Camino1

How about US hotels that charge a large "gratuity" for room service and leave a space for a tip?

bello

my point exactly

holtju2

I have never seen anything like that in the US before. I am currently in Brazil and some hotels ad a 10% service charge and some do not.

In the long run I don't believe that they can get away with that "junk" charge. If you want to get 20% more just ad it to your base rate. They must do this thinking that the buyer doesn't realize it when comparing prices between various hotels.

htb

You have never seen anything like that in the US before -- that's exactly the point. 85% of the customers will not notice, 85% of those customers won't even notice on check-out. As it's unusual it goes unnoticed when comparing rates because the general assumption is that service charge and taxes are comparable. So unless there are major complaints and customers staying away, 20% are here to stay for at least the short-term future, until one of the chains starts an "all-in" marketing campaign. By looking at the airline industry we can estimate that this will take another few decades...

HTB.

IAN-UK

.. don't get me started on the VAT EXCLUSIVE rates at London area hotels

Ok OK, there really is a tax, so it's not entirely junk, just unexpected.

The Mileage Millionaire

I decided to call the IC San Francisco since the 20% seems so unusual. The gentleman I spoke with said that it was definitely an error and that he would have it corrected asap. He thanked me for pointing this out.

So, the good news is they seem to have reasonable rates, starting at $179 for a standard room, $279 for a club room, and $259 for an executive suite (presumably without club access).

Once I see the 20% service charge is removed from the web site, I guess I'll call to ask about RA upgrade policies, club access fees, etc.

Can't wait to stay here!

gmax58

I have to think that the RA upgrade will be to that - especially as there are only 14 suites in the hotel, and I really don't see them trying to upgrade to Club.

turtlemichael

Great minds think alike! I did the same thing but emailed and got the same response. I got an answer to the question of what they planned to do about RA upgrades as well.

My quote:

Thank you Turtlemichael for your e-mail! The 20% service charge is a mistake and will be taken out (hopefully today) shortly. Thank you for telling me about that!!

In terms of booking room type, Royal Ambassadors are automatically upgraded to Junior Suites regardless of room type booked. So you can book a standard room and move up to a Junior Suite. Luxury Suites and Club Rooms are not used for upgrades.

I look forward to seeing you at the new hotel. It is going to be absolutely wonderful.

Thanks,

Important Person

The response begs the questions of what you'll get if you book a club room or junior suite and I did not ask about ambassadors. Maybe you can ask about that fsa_ea? My preference is always a club room over a suite so I'm a bit disappointed but overall a better situation than some and certainly better than the IC down the road.

Edited to add: The 20% has now disappeared, at least on my preferred dates. However, the junior suite is not listed hmmm

The Mileage Millionaire

Thanks for the info.

I guess if you book a club room, you'll get club accecss and a suite, which I assume will be the aforementioned 450 sq. ft. "Executive Suite". Since the club room is $90 more than the cheapest room, I guess the question is whether you can buy club access instead of booking a club room, and whether it is less than $90/night.

The Mileage Millionaire

I wrote the hotel am email for more information and following is their response. I hope this helps.

Dear fsa_ea,

Royal Ambassadors will be upgraded to Junior Suites regardless of what room type they buy. The Junior Suites are categorized as Executive Suites in our system.

In order to have Club Level or a One Bedroom Suite a RA would have to purchase the Best Flexible Rate for that category.

We will have a fee for Club Access for those not staying on the Club Floor but the price has not yet been established nor the number of people.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance and we look forward to your upcoming stay.

Best regards,

INTERCONTINENTAL SAN FRANCISCO
Director of Group Sales
- Pre Opening Office –
999 California Street | San Francisco | CA | 94108
T: +1 415 616 6623| F: +1 415 520 6785| Bberry: +1 415-298-7949
www.intercontinentalsanfrancisco.com

aku

I've been waiting for this property to open since I heard about it two years ago. I checked every few weeks to see when it would start accepting reservations, and it turned out to be the perfect time--still an RA, and the BOGOF cert is still good!

The res doesn't have the 20% added (just the 14% TOT). I assumed they wouldn't upgrade me to a Club level, so I booked a Club room and will see what they do. Yeah, it's $90-100 more per night, but that's when a BOGOF cert helps.

As far as I know, Feb 1 is the first night they're taking reservations, so that's when I booked. Are any other FTers planning to be there the first night?

Camino1

I have a reservation for the 3rd of Feb.--made it a few weeks ago.

lucky9876coins

Hey Folks,

The opening dates for this are PERFECT for my travel plans, so I looked for availability Feb 2-3 as well as the next couple of days, and there is no availability. Does anyone know if you have to call to book since it's the first few days, or is it really sold out?

Camino1

Zowie! I made my reservation some time ago and till I read your post I had no idea it'd fill up like this. I'm not even sure it's so appealing to be in a jammed-tight place (especially for room service).

lucky9876coins

Thanks for the info! I assume you booked it online?

Maybe they just only have a very limited number of rooms available at the beginning, because I can't imagine the hotel at full capacity is already booked?

What makes you say it will be jammed-tight?