Hilton HHonors - Doubletree San Juan -- High taxes

Couldn't find much on this hotel using the search function. The hotel is a recently converted Best Western in the South-Condado area of San Juan. I stayed there last week for two nights and one night at the Hampton Inn.

The hotel was quite nice and the rooms are recently renovated and everything is modern and new looking. As an added bonus they provide free internet in the room and free wireless in the public areas (you do have to ask for a WEP password though).

I did have one shock though. When I compared my bills, the 20 dollar per night more Hampton Inn room was actually cheaper. The Hampton Inn has a tax rate of 9%. There are no resort fees. The Doubletree has no resort fees but the tax rate is 26% even though it is about 3 miles away.

I asked the hotel manager about this but they had no idea why the decrepancy. Needless to say 26% is lot so keep this in mind when booking the room. Otherwise I recommend the place.

I'm not familiar with the area but it's possible they are in different jurisdictions. A hotel a mile from mine had a cheaper tax rate because they were just outside the town limits. It wasn't nearly as big a difference as what you found though, only 4%.

Wow, I'm sure that's the highest room tax rate I've ever seen. BTW, if you book online, it will show the estimated taxes as well as the "bottom line". Even if you book by other means, you can check the tax info online. It doesn't need to be a surprise when checking out.

For the record I am not complaining about the tax rate as I did book online and I did see the taxes; however apparantly I didn't pay too close attention or I was inebriated enough not to notice 25.4%.

I do find it intereresting that there is such a disparity among tax rates. A quick google search shows taxes in San Juan to vary from 8% to 10%. Some charge up to a 12% resort fee (such as the Caribe Hilton), but no one charges 25% taxes.

I hope this is just a mistake, and as I said I'm not denying the charges as I was told in advance, but I wonder if this COULD be a way to make a few extra bucks. How would we ever know if the tax rate is applied correctly?

Sailanacra