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The definition of a lodging establishment One or more sleeping rooms The dates Where the ban applies Which includes shared bathrooms The penalties escalate Other states have their own versions And this is the supplier's problem too One more reason to know the text exactly References

Vacation rental is in the definition. A lot of people assume this is a hotel rule.

The definition of a lodging establishment

"An establishment that contains one or more sleeping room accommodations that are rented or otherwise provided to the public, including, but not limited to, a hotel, motel, resort, bed and breakfast inn, or vacation rental."

One or more sleeping rooms

Which is as low a threshold as a definition can set. A single rented room is a lodging establishment for this purpose, and the room-count tiers go to the compliance date rather than to whether the rule applies.

The dates

1 January 2023 for establishments with more than 50 rooms, and 1 January 2024 for 50 rooms or fewer. Both are behind us, so this is in force for everybody it covers.

Where the ban applies

Providing a small plastic bottle containing a personal care product to a guest in a sleeping room, in any space within it, or in a bathroom shared by the public or guests.

Which includes shared bathrooms

So a hostel, a bed and breakfast with a shared bath or a venue with public washrooms used by guests is inside the rule, not only the ensuite.

The penalties escalate

A written warning for a first violation, then up to $500 a day with an annual cap, and civil penalties from $500 to $2,000. It is a real enforcement regime rather than an aspiration.

Other states have their own versions

New York, Illinois and Washington among them, on their own timetables and with their own definitions. Supplying nationally means reading each one rather than assuming California covers it.

And this is the supplier's problem too

Your customer is the one fined, and they will buy from whoever made the compliant choice obvious. Knowing the definition precisely is a selling position rather than a compliance burden.

One more reason to know the text exactly

A buyer who has read it will ask about capacity, about lotion and about whether a glass bottle is allowed. Those are the three questions, and a supplier who answers them from the statute rather than from a brochure wins the conversation before price comes up.

References

California Public Resources Code 42372 and following, added by AB 1162. A "small plastic bottle" is "a plastic bottle or container with less than a 6-ounce capacity that is intended to be nonreusable by the end user". A "lodging establishment" is "an establishment that contains one or more sleeping room accommodations that are rented or otherwise provided to the public, including, but not limited to, a hotel, motel, resort, bed and breakfast inn, or vacation rental". A "personal care product" for this purpose "shall include only shampoo, hair conditioner, and bath soap". In force from 1 January 2023 above 50 rooms and 1 January 2024 at 50 rooms or fewer, with a written warning for a first violation and up to $500 a day thereafter. codes.findlaw.com

New York, Illinois and Washington have enacted comparable measures on their own timetables and with their own definitions. This property quotes California because that text would serve to us. Read the statute that applies to the state you are supplying rather than assuming the definitions match; the capacity threshold, the named products and the room-count tiers are all places they can differ.

Written from California Public Resources Code 42372 and following, and from the catalog as it stood on 18 October 2026. Other states have enacted comparable measures with their own definitions and dates, which this property names rather than quotes; read the one that applies to you. Amenity products are also cosmetics, which the grooming property covers.