Commercial insurance for Hospitality & Hotels

Guest, liquor, and franchise-driven liability.

Hospitality concentrates the highest premises-liability frequency of any industry. Slips, falls, food-borne illness, guest assaults, employee misconduct. Layer on liquor, brand requirements from a franchisor, and high turnover, and the coverage needs both depth and tight management. The line that surprises operators is liquor liability. Most CGLs exclude it entirely.

Hospitality & Hotels industry illustration

Top risks

The exposures ARIA sees hit hardest. Before they hit you.

Drawn from analysis of mid-market accounts in this class. The structural ones, what's missing from the coverage rather than what it costs, are the ones that end up on a balance sheet.

Risk #1
Liquor liability exclusion
Most CGL forms exclude liquor liability for any insured selling, serving, or furnishing alcohol. Stand-alone liquor liability is required and often missed at renewal when the insured shifts from beer-only to full bar.
Risk #2
Food-borne illness + recall
Norovirus, E. coli, salmonella outbreaks trigger CGL bodily-injury claims plus business interruption from voluntary closures. Loss-of-income coverage for communicable disease is sublimited or excluded on most forms.
Risk #3
Franchise brand requirements
Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and similar franchisors require specific insurance certificates, AI/waiver language, and limit minimums. Non-compliance triggers franchise-agreement default and brand-mandated remediation.

The coverage stack

What a complete coverage stack looks like here.

The lines ARIA recommends for a well-structured coverage stack in this industry, in the order they typically attach.

01Commercial General Liability w/ third-party EPLTabletop layer; third-party EPL for guest-on-employee claims (harassment by guests against staff).
02Liquor Liability (stand-alone)Separate from CGL. Limits sized to risk, typically $1M–$5M for full-service operations.
03Property w/ business income + extended periodLoss-of-income should match realistic re-opening timeline (often 12-24 months for full-service hotel rebuilds).
04Workers' Comp + experience-mod managementHigh-frequency, lower-severity claim environment. Experience-mod discipline is the largest premium variable.
05Cyber Liability w/ payment-card + PIIGuest PII + payment card data make hospitality a frequent breach target. PCI-DSS compliance + cyber sublimits aligned.
06Commercial AutoShuttles, valet exposure, employee-driver risk. Hired/non-owned mandatory for valet operations.
07Crime / Employee DishonestyHospitality has the highest employee-theft frequency by industry. Sub-limit sized to single-shift cash exposure.

Beyond the policy

How prepared is your operation, not only your insurance?

ARIA can now evaluate the controls, dependencies, and operating risks that shape how your business responds before, during, and after a loss. About 3 minutes. A Business Preparedness Score, public website security signals, and the three actions that matter first.

Need an insurance answer first? Run the 60-Second Snapshot →

Same event, two outcomes

Same event. Two different outcomes.

Full-service hotel · norovirus outbreak, 84 guest claims + 21-day closure

Guests at a 240-room hotel report norovirus symptoms over a 6-day period. Health department issues a voluntary closure recommendation. 84 guests file BI claims; news coverage causes 3-month occupancy drop; major event books cancel.

Typical outcome

Hotel's $2M GL responds to the bodily-injury claims (settles 84 at avg $18K = $1.5M). Business interruption claim denied. Communicable disease excluded on the property form. Operator absorbs $2.8M of lost income + $400K of remediation out-of-pocket.

After ARIA's read

RiskMind structure includes a communicable-disease BI endorsement on the property form (now broadly available). $2.8M BI + remediation paid inside the limit. Indicative incremental annual premium for the communicable-disease endorsement: $14K–$22K. Hotel reopens on schedule; occupancy recovers in 4 months instead of 12.

Peer benchmark

What companies your size actually pay.

Annual premium distribution across the full coverage stack for a comparable business in your industry. ARIA refines your exact position once it reads your declarations page.

Full commercial coverage premium

Full-service hotel · 240 rooms · $24M annual revenue

P25 · $280KMedian · $410KP75 · $600K

Illustrative dataset · n=84 mid-market placements in this class

Ready when you are

See what ARIA finds in your insurance.

ARIA pre-loads your hospitality & hotels exposure profile the moment you click. Peer benchmarks, top risks, and the carriers in appetite at your scale.

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Guest, liquor, and franchise-driven liability.