Originally Posted by
Super Mario
Agreed. Also as someone pro-business and anti-regulation, this is a practice that has gotten out of control. Many businesses are only doing it because so many others are, and want to stay "competitive". Anything that is an unavoidable, company-imposed cost should just be rolled up in the price.
I do wonder how competitive this really makes a business though. It is a fact that some people will lose their mind paying $200 for a room and a $40 fee. While a $240 room with no fee wouldn't get a second thought
Many people confuse this with thinking they are going to save money if resort fees are eliminated. Not even close.
The real issue here to me is that these fees are hidden - in some cases very well hidden. If resort fees exist they should be very clearly disclosed and shown in any total balance for a stay before it is booked.
In fairness to Hilton I actually think they do a relatively good job at displaying these compared to some other chains.
Plenty of the Vegas based properties are terrible when it comes to hiding these fees, and even sites such as hotels.com hide resort fees in fine print for many properties and don't allow you to pay these in advance, presumably so the booking sites also don't take a cut of the resort fee.
The way properties are marketed in the US with all taxes and fees excluded wouldn't be allowed in many other parts of the world.