, and must still offer the stay without the dog. It may charge for damage if it charges other guests for the same kind of damage. | The airline may refuse the animal for a direct threat, a significant disruption, a safety or health rule, or a missing required form. It may charge for similar damage. It need not accept more than two service animals per passenger. | A hotel-style removal test is not stated in 24 CFR 100.204. A damage-fee amount is not stated in the May 2026 memo. |
Checked · 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.3 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.73 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.74 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.75 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.78 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.79 (opens in a new tab) · 24 CFR 100.204 (opens in a new tab) · HUD FHEO enforcement memorandum, May 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Federal Register: HUD withdrawal of FHEO guidance (opens in a new tab)
Your questions, answered
The feeCan a US hotel charge a pet fee for a service dog?
Generally, no. 28 CFR 36.302(c) says a public accommodation shall not require a person with a disability to pay a surcharge, even if people with pets pay fees, or to follow other requirements that do not apply to people without pets. ADA.gov’s FAQ says hotels are not permitted to charge for cleaning the hair or dander shed by a service animal. The rule applies to an inn, hotel, or motel that is a place of public accommodation, with a stated exception for a lodging of not more than five rooms for rent where the proprietor lives in the establishment. A dollar amount is not stated.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)
The depositCan a hotel charge a pet deposit for a service dog?
The word deposit is not stated in 28 CFR 36.302(c) or in the hotel questions on the ADA service-animal FAQ. What those pages do state is a ban on a surcharge and on other requirements that do not apply to people without pets, and a ban on a cleaning fee for hair or dander. They also say a hotel may charge for damage the service animal causes if it charges other guests for damage.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)
PaperworkCan a hotel ask for paperwork or a vest?
No. Staff may not require documentation, and the ADA does not require a vest, ID tag, or specific harness. The Department of Justice does not recognize online certification or registration documents as proof. A vest also does not prove that a dog is a service animal. Ordinary local licensing and vaccination rules that apply to all dogs still apply. A city may not require registration as a service animal as a condition of entry.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
Two questionsWhat two questions may hotel staff ask about a service dog?
When it is not obvious, staff may ask only: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? They may not ask the dog to demonstrate the task, and they may not ask about the disability. If the work is readily apparent, the regulation says staff generally may not ask even those two questions.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
Emotional supportDo emotional support animals get the same hotel rights as service dogs?
No. Under the ADA, emotional support, therapy, comfort, and companion animals are not service animals, because comfort from being there is not a trained task. The no-surcharge rule is written for a service animal. It is not stated to apply to an animal whose only role is comfort. A dog trained to take a specific action related to a disability, including a psychiatric disability, is a service animal. Some state or local laws allow emotional support animals in public places. Which states, and whether they bar a hotel pet fee, is not stated on the federal pages we read.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab)
Flying and housingHow is a hotel different from flying and from housing?
Airlines are not covered by the ADA. Under 14 CFR 382.3, emotional support animals are not service animals, and an airline may require DOT forms that a hotel may not require. The airline generally cannot charge to transport a service animal. In housing, 24 CFR 100.204’s example is a seeing eye dog in a no-pets apartment. HUD’s May 22, 2026 memo says FHEO will pursue a pet-policy waiver only for an individually trained animal, and that the 2013 and 2020 assistance-animal notices were withdrawn effective September 17, 2025. ADA.gov’s FAQ, last updated February 28, 2020, still describes a broader housing duty. The two pages do not match. Whether a hotel stay is a Fair Housing Act dwelling is not stated.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.3 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.75 (opens in a new tab) · 14 CFR 382.78 (opens in a new tab) · 24 CFR 100.204 (opens in a new tab) · HUD FHEO enforcement memorandum, May 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Federal Register: HUD withdrawal of FHEO guidance (opens in a new tab)
ExclusionCan a hotel make a service dog leave?
Yes, in the situations the regulation names. The hotel may remove the animal if it is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or if it is not housebroken. The person must still be offered the goods, services, and room without the animal. A breed stereotype is not a reason. A direct threat is decided for that dog, not for the breed. The dog also may not be left alone in the room. The handler is responsible for its care.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)
DamageCan a hotel charge for damage a service dog causes?
Yes, if the hotel normally charges guests for damage they cause. The FAQ says the hotel may charge the same damage fee it charges other guests. It may not charge a cleaning fee for hair or dander. A dollar amount is not stated.
Checked · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)
If the hotel says noWhat can I do if a hotel refuses my service dog?
You can answer the two permitted questions. You do not have to show papers or a vest. If the dog is properly excluded, the hotel still has to offer the stay without the dog. ADA.gov says a hotel complaint that is not an employment, airline, or housing issue is filed with the Department of Justice, online through the link on its complaint page or by mail to the Civil Rights Division, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530. The Department says it cannot investigate every complaint and that review can take up to three months. The ADA Information Line is 800-514-0301, or 1-833-610-1264 (TTY). The FAQ also says you may file a private lawsuit in federal court. This is general information, not a recommendation to sue.
Checked · ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab) · ADA.gov file a complaint (opens in a new tab) · 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)
Sources we opened
Every factual sentence above comes from one of these pages. We read them on . If a page does not say it, this guide says “not stated.”
- ADA.gov service animals topic (opens in a new tab)Checked
- ADA.gov service animal FAQ (opens in a new tab)Checked
- ADA.gov file a complaint (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 28 CFR 36.104 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 28 CFR 36.302 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.3 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.27 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.72 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.73 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.74 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.75 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.78 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 14 CFR 382.79 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 24 CFR 100.204 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- 24 CFR 5.303 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- HUD FHEO enforcement memorandum, May 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Checked
- Federal Register: HUD withdrawal of FHEO guidance (opens in a new tab)Checked