Hilton, Hyatt Among Hotel Chains Hit With Room Price-Fixing Suit

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corp. are among a group of hotel chain operators accused of inflating the cost of luxury hotel rooms with help from a price-setting database.

Hotel room renters allege in a lawsuit they paid higher prices for luxury hotel rooms because of an agreement between the hotel chains to share competitively sensitive information about their prices, supply, and future plans through an intermediary. The intermediary is Smith Travel Research, a division of CoStar Group Inc., according to a Tuesday complaint filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Other defendants ...