Washington DC Attorney General sues Marriott over "deceptive resort fees"
#136
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Bounding Around The Good 'Ole USA In My Chevrolet
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Instead of destination fees, some hotels in SoCal charges like hell for parking - I was looking to use my 40k cert but then the FS hotel I looked at charges $32 parking, and then you can get the very same spot for $7.95 from a parking app (the condition is that you can't be an overnight guest at the hotel). It's totally ridiculous and it's basically telling people that you will have to pay the insane parking as a fee in order to stay at the hotel.
#137
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Instead of destination fees, some hotels in SoCal charges like hell for parking - I was looking to use my 40k cert but then the FS hotel I looked at charges $32 parking, and then you can get the very same spot for $7.95 from a parking app (the condition is that you can't be an overnight guest at the hotel). It's totally ridiculous and it's basically telling people that you will have to pay the insane parking as a fee in order to stay at the hotel.
A lot of the sub-$10 offers (in Chicago, anyway) are for in after 5PM out by 2AM. They want the spots empty for their regular day clients showing up at 8AM.
Side note: I have a room next week at the New York Marriott East Side, booked yesterday, entirely with no mention of a resort fee at any point during the booking process. Using a major travel portal whose legitimacy no one would question. Yet I know from Flyertalk that this is a property where this scam exists. It will be interesting to see if they attempt to slip it onto my bill at checkout. In previous stays, I almost always have a couple drinks at the bar so it'll be a wash either way (the $25 resort fee covers $25 in food/bev), but I'm curious what they'll try to pull.
#139
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Bounding Around The Good 'Ole USA In My Chevrolet
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 378
If the $8 fee doesn't allow overnight parking, then it's not really the same as the $32 fee. But keep looking - I've found more-reasonable overnight rates via parking apps for Chicago and NYC, so wouldn't surprise me if something similar exists in LA/SD.
A lot of the sub-$10 offers (in Chicago, anyway) are for in after 5PM out by 2AM. They want the spots empty for their regular day clients showing up at 8AM.
Hotel sites intentionally hide these bogus fees. We've already established that upthread.
Side note: I have a room next week at the New York Marriott East Side, booked yesterday, entirely with no mention of a resort fee at any point during the booking process. Using a major travel portal whose legitimacy no one would question. Yet I know from Flyertalk that this is a property where this scam exists. It will be interesting to see if they attempt to slip it onto my bill at checkout. In previous stays, I almost always have a couple drinks at the bar so it'll be a wash either way (the $25 resort fee covers $25 in food/bev), but I'm curious what they'll try to pull.
A lot of the sub-$10 offers (in Chicago, anyway) are for in after 5PM out by 2AM. They want the spots empty for their regular day clients showing up at 8AM.
Hotel sites intentionally hide these bogus fees. We've already established that upthread.
Side note: I have a room next week at the New York Marriott East Side, booked yesterday, entirely with no mention of a resort fee at any point during the booking process. Using a major travel portal whose legitimacy no one would question. Yet I know from Flyertalk that this is a property where this scam exists. It will be interesting to see if they attempt to slip it onto my bill at checkout. In previous stays, I almost always have a couple drinks at the bar so it'll be a wash either way (the $25 resort fee covers $25 in food/bev), but I'm curious what they'll try to pull.
#140
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 16
If it becomes a Federal Case other States can join in.
And this isn't even in a State Court - it is in a District Court.
To really get the resort fees in the room rate - this really comes down to creating a Federal Law or the FTC making a ruling such as they did in airline pricing.
And this isn't even in a State Court - it is in a District Court.
To really get the resort fees in the room rate - this really comes down to creating a Federal Law or the FTC making a ruling such as they did in airline pricing.
Understanding federal vs state authority is its own problem, but get enough states on board with an idea and there you have have it.
The problem is how often can you get many differing bodies to agree on anything...
#141
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If you search for "New York", "NYC", "LGA", or anything else New-York-ish, you are shown a list of hotels and rates that do *not* include the resort fee. The resort fee is hidden.
But of course you know this, and you know that this is the entire purpose of these fraudulent fees.
Welcome to the thread.
EDIT: I stand corrected. I can't get the Marriott site to show me the resort fee screen first even when I type in "New York Marriott East Side". It still shows me a rate that does not exist. Perhaps a newer website behavior, because it used to skip the screen with many properties (and bogus fees purposely hidden) if you typed in an entire property name.
#142
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
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Posts: 1,661
That's *only* your first presentation of rates if you search, precisely, for "New York Marriott East Side".
If you search for "New York", "NYC", "LGA", or anything else New-York-ish, you are shown a list of hotels and rates that do *not* include the resort fee. The resort fee is hidden.
But of course you know this, and you know that this is the entire purpose of these fraudulent fees.
Welcome to the thread.
EDIT: I stand corrected. I can't get the Marriott site to show me the resort fee screen first even when I type in "New York Marriott East Side". It still shows me a rate that does not exist. Perhaps a newer website behavior, because it used to skip the screen with many properties (and bogus fees purposely hidden) if you typed in an entire property name.
If you search for "New York", "NYC", "LGA", or anything else New-York-ish, you are shown a list of hotels and rates that do *not* include the resort fee. The resort fee is hidden.
But of course you know this, and you know that this is the entire purpose of these fraudulent fees.
Welcome to the thread.
EDIT: I stand corrected. I can't get the Marriott site to show me the resort fee screen first even when I type in "New York Marriott East Side". It still shows me a rate that does not exist. Perhaps a newer website behavior, because it used to skip the screen with many properties (and bogus fees purposely hidden) if you typed in an entire property name.
And yes, the hotels are at least partially responsible for the fees being hidden on OTAs. Theyre choosing to game the OTAs search engines by advertising a lower rate with a hidden mandatory fee, and Im sure the major players have some say with how their listings are presented with the major booking portals.
#143
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: TPA
Programs: United MP
Posts: 462
Anyone who defends this practice must either be an employee of Marriott or have significant holdings in their retirement accounts. If the fee is mandatory and not going to a government entity it should 100% be included in the searchable-advertised price. It just so happens that I was searching recently for a vacation in November and came across this...
First page of search results
You only see it once you select the property in particular
Not shown on Trivago
First page of search results
You only see it once you select the property in particular
Not shown on Trivago
#145
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Canada
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#146
Join Date: Jun 2012
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While they're at it, can they also sue hotels that respond to hotel reviews with boilerplate "We're sorry that you had this experience, I will review this incident with my staff so that this will not happen again. We strive to provide the best service..."
Translation:
"We're sorry that you had this experience, I will lie about reviewing this incident with my staff so that you feel better about us responding. We strive to deceive everyone reading these reviews to make them think that we actually do anything about the negative ones."
If anything, THAT is a deceptive practice.
Translation:
"We're sorry that you had this experience, I will lie about reviewing this incident with my staff so that you feel better about us responding. We strive to deceive everyone reading these reviews to make them think that we actually do anything about the negative ones."
If anything, THAT is a deceptive practice.
#147
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#148
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If the $8 fee doesn't allow overnight parking, then it's not really the same as the $32 fee. But keep looking - I've found more-reasonable overnight rates via parking apps for Chicago and NYC, so wouldn't surprise me if something similar exists in LA/SD.
A lot of the sub-$10 offers (in Chicago, anyway) are for in after 5PM out by 2AM. They want the spots empty for their regular day clients showing up at 8AM.
Hotel sites intentionally hide these bogus fees. We've already established that upthread.
Side note: I have a room next week at the New York Marriott East Side, booked yesterday, entirely with no mention of a resort fee at any point during the booking process. Using a major travel portal whose legitimacy no one would question. Yet I know from Flyertalk that this is a property where this scam exists. It will be interesting to see if they attempt to slip it onto my bill at checkout. In previous stays, I almost always have a couple drinks at the bar so it'll be a wash either way (the $25 resort fee covers $25 in food/bev), but I'm curious what they'll try to pull.
A lot of the sub-$10 offers (in Chicago, anyway) are for in after 5PM out by 2AM. They want the spots empty for their regular day clients showing up at 8AM.
Hotel sites intentionally hide these bogus fees. We've already established that upthread.
Side note: I have a room next week at the New York Marriott East Side, booked yesterday, entirely with no mention of a resort fee at any point during the booking process. Using a major travel portal whose legitimacy no one would question. Yet I know from Flyertalk that this is a property where this scam exists. It will be interesting to see if they attempt to slip it onto my bill at checkout. In previous stays, I almost always have a couple drinks at the bar so it'll be a wash either way (the $25 resort fee covers $25 in food/bev), but I'm curious what they'll try to pull.
I used those apps in DC when I needed a spot close to Smithsonian during weekdays and they work great. I bought the parking until 8pm and they gave me until 2am (not that I need it for that long).
Last edited by nacho; Jul 31, 2019 at 3:15 am
#149
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#150
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,761
Well, this is going to be a fun thread to monitor for the next 17 years while the suit crawls its way through the legal system. In the interim, we'll get to enjoy a myriad of table-pounding rants, inane diatribes, and hyper-fallacies from every armchair attorney, self-trained economist, and anti/pro-regulation crazy that the corners of the internet have to offer. Looking forward to it!
(Translation: Mods, please lock)
(Translation: Mods, please lock)