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Post by bostonmama on May 26, 2015 18:43:13 GMT
What's next?! Charging for clean towels?! This past weekend we had friends visiting a resort town about 45 minutes from us. We made plans to spend the day with them at their hotel but decided just to stay the weekend outselves and make a mini-vacation of it. The room was $199/night, parking was $17/day, and there was an additional resort fee of $25/day. We chose to eat off property one night, which meant calling for our car ($17 was for valet, no self-parking) and tipping the valet. We stayed two nights, but chose not to use housekeeping. I, admittedly, did not leave a tip for housekeeping at the end of our stay. We knew the fees ahead of time and budgeted accordingly, but I left wondering what we were actually paying for in the room rate! Why are we charged extra for USING the hotel we are paying to stay at?! And if self-parking isn't an option, why not include parking in the room rate or resort fee?! Can anyone make any sense of the way hotels charge these days?! IS there any sense to be made?!  |
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 17:31:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 18:44:57 GMT
Resort fee? That's a new one.
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valincal
Drama Llama
Southern Alberta
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Post by valincal on May 26, 2015 18:45:00 GMT
Yes, it's crazy!
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basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by basketdiva on May 26, 2015 18:46:43 GMT
Those "resort" fees really annoy me. At the most I read the paper and use the internet in my room. I don't use the gym, pool, business center, etc. yet I have to pay for it being available.
We stayed at hotel with self-parking and valet. We had to pay $30 a day for parking in a damp, dark, ramped parking garage.
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kelly8875
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Post by kelly8875 on May 26, 2015 18:48:48 GMT
Because people will pay the room rate. And then the fees on top. They wouldn't pay the room rate if it was the whole amount lumped together. It's how most consumers think...
It's just part of marketing to the consumer.
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Post by cmpeter on May 26, 2015 18:51:07 GMT
I think of it like the baggage fees and fees for food on a plane. It allows the hotel to advertise a lower rate, even though it's misleading.
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 17:31:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 18:51:42 GMT
Those "resort" fees really annoy me. At the most I read the paper and use the internet in my room. I don't use the gym, pool, business center, etc. yet I have to pay for it being available. But you could have if you had wanted to. If they didn't offer all these amenities as a package deal--bundled with the room rate--we would all be complaining about the excessive nickel and dime charges for the pool and the business center and the gym. Can't win. |
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Post by bc2ca on May 26, 2015 18:51:45 GMT
I've seen resort fees around for a while and don't get the concept at all. It was when booking through Expedia that I first noticed that resort fees and parking were extra and would have to be paid at check-out. I think it is just a way to make up for some of the lost revenue with wildly different room rates available through discount sites.
ETA we stayed at a Westin in Palm Springs a few years ago where a daily wrist band had to be worn to show we had paid resort fees to access to the pool, etc., so the resort fee must have been optional there
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 18:51:45 GMT
I hate it too. It's just a way to increase the price without having to advertise higher prices. Rooms seem like a great deal, until you realize all the other add-ons that you HAVE to pay. They can offer "great" prices on the mass booking sites or extreme discounts via things like Groupon, but in the end, you're paying a lot more than you expected to.
It's basically bait & switch IMO, because those fees are generally not disclosed in a consumer-friendly way, and I expect that we'll see regulations governing this in the not too distant future.
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Rhondito
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MississipPea
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Post by Rhondito on May 26, 2015 19:05:17 GMT
Sometimes the resort fee is a special tax levied by local municipalities. You would think it would be added into the total room fee but like others said, that would make the price seem higher on booking sites.
Adding the parking fee into the room rate wouldn't work because not all people have cars.
It's all ridiculous though... all the extra fees on hotels and air fare make me insane. You think you've found a good rate, but nooo....
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Peamac
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Refupea # 418
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Post by Peamac on May 26, 2015 19:12:45 GMT
The fees can be really crazy! We've stayed in a few hotels like that, but haven't had to pay the fees since it was a work trip for DH. Sometimes you can get the resort fee waived if you're not going to use the gym/exercise room or other amentities that it pays for. I would imagine it would be difficult for the hotel to keep track of everyone using the pool, though.
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Post by cadoodlebug on May 26, 2015 19:15:55 GMT
Resort fee? That's a new one. We've been seeing them for the last 10 - 15 years. Just another way for hotels to charge for things you may not want to use. |
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Post by auntkelly on May 26, 2015 19:27:35 GMT
I remember back in the days before cell phones when the hotels would charge exorbitant rates for local and long distance calls. They get you one way or the other.
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Post by Butterfly Momma on May 26, 2015 19:39:57 GMT
I stayed at a 5 star resort, this winter in Cuba, that only changed the towels every third day. Otherwise there was a fee per towel. And in a room that could have 4 guests, there were 4 towels and no extra towels at the pool. So those 4 towels, for a family, would have been showering and swimming.
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christinec68
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Post by christinec68 on May 26, 2015 19:40:04 GMT
I've seen resort fees for a while, it's annoying because I'd really rather know the grand total up front. Although, I find they are more transparent now. I remember years ago getting blindsided by the extra resort fee at check in. I always wondered, but never checked, if it has to do with taxes. In general hotels rates are charged sales & hospitality tax or something and maybe the resort fee, since it's for services, is excluded from the hospitality tax and billing it separately is a way around charging tax.
But I am surprised there's a parking and valet fee for the same day*. Anytime, I have stayed at a resort with a parking fee, it included unlimited in & out privileges (tips were of course extra).
(eta) *when valet is the only on site option.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 19:41:56 GMT
..., and I expect that we'll see regulations governing this in the not too distant future. I doubt that. Often it's municipalities and governments that require extra taxes on hotel rooms and directly benefit from doing so. |
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Post by mikklynn on May 26, 2015 19:46:34 GMT
The parking fees are ridiculous at some places. What's worse are the taxes on the room.
Slight hijack...I think the worst taxes added are for rental cars. In Phoenix the taxes and fees nearly equal the base rental price.
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NoWomanNoCry
Drama Llama
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Post by NoWomanNoCry on May 26, 2015 19:50:20 GMT
The parking would make me mad because you have no choice but to do valet parking.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 20:24:20 GMT
..., and I expect that we'll see regulations governing this in the not too distant future. I doubt that. Often it's municipalities and governments that require extra taxes on hotel rooms and directly benefit from doing so. But we're not talking about taxes - it's the mandatory resort fees that are especially problematic. They are required for everyone, but aren't included as part of the advertised room cost. |
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Post by Scrapper100 on May 26, 2015 20:28:54 GMT
Around here it has nothing to do with taxes those are a completely different line on your bill. Most larger hotels in California have them and even some smaller ones that weren't as nice as we thought they would be. I also hate when they have parking fees as well. It's just another way to get more money and get people in because most just look at the rate and not the whole cost. We now look to see if they have resort or parking fees and ask tax rates as well since they vary from city to city.
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Post by annabella on May 26, 2015 20:29:18 GMT
I did a girls weekend in Miami and split the cost with my friend, course when I checked out the hotel put the resort fees on my credit card. I told her about it but wasn't about to hassle her to collect so I never got it.
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sweetpeasmom
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Post by sweetpeasmom on May 26, 2015 23:23:33 GMT
The resort fees irk me but I get what they are for. The parking is what bothers me the most though. Seriously charging me to park at the place I am paying to stay? Where the heck else am I going to park?
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Post by bostonmama on May 26, 2015 23:38:23 GMT
The $17/day was their parking rate...Valet was complimentary  (There was no self-parking...you had to valet...for $17/day) |
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Post by hop2 on May 27, 2015 0:18:42 GMT
Resort fee? That's a new one. Not that new, they've had that at Disney for years and years. I actually think that 'resort fee' is a state or county tax that's why its not insude of the room rate but I could be wrong. |
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Post by blondiec47 on May 27, 2015 0:23:58 GMT
Because people will pay the room rate. And then the fees on top. They wouldn't pay the room rate if it was the whole amount lumped together. It's how most consumers think... It's just part of marketing to the consumer. Wow it's just the opposite for me. Like rent, you pay 1 amount; the landlord does not say $x.xx for the mortgage, $x.xx for the electric, $x.xx for the water. Guess it's a good thing I never went into marketing |
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on May 27, 2015 0:24:56 GMT
Sometimes the resort fee is a special tax levied by local municipalities. You would think it would be added into the total room fee but like others said, that would make the price seem higher on booking sites. Adding the parking fee into the room rate wouldn't work because not all people have cars. It's all ridiculous though... all the extra fees on hotels and air fare make me insane. You think you've found a good rate, but nooo.... Some places have hotel or tourist taxes that are added on usually a per room per day tax, but a resort fee is often per person per day, and it is not a tax. |
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on May 27, 2015 0:28:21 GMT
Resort fee? That's a new one. Not that new, they've had that at Disney for years and years. I actually think that 'resort fee' is a state or county tax that's why its not insude of the room rate but I could be wrong. The resort fee is not a tax it is levied to pay for things like pools, golf courses, other facilities. Officially to be a resort the property has to have at least two extra amenities, like a beach, pool, golf course, spa... etc. |
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on May 27, 2015 0:32:20 GMT
Resort fee? That's a new one. They've been charging them in Vegas for years. They're for things like internet, boarding pass printing and I don't recall what else. I've read some Vegas articles that suggest that if you don't use ANY of those amenities, you can ask them to remove the resort fees. Me, personally, I like having interwebz. But I do hate that they're not just part of the room rate when I'm trying to book the room, especially because the various hotels do NOT charge the same rate, even among the same family of hotels. |
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Post by bostonmama on May 27, 2015 0:33:26 GMT
If a Resort Fee is for, say, the use of the pool, what does the room rate cover? Just the actual bed and the location it resides in?! Two hundred dollars a night for literally JUST a place to sleep seems silly.
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Post by txdancermom on May 27, 2015 1:44:09 GMT
Agree, the fees have gotten crazy - really does make you wonder what the room charge is for!
we were in a hotel this weekend (not a real fancy one at that), and there was a charge on our bill of $1 per day for the safe that was in the room! Never seen that before, and the thing that made me made, is the safe in our room didn't work, I had tried. They did waive the charge...but there was nothing before I checked in about the charge
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(There was no self-parking...you had to valet...for $17/day)
