You’re right, that’s probably not the right term. What I mean is that hotels are considered a quasi public utility, in the same way as taxi services - private b

You’re right, that’s probably not the right term. What I mean is that hotels are considered a quasi public utility, in the same way as taxi services - private businesses that are essential to proper functioning of a community and as such are heavily regulated. And in part for this exact reason - when there are emergencies, we expect them to be available for people to use as temporary housing without being charged “surge pricing” - and that’s written into the law in most states.