Parking fees
 

I'm heading out for a 6 day trip next week and am having some issues booking my hotel. Most of the bonvoy properties in the area are around the same price point per night ~$120 after taxes (usually around $175/night pre covid). The issue I'm having is with the parking. The hotel in the area that I want to stay at (Westin) is charging $40/night parking which is insane. The Marriott, Courtyard, and Shearaton are charging around $10-$20 per day for parking. As a titanium, would it be worth it to call the Westin to see if there's any wiggle room on the parking? Has anyone had any success calling about this? Crazy that these hotels are mostly empty during Covid, yet they still charge outrageous fees for parking. They will be losing 6 nights over a parking fee...

Their greed = their loss.

David

It never hurts to call and ask. But you need to know in advance whether or not this is an actual deal-breaker or not. Looking at the all-in cost of each hotel, is the Westin worth a premium of $20-$30? Thinking of it that way should make the decision easier in the event they hold firm on the parking rate.

OP should also consider whether there's other cheaper public parking near the Westin. A hotel guest isn't required to use the hotel's parking.

It's complete speculation because you don't provide the location, but I'd bet the Westin doesn't own their parking facilities. I've worked in and stayed in hotels that don't own the facilities were guests park. In that scenario, the hotel is at the mercy of the company that provides the parking.

In some cases, hotels own their parking facility but need to charge high parking rates because they need the revenue to cover the cost. For example, many of the hotels down the road from me on Fort Lauderdale Beach needed to build mutli-story parking ramps. Since these large structures can reduce the number of rooms in the hotel, the high parking charges are necessary to make the project economically viable.

That said, you could be describing a greedy hotel that charges $40 to park in a common surface lot that costs next to nothing to maintain.

You can certainly call. When I worked in the Reservations Department of a downtown hotel with very high parking rates, we got daily calls about parking. But, we didn't own our parking facility. So, all we could do was to tell callers that if you didn't want to pay for parking, you'd have to stay elsewhere.

Realistically, that's probably the type of answer you'll hear. But, there's nothing wrong with calling and asking.

so you are okay with them charging parking fee pre-covid when the rates were higher? I don’t get that logic.

calling to ask is probably the easiest way to go because no one here can answer that question unless you identify the properties in question.

use SpotHero or some other app to find cheap parking if you are set on the Westin.

I didn’t have a problem spending to park in full hotels where I got all my amenities. That’s just how it was. Circumstances have changed, amenities have disappeared, the parking remains the same at this particular hotel. Some have changed and some have not.

Agreed if the rates are still the same as precovid. If the rate is say, half of what it was precovid, then I think that cancels out not having amenities. At least you didn’t mention the property have a resort/destination fee ;).

as someone upthread mentioned, the parking may be operated by a third party or whatnot. Vote with your wallet and stay at the $10-20 parking places.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I’ll give the Westin a buzz in the morning and report back

In the WDC area, I've used Spothero and saved 1/2-2/3 over the hotel's going rate for the same parking area.

I just had a similar issue with a RI in Orlando for a long term stay. They wanted $8 per night for parking (roughly $250/month). GM wouldn't budge, I'm not sure if they own the lot. I think they just want to maximize their revenue because they don't have enough parking at that property when occupancy starts rising. His justification was that they have to hire two security guards to patrol the lot (not sure if it's true or not. Even if it was, why 2? Also, I'm Titanium as well, so I told him to go pound sand and I'll go to a different property for a 4 month extended stay.

Because one person cannot work 24/7????

This is the best way to respond if you indeed have a choice. I have done this several times with properties where I did not agree with policies. Not sure it makes a difference but when enough people do it they have to start looking closer :)

Good point haha, I assumed he was talking per shift.

I stayed at a Residence Inn for two weeks and they dropped by parking fees from $12/day to $2/day when I called them regarding a discount.