All,

We recently stayed at the Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando. One afternoon, we were heading to a local restaurant and asked the bellman to call us a cab. He waved over a town car (There appears to be a fleet in front of the hotel.). We told him we just wanted a cab, and he seriously tried to dissuade us, saying, "We can call you a cab, but that could take 15 or 20 minutes," and assured us that the $25 that the town car charged was no more than a couple of dollars more than a cab would cost. Since we didn't know exactly where the restaurant was (and he did), we agreed. On the way back, we had the restaurant call us a cab. The fare was just over half of what the hotel charged.

Question: Are the bellmen getting kickbacks from the car drivers? What is the relationship between the town cars and the hotel, anyway?

Mike