it's illegal for a hotel to charge a service fee for drinks.

The specific reasons why it is illegal to collect the service charge for drinks are as follows:

1. It is illegal to collect the service charge for bring your own drinks. The service charge for bring your own drinks is an unreasonable overlord clause, which limits consumers' right to choose independently and the right to fair trade. You can complain to the Consumer Protection Association or report to the market supervision department, or you can directly bring a lawsuit to the court to protect your legal rights.

2. Article 9 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests stipulates that consumers have the right to choose their own goods or services. Consumers have the right to choose their own operators to provide goods or services, choose their own varieties of goods or services, and decide whether to buy or not to buy any kind of goods or accept or not to accept any kind of services.

3. Article 11 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests stipulates that consumers have the right to fair trade. When purchasing goods or receiving services, consumers have the right to obtain fair trading conditions such as quality assurance, reasonable price and correct measurement, and have the right to refuse the compulsory trading behavior of operators.

as the name implies, the service fee for drinks should be the cost of providing corresponding wine service for the drinks brought by consumers. Some merchants directly said when charging the service fee for drinks that since the restaurant provided drinking glasses, the cleaning of the glasses needed corresponding fees. If the guests brought their own glasses, the bottle opening fee could be exempted. Perhaps it is precisely because it is often hidden behind the menu and avoided by all parties, so it is controversial among consumers.

hotels that don't allow bringing their own drinks can complain to the market supervision bureau or the consumers' association. "Prohibition of bringing your own drinks" and "minimum consumption in private rooms" are unfair and unreasonable provisions made by catering operators to increase consumer responsibility by taking advantage of their dominant position, which violates relevant laws and regulations and belongs to the overlord clause. Consumers may request the people's court to confirm that the overlord clause is invalid.

to sum up, it is necessary to judge whether it is legal for a hotel to charge a wine service fee according to local regulations and standards. Consumers should understand the relevant regulations and standards in order to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

Legal basis:

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests

Article 26

Obligatory operators who use format clauses correctly should draw consumers' attention to the quantity and quality of goods or services, price or expenses, time limit and method of performance, safety precautions and risk warning, after-sales service, civil liability and other matters of great interest to consumers in a significant way.

operators are not allowed to make unfair and unreasonable provisions to consumers, such as excluding or restricting consumers' rights, reducing or exempting operators' responsibilities, and aggravating consumers' responsibilities, by means of format clauses, notices, statements, shop notices, etc., and are not allowed to use format clauses and technical means to force transactions.