My Best Rate Guarantee claim was declined, and I’m a bit puzzled by the reasoning.

For my reservation, the pre-tax room rate was the same on both sites, which was also the reason for the decline.

However, the total price including taxes and fees differed: the comparable site was lower than Marriott.

While I understand that BRG compares pre-tax rates only, it’s still confusing that the final payable amount on Marriott.com is higher due to other taxes or fees. In some countries there are local tourism fees, payable directly to the hotel, which sometimes are not included in the OTA prices. However, this was not the reason in this case.

Has anyone else experienced this or can explain how these tax differences occur?