Can Hotels Charge Pet Fees in Colorado? What’s Legal and What Isn’t

Colorado made headlines for capping how much landlords can charge tenants with pets, but that same law has nothing to do with the pet fee a hotel charges you at check-in. If you have ever wondered whether a Colorado hotel can legally tack on a $75 pet fee, or whether that charge disappears the moment you mention a service dog, the answer depends on which body of law actually applies to your stay.

This guide breaks down what Colorado hotels can and cannot charge for pets, why service animals are treated completely differently from emotional support animals, and what to do if a front desk clerk tries to charge you a fee the law says you should not have to pay. For related rules on traveling with animals in the state, see our overview of pet import laws in Colorado and more Colorado pet law coverage.

Can Hotels Charge Regular Pet Fees in Colorado

Yes. For an ordinary pet, a Colorado hotel is generally free to charge whatever pet fee it wants, because hotels operate under public accommodation law rather than landlord-tenant law. The rental pet rent caps that made news in 2024 came from House Bill 23-1068, which specifically places new restrictions on landlords when renting to tenants, capping monthly pet rent and pet deposits in residential leases for the first time.

That statute governs apartments, houses, and other long-term rentals. It says nothing about hotels, motels, or short-term lodging, which is why a hotel down the street from a capped apartment complex can still charge a flat pet fee with no dollar limit written into state law.

Lawmakers have noticed the gap. During debate on the 2023 rental pet bill, one legislator argued that many hotels charge “outrageous” fees for bringing along pets and pushed to cap hotel pet fees at 10% of the room price or $50, dropping to 5% and $25 for non-shedding pets. That amendment failed only because it was ruled outside the scope of the rental bill, though the bill’s sponsor agreed to consider a separate bill addressing hotel fees specifically. As of this writing, no such bill has become law, so hotel pet fees for regular pets remain unregulated by statute.

Pro Tip: Because Colorado has no statewide cap on hotel pet fees, always check the hotel’s pet policy page or call the front desk before booking. Fees can be charged per night, per stay, or as a flat non-refundable amount depending on the property.

Service Animals: Why Hotels Cannot Charge a Fee

Service animals sit in a completely different legal category, and this is where hotels lose almost all pricing flexibility. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a service animal is a dog individually trained to perform specific tasks for an individual with a disability, and Colorado’s own civil rights law mirrors that federal standard for public accommodations.

Because a hotel qualifies as a public accommodation, it must treat a guest with a service animal exactly like any other guest. If a business requires a deposit or fee from patrons with pets, it must waive that charge for service animals, whether the fee is labeled a pet fee, a cleaning fee, or a deposit. A Colorado law firm that regularly advises hospitality clients puts it plainly: “An upfront fee or cleaning deposit for service animals is not allowed” under the ADA, and businesses cannot charge for cleaning hair or dander a service dog might leave behind.

There is one important exception. A hotel that would normally bill any guest for property damage can still bill a guest whose service animal causes real damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. The rule against fees is about access, not about erasing accountability for actual harm to the room.

Animal Type	Governing Law	Can Hotel Charge a Pet Fee
Regular pet	No specific statute; hotel discretion	Yes, no state dollar cap
Service animal (ADA-qualifying)	ADA / Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act	No, fee/deposit must be waived
Emotional support animal	No public accommodation protection in CO	Hotel’s choice; often treated as a pet

Staff can ask only two questions if the disability is not obvious: whether the animal is a service animal required because of a disability, and what task it is trained to perform. Beyond that, you cannot be charged a special admission fee or required to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you.

Emotional Support Animals: Do Colorado’s Laws Offer Extra Protection

This is where many travelers get tripped up, because emotional support animals get strong protection in one context and almost none in another. The ADA does not recognize emotional support animals as service animals at all, since ESAs are not trained to perform a specific task related to a disability. That distinction carries straight into how Colorado hotels can treat them.

In housing, an ESA is treated as a disability accommodation rather than a pet, and landlords generally cannot charge extra for one. But a hotel stay is not housing; it is a public accommodation transaction, and Colorado law reflects that gap. As one Colorado-focused legal resource explains, Colorado doesn’t require owners and proprietors of businesses and public spaces to allow emotional support animals, and if you want to bring an ESA into a hotel or restaurant, it is best to call ahead and confirm the property’s policy.

Important Note: Colorado’s House Bill 26-1045 added formal definitions of “assistance animal” into the state’s anti-discrimination framework in 2026, strengthening ESA protections in housing. That update does not change the ADA’s public accommodation rules that hotels follow, so most Colorado hotels can still choose whether to waive pet fees for ESAs.

There is also a legal risk in claiming a pet is an ESA just to dodge a fee. Colorado law makes it a class 2 petty offense to pass off a pet as an emotional support animal to avoid pet fees, with fines ranging from $45 to $500. A separate Denver-area civil rights brochure confirms this is not a new idea; it has been a crime to knowingly misrepresent an assistance animal to avoid pet fees since House Bill 16-1426 took effect in 2017.

Pet Fee vs. Pet Deposit: What’s Legal in Colorado

The words “fee” and “deposit” get used interchangeably by front desk staff, but they mean different things and carry different rules depending on whether you are renting an apartment or booking a hotel room. A pet fee is typically a one-time, non-refundable charge, while a pet deposit is refundable and meant to cover potential damage.

For rental housing, Colorado has drawn a hard line: nonrefundable “pet fees” in addition to the capped deposit and pet rent are not allowed under current landlord-tenant law, and any deposit a landlord does collect is capped at $300 and must be refundable. That is why you may have seen headlines saying non-refundable pet fees are now illegal in Colorado, they are, but only in the rental housing context.

Hotels are not bound by that same rule. A Colorado hotel can legally charge a flat, non-refundable pet fee, a refundable pet deposit, or a combination of both, and it can set the terms however it likes because public accommodation law does not regulate fee structure the way HB23-1068 regulates leases. If you are also weighing where to bring a pet within city limits, our guide to leash laws in Colorado and dog breed restrictions in Colorado covers rules that apply once you are outside the hotel room too.

Pro Tip: Before you book, ask specifically whether the hotel’s charge is refundable. A “$75 pet fee” and a “$75 refundable pet deposit” sound similar but have very different implications for your final bill at checkout.

Are There Limits on How Much Hotels Can Charge in Colorado

Unlike landlords, who face a hard statutory ceiling, Colorado hotels currently face no dollar or percentage cap on regular pet fees. The closest the state has come was the 2023 legislative push to cap hotel pet fees at 10% of the listed room price or $50, dropping to 5% and $25 for pets that don’t shed, an idea that failed only because it was ruled outside the scope of the rental bill being debated.

That same lawmaker secured a commitment from the bill’s lead sponsor to work on a standalone hotel pet fee bill. No such law has passed as of this writing, which means individual hotels and hotel chains set their own pet fee amounts, and those amounts can vary significantly from one property to the next, even within the same brand.

Important Note: Because hotel pet fee caps have been proposed but not enacted, it is worth checking Colorado legislative updates each year if you travel with pets frequently. A future bill could change these rules with little advance notice to travelers.

For service animals, the “limit” is effectively zero, since hotels must waive pet-related fees and deposits entirely for ADA-qualifying animals regardless of what the hotel normally charges other guests with pets.

What to Do If a Hotel Charges You Illegally in Colorado

Your options differ depending on what kind of animal you brought and what kind of fee was charged. Start with these steps:

1. Raise it with hotel management first. Many illegal service-animal fees are front-desk mistakes rather than deliberate policy, and a manager can often reverse the charge on the spot.
2. Document everything. Keep your receipt, the hotel’s written pet policy if available, and any emails or texts confirming the fee was applied to a service animal.
3. File with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. For a service-animal fee that was not waived, this counts as public accommodation discrimination. You can call the CCRD at 303-894-2997 or file a complaint online through CaseConnect.
4. Watch the deadline. Complaints of public accommodation discrimination in Colorado must be filed within sixty days of the alleged discriminatory act, or the claim is barred, so do not wait.
5. Consider a federal ADA complaint. The U.S. Department of Justice also accepts ADA-related complaints against hotels, which can run alongside a state filing.

If the disputed charge was a regular pet fee, not a service-animal fee, your leverage is more limited since Colorado has no statute capping that amount. In that case, dispute the charge directly with the hotel, point to their own posted pet policy if the fee did not match what was advertised at booking, and escalate to your credit card issuer’s dispute process if the hotel refuses to correct an amount that contradicts its own stated terms. Reviewing our broader look at Colorado pet policies and fee rules can also help you understand how these hotel-specific rules compare to the rental protections tenants already have, and our dog leash laws in Colorado page covers what to expect once you and your pet step outside the room.