For years I have argued that hotels and online travel agencies should be forced to disclose all-in pricing at all points of the hotel search process. We may finally be one step closer to that goal.
Mandatory “fees” are proliferating at hotels. Quite honestly, it is becoming absurd when even some small towns are tacking on extra “destination” fees for internet, bottles of water, and the use of outdoor swimming pools.
If you need to better understand why these fees are so pernicious, check out this story I wrote on the topic in 2014. There, I noted the following primary issue:
This is deception–bait and switch to get me to click through, knowing full well that had the real price been shown, I would not have clicked through.
> Read More: Why Congress Should Mandate All-In Pricing for Hotels Too
That really gets to the heart of the issue. Hotels and resorts are free to tack on whatever fees they want. I’m not for telling a business they cannot charge what the market will bear. But I am adamant about ensuring that consumers clearly understand what they must pay.
District of Columbia Sues Marriott
Now at least one governmental body is trying to address the issue. The District of Columbia Attorney General has sued Marriott over these fees. If you are so inclined, you can read the full complaint here. DC Attorney General Racine said:
Marriott reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by deceiving consumers about the true price of its hotel rooms. Bait-and-switch advertising and deceptive pricing practices are illegal. With this lawsuit, we are seeking monetary relief for tens of thousands of District consumers who paid hidden resort fees and to force Marriott to be fully transparent about their prices so consumers can make informed decisions when booking hotel rooms.
As noted by One Mile at a Time, the lawsuit points to consumer harm in four main areas:
- Hiding the true price of hotel rooms
- Failing to clearly disclose all booking fees
- Misrepresenting that resort fees are imposed by the government
- Misleading consumers about what resort fees actually pay for
This lawsuit is very good news for consumers.
CONCLUSION
While a patchwork solution from state attorneys general is better than nothing, Congress, under its Commerce Clause power, should regulate this issue once and for all, as it did with airfare.
This is an issue that should unite the right (to encourage an efficient, free-flowing economy) and left (to avoid consumer confusion). I have yet to hear one convincing argument for why this all-in pricing should not be mandated.
How do you feel about resorts fees and all-in pricing at hotels?
No truer words have been spoken ! The “equity capital” people are hard at work to make sure of their returns.
state attorney generals –> state attorneys general
Ugh. That’s what I originally typed. I should not second guess myself. Thanks.
For years I have felt betrayed by the hotel industry in their practice of ad hoc charges and resort fees. I am lifetime platinum it almost all major hotel chains and lifetime titanium elite and Marriott. Not only did they ruin a great program with SPG but their new Bonvoy program leaves very little to be desired by frequent travelers. Once again Marriott continues to deceive and be deceitful the way they charge and change the value of their most loyal members and resort fees on top of that adds insult to injury. Personally I have begun taking my business elsewhere where someone who spends between 75 and 100 nights a year in a hotel room is appreciated. Marriott continues to choose profits over their most loyal and frequent customers. BTW I’ve been in the Marriott rewards program for over 30 years .
Couldn’t agree more Mark. Like you, same MH status and same longevity (35 years this Fall) and very much taking my business to where a little appreciation is shown. Bonvoy is an appropriate name as it is basically Bon Voyage, good bye. We’ve probably tried to find seats in a Concierge Lounge at the same time somewhere over the years. Hope I wasn’t rude.
Are you sure it isn’t states attorney general?
It’s not like there are multiple attorneys general for a single state.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m about as anti-big government as anyone, but this is an area where Congress needs to step in and stop the nonsense. I really don’t care how much a hotel wants to charge, but stop insulting my intelligence and tell me the real nightly rate.
It’s been my personal policy not to do business with hotels that charge these junk fees from the beginning, though I feel like I’m tilting at windmills. Hilton/Hyatt/IHG/Marriott just lost several thousand dollars in revenue from a family trip to Hawai’i this Christmas, all because of their decision to tack on a $30 a night junk fee to make their rooms appear artificially cheap when searching. I really need to Tweet them to let them know!
Let’s get going on this, write to your states attorney General
Lol, good luck getting that to happen with Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate. Also, while these fees are shameless, there are far more pressing issues Congress could use its Commerce Clause power to regulate. It’s not that they can’t, its that they won’t.
People have brought this upon themselves by using 3rd party booking sites which take up to 30% of the quoted prices. They get none of the resort/hotel fee addons. 50% of people book this way and I feel if the booking was done straight to the hotel it should be waived.
AGREED! As a hotel manager for a global brand, it’s the 3rd parties where everyone thinks they are getting a discount when in fact they are not. We encourage guests to book via the brand.com sites as we reward for their loyalty. Elite members can simply request fees to be waived and front desk will usually oblige rather than have an unsatisfied guest to go on social media and bash the hotel.
These fees are charged weather you use the extra facilities or not and that is just wrong. There is a cost of doing business so if you have a pool, fitness center, internet or parking. In this day and age at minimum you should expect to be included with your stay. So that being said, if I’m paying $30+ a day for resort fees, I’m going to use the hell out of that resort and there shouldn’t be any additional costs for doing so since I’m already paying for it. It does cost for infrastructure upkeep so I understand where revenue sources are applied in this way but to just stick it to the guest, that’s not true customer service nor does it build loyalty.
It’s 2019 – these items should be expected at most hotels and to be free.
*Basic Wi-fi
*phone calls local and long distance, not including international
*pool
*fitness center
*parking – with the exception of a major metropolitan city, a large hotel attached garage can be expected to have a fee associated. Open parking lots are expected to be free.
This is the general mentality of the traveling public. Hotels need to keep their finger on the pulse. The younger generations do not have the loyalty that once was so they are easily swayed away for this reason. Just one last note, I worked for a diamond rated luxury property in the south that had already tapped into this. It truly freed guests to spend what they would have charged in resort fees in house at the spa, club or restaurants. It should be a give and take.
Booked straight with the chain. Find a $20 “amenity fee” for a list of questionable services: telephone calls, local and long distance (but the sticker on the telephone says that long distance calls will be charged), gym usage (as if the hotel would have the same class rating without one) and even “tea and coffee in the lobby from 5AM to 6AM”. Now, flying TATL to the US means that being up at 5AM isn’t really a problem, so I go down at 5:55 to see what this $20 amenity amounts to.
There’s no coffee in the lounge. Typically, there’s pots of coffee somewhere prominent. Here, nothing. But I see someone go up to the bar and pull get a cup of coffee without signing, so I ask if this is where the coffee is, and the bartender hands me a bill to sign. Discussion ensues; he explains that it’s after six, pointing to his iWatch. Every clock in the lobby is pointing to 5:56. He just printed a receipt with the actual time on it.
Conclusion: fraud. Yes, I called down, and the manager hung the guy at the desk out to dry, telling him to invite me down for a comped coffee.
So, in short: they charge a fee for items they either have to offer to maintain their class rating, or they don’t actually offer what they charge for, and only on complaint deliver the minimum.
Burn these BS fees with fire. I don’t mind paying more; I do mind being told I’m paying for petty crap they won’t even deliver. I’d name the hotel, but I haven’t checked out yet (my IP is my warrant).
Update: I received the bill this morning, and the hated fee has mysteriously disappeared, and the overall price is that much less than what was quoted on the reservation email. I suppose it helps to complain.
Extra charges are not permiited in Great Britain. Stay in a Hilton in England, GB.!!!
Trump’s hotel in Scotland charges such a fee so if it is illegal, it does not seem to be enforced.
I personally find Hilton much more egregious…they had a fee that say “includes use of pool” when the hotel had no pool. I think you should have to include the total price in a font at least twice the size of the property name and it should be required to have an addition which says “+ tax of $xx.xx” in a font 90 percent the size of the price. This is way out of hand and, since there are usually a lot of hotels in an area, I move on to another one when I get this stuff. Alternatively, make the “fee” optional and I won’t use the non-existen pool.
Yes, and while you’re at it, Marriott’s phony levels deserve some inspection – “you qualify for an automatic upgrade’ (if the hotel has such a thing and if they aren’t fully booked and if you ask for it and…and…and…
I am all for full disclosure but at the very least, if they’re going to say these fees cover certain things that I don’t need, I shouldn’t have to pay them. For example, if part of a fee is for the use of the pool and I’m not going to use it then I should get credit for that.
As more and more hotels tried this, I have done my best to avoid any property with a resort or destination fee. Most are charging for things Marriott claims are a free benefit of being Titanium/Ambassador or the flavor of the week. I have had some luck getting managers to waive them, but not much. Before I confirm any booking, I check the total for add ons.
Not about the $40 parking fee.
This type of practice is becoming more and more prevalent in one form or the other. What amazes me is that when these practices (or similar things) are brought to the attention of a person at the company they act like they have done nothing wrong. Just yesterday I spoke with a representative from the social media department of a venue in Colorado to complain about their method of getting surveys returned. On the initial offer they said if I would return their survey they would give me a FREE 20 oz. Pepsi (I could not care less about any “free” 20 oz. Pepesi. I would have sent the survey back as a courtesy anyway). After completing the survey I was then informed that a purchase was necessary of a “large Pretzel” to get the “free” Pepsi. As I stated earlier I could care less about a “free” 20 oz. Pepsi. Such a small thing would never motivate me to do anything. What I was offended over was that they did not disclose their offer completely upfront. The person I spoke with said that was just the way they did business and “oh well”. She even tried to blame Pepsi for her dishonesty saying they demanded that their offer should be structured this way. NO company like Pepsi would ever make such a request to qualify for their “co-op advertising money”. Like I said their “free” item had nothing to do with whether I would send their survey back but they do not need to intentionally hide facts from their customers.
I look at hotels like taxis and airbnb as uber or lyft. Young generation are not taking the taxi nor will they stick to a hotel brand. Airbnb will eat hotels slowly. Booking directly with a hotel will not make the fees go away.