clarkef

The point is not that someone does not care about money; it's that not tipping punishes the wrong people, i.e. often low earning wage slaves who neither instituted the destination fee, nor have the power to do anything about it. In fact, in most states, tipped staff are only guaranteed the 'tipped" minimum wage which is less than the regular minimum wage and can be as low as $2.13 per hour. And yes, once you've tipped, or not tipped, the bartender and wait staff, they will remember you when you return on the next day seeking service. Not that I advocate any punitive measures, but they need not feel obligation to perform beyond the minimum required standard. Good luck with any special requests.

s0ssos

Interesting that the poster is ripped a new one for the same idea that Western leaders have already espoused: hurt the people in Russia economically and they will overthrow Putin

rylan

Say what you want about Marriott leadership, but comparing this situation to Russia and Putin is way overboard and without merit.

hhoope01

This is not the right forum for political comments. Should anyone have a desire to make and/or read them, there is a specific forum for those. Please keep comments on topic for this forum and specifically this thread.

Thank you.

hhoope01 - Co-Marriott Bonvoy forum Moderator

SPN Lifer

The leadership of the Marriott Corporation is not in any way chosen by hotel cleaning staff.

You, on the other hand, do have a vote -- with your wallet. To amplify that vote, communicate with corporate headquarters and, perhaps most effectively, with the general manager (GM) at properties you frequent, explaining exactly what you are doing and why. If applicable, attach receipts from the Hilton across the street.

The ill-conceived scheme to leave notes in hotel rooms about punishing the poorest of the poor working with Bonv�y deserves the derision it has received, albeit within the FlyerTalk terms & conditions for courtesy and not repeating so much as to take the thread off-topic.

I think we are ready to examine more legitimate ways of dealing with these money‐grabbing fees.

CO-PLAT

I also have never paid a resort fee. I refuse to stay at properties that have them.

yscleo

We just stayed at Westin San Diego downtown. They have a $25/d resort fee. It covers use of bike (but too tall for my wife, so I only rode a short distance while waiting for her), and airport shuttle, and a $10 coupon toward food & drink. As a plat, they comped continental breakfast for 2, but buffet breakfast (i.e. add hot food) is $10 more. So for my wife and I to both have buffet breakfast we'd pay $20+tax minus the $10 coupon.

I didn't like the resort fee, but the hotel is conveniently close to the cruise terminal (we got off a cruise in SD), and we could use our free-night-awards before they expire.

cbn42

That's a completely different situation though, because parking is optional. Even in the middle of nowhere, many guests will be dropped off by taxi/Uber or a local friend or coworker. There's nothing wrong with charging extra for an extra service that guests have the option of using or not using.

I would have no problem with optional resort fees as well. Just tell me how much it costs to use the pool, gym, and whatever else there is that makes the property a "resort". I will then decide if I want to pay it.

My issue is with mandatory fees that are not part of the room rate.

Housekeepers are generally not considered tipped staff, because they usually don't receive enough tips to make up the difference between tipped minimum wage and normal minimum wage. They are usually paid per room, but when calculated per hour, it should work out to standard minimum wage or above.

clarkef

It's not obvious, but the response was directed further above (#42 and down) where we were discussing only wait staff and bartenders, not housekeepers.

GrayAnderson

It really depends. Like, a specific hotel (the Delta Lake Buena Vista) has probably lost about 20-25 nights over the last two years or so to the Hyatt Place across the street, primarily over a $15 parking charge. (They've still gotten a few nights, but they have to beat the HP by more than a few bucks to get my business). There's an FI a block or two away (there are like a dozen Marriott properties within about half a mile) that doesn't charge for parking (they're adjacent to a shopping mall and as a result don't really control "their" lot, so I think they threw up their hands at trying to enforce it; I think the HP's issue is similar in that they're immediately adjacent to a Crowne Plaza and several restaurants and the parking lots run together). But the ones that have really bugged me there are the "resort fee" hotels around there (IIRC there are two...the Sheraton and I think one other) that were still trying to charge those fees at the peak of the pandemic (and charging full breakfast buffet prices for grab-and-go breakfasts in the case of the Sheraton...per the website, they're still saying "Our main restaurant and bar areas remain closed to avoid groups gathering in one location. We provide food and beverage offerings in a quick service or "grab and go" format", something which if taken as a sincere pandemic-related matter I can only consider to be a quaint, if obnoxious, delusion when compared with the situation at Disney Springs or the various parks [to which I believe they run shuttles]). But I resent the fact that I basically have to use a spreadsheet to figure out which hotel is cheaper sometimes. In this respect, Orlando is a complete mess (and I say this as someone who has been down there a lot over the last year-and-a-half).

But the fact of the matter is that in a lot of places like this, not driving is at best of dubious practicality (especially since IIRC Uber wait times aren't anywhere near what they were pre-pandemic) and parking fees seem to be a mad cash grab. I think I resent $10 at a suburban hotel more than I resent $30 at a downtown hotel with a (presumably) constrained parking deck, since at least in the latter case I can believe that the parking fee arises out of a need to ration space in the parking deck. (Of course, those downtown rates also induce me to simply go over to Hyatt and book on points when they get into nosebleed territory...I'm thinking of $50 in Atlanta or $70-80 in Chicago and DC).

Kremmen

The one time I had a US hotel try to charge me a resort fee, it was a Marriott in Hawaii. I pointed out to them that in the country where the booking was made and the credit card was issued such an undisclosed fee is illegal. They waived it.

The Road Goes On Forever

As an FYI, housekeepers are rarely paid per room. Housekeeping pay 99% of the time is hourly. Properties that try to use pay per room usually find out the hard way it leads to issues with quality.

s0ssos

But then it makes the "free night" effectively not free (Hyatt and Hilton are different in this regard).

clarkef

I would respectfully disagree. I think that parking fees, in general, are perfectly fine -- so long as they are adequately disclosed because there are usually numerous alternatives. While it may be difficult to arrive at a specific hotel via alternative means than driving oneself, that would be the great exception, at least in US. Whether Uber and taxis are "dubious", i.e. wait times remain acceptable is a matter of personal preference, as are the parking fees, i.e a matter of your time, funds and patience. I have found very few places in the US that are so remote, there isn't a parking garage nearby that is cheaper than the hotel parking lot. My favorite hotel in LA is the Westin Bonaventure. Parking is $60/nt. Though disabled, me and my walking stick parked next door for $9. Also, if you have traveling companion(s) who are not sharing your room, the parking fee, unlike a resort fee, only applies to one room as it did last month when I took my out of town guests to Monterey, CA. We had three rooms but only paid one parking fee.

I do agree about resort fees. I find them generally unethical and wish they were illegal. I won't stay at a hotel which charges a resort fee if they're not normative within a given area. For example, only one Bonboy hotel in San Francisco charges a resort fee. I won't stay there because if their first act is to try to cheat me, i.e. present a room rate which is artificially lower than the surrounding hotels, then no thanks as I don't trust them. However, if I am going to Vegas, then I won't ding a hotel for having a resort fee. The market almost mandates it. If a resort were to forego the resort fee, it would appear higher than similar hotels and thus lose substantial business. I can accept that reality.

The Road Goes On Forever

I have no idea what you're talking about. My comment related to the question of who decides to charge the fee which is almost always the franchisee owner. I agree that parking is not the same as a destination fee which is why I never said that.