imverge

Yes I agree, I never use the hotel to exchange currency unless it's my last resort.

The OP is referring to the hotel quoting the rate in USD and then converting it into local currency based on their "house" rate which is always overly inflated. This results in the rate being about 20% higher than reserved.

frisbeeace

I just came back from Russia 2 days ago where it is illegal to pay with dollar or euros and rubles is the only currency accepted. It is curious, that Marriott still quotes their rates in USD dollars on its web site while local currency is used for other more flexible countries like Denmark. Most hotels in Russia use an "equivalent unit" to show their prices which is now valued at 30 (basically an average of the dollar at 26 and the euro at 34). Then, they convert the services or products provided into rubles by multiplying by 30. In your case, you should be able to pay your bill at a fair exchange rate below 30 so you certainly should complain. Using a credit card will give you better documentation to do so.

tfong007

I think the reason why its quoted in USD is due to the fluctuation of the local currency. So this is there way of keeping themselves protected again changes.

holtju2

Quite often the hotels quote the prices in $$'s especially if you book them through the official websites. So far I have always ended up paying in local currency but made sure that the currency conversion has been based on current fx rates.

mecabq

A few posters have made this point. I don't have a problem with them quoting in USD because of the volatility of the local currency -- but then they should either bill you in USD or, if it's against the law as it supposedly is in Russia, then give you a reasonable exchange rate at check-out.

All over Russia one sees "international currency units" or similar such fictions, which are either dollars, euros, or somewhere in between. Merchants claim that this is a way to effectively price things in dollars/euros while skirting the letter of the Russian law prohibiting this, but in reality I believe that this is just a scam to squeeze a few more percentage points out of tourists. I don't see why they can't price in rubles and then post the exchange rate, even if it's at a slight premium, like in every other country.

I can imagine in my business if I signed a six-month contract with an international client quoted in USD, and then tried to say, "when I deliver the services in six months, I will bill you in your local currency, using my 'corporate exchange rate,' which I will determine at that time." This is exactly what Marriott did (this is what it says in the rate rules when one books). No business in the world would agree to this, and, as a previous poster pointed out, every business that performs such cross-border transactions has rational ways of mitigating this exchange-rate risk.

In economics we learn about "menu costs," or the cost of having to constantly change one's prices (or re-print menus, as the example goes) with a volatile currency. I guess these "international currency units," etc. is the Russian economy's answer to avoid this. Although the ruble has been quite stable since the last devaluation. . . Back to the point that it's a shame that a reputable company like Marriott uses this excuse to cheat customers.

mecabq

A few posters have made this point. I don't have a problem with them quoting in USD because of the volatility of the local currency -- but then they should either bill you in USD or, if it's against the law as it supposedly is in Russia, then give you a reasonable, timely exchange rate at check-out.

I can imagine in my business if I signed a six-month contract with an international client quoted in USD, and then tried to say, "when I deliver the services in six months, I will bill you in your local currency, using my 'corporate exchange rate,' which I will determine at that time." This is exactly what Marriott did (this is what it says in the rate rules when one books). No business in the world would agree to this, and, as a previous poster pointed out, every business that performs such cross-border transactions has rational ways of mitigating this exchange-rate risk.

All over Russia (or at least St. Petersburg and Moscow, where I was) one sees "international currency units" or similar such fictions, which are either dollars, euros, or somewhere in between. Merchants claim that this is a way to effectively price things in dollars/euros while skirting the letter of the Russian law prohibiting this, but in reality I believe that this is just a scam to squeeze a few more percentage points out of tourists. I don't see why they can't price in rubles and then post the exchange rate, even if it's at a slight premium, like in every other country.

In economics we learn about "menu costs," or the cost of having to constantly change one's prices (or re-print menus, as the example goes) with a volatile currency. I guess these "international currency units," etc. is the Russian consumer economy's answer to avoid this. Although the ruble has been quite stable since the last devaluation. . . Back to the point that it's a shame that a reputable company like Marriott uses this excuse to cheat customers.

HeadInTheClouds

And none of this mentions what happens to the points that then post to your account. This reminds me that I never filed a complaint over a points posting at the Ren StP that took me for a good chunk earlier this year. Again, if the rate is charged in dollars then the corresponding points should at least equal that. (Worse here, every single purchase is rounded to the nearest dollar, even a cup of coffee.) I had a stay that netted out to about $3,400 to my c/c, but only got me 19,000 points (before bonuses). Tax rates there aren't that high!

pinniped

True, but there's an important piece to this story that we are forgetting: the OP never really performed any type of currency exchange at the hotel. I think everybody knows that changing hard currency at a hotel is a very bad thing to do. You will get soaked. But in this case, not only did the OP not want to perform any exchange at all, but the "conversion" to rubles was simply a paper calculation - not a real exchange. As such, at a bare minimum, it should have been done at the fair rate.

pinniped

Whaaaa? If those aren't strong currencies, what is? You could argue that at least two of those three have been stronger than the US Dollar over the course of the past few years.

I'm not sure what the IATA has to do with currency markets, unless there's another IATA besides the one that deals with aviation. I believe the largest currency market, and the one upon which exchange rates should be based, is in London. (But New York or Tokyo wouldn't surprise me either.)

MarkMColo

Poorly phrased perhaps, but I believe these were given as examples of strong currencies.

patrick75248

I don't know international business practices, but if they are going to bill me in rubles for the room, I would want the room quoted in rubles.

So what do they do if they are in an inflationary or hyperinflationary country? Well, what do they do with the locals who book months in advance? They must have some way of dealing with it. What if I'm coming in the Ukraine? Do I get a quote in USD as well?

If you're going to charge me in rubles, then quote me a price in rubles.

b1513

While this isn't exactly the same thing, in Ireland when we used a credit card they wrote the bill in US dollars instead of in Euros and they used an exchange rate that wasn't friendly($1.32 instead of $1.27) to the traveller. After it happend once, I asked everyone to bill me in Euros (rather than in dollars)so I would get the correct exchange rate when I charged it to my credit card.

Bobi

Counsellor

I have occasion to travel frequently to the former Warsaw Pact nations, and find that the hotels there (at least, the Marriott, Hilton and Starwood chains) commonly will quote a price per night in dollars or euros, but will charge in local currency. One supposes that when/if the nation converts to the euro (as Poland, Hungary and a few others are planning to do) the problem will go away as to them, but for the time being the "quote in Euro, charge in Zloty" practice results in the charge per day bouncing around.

I have a hotel bill from a recent three-day trip to Warsaw where the room rate was quoted in Euro (€151 per night to be exact) but was charged by converting the Euro amount into Zloty (PLN) at the daily rate. This meant that my bill showed PLN 648.41, 647.24, and 645.44 respectively for the three nights.

As you can see from the progression, the Zloty was firming against the Euro during my stay, so the amount I was charged (on the day I checked out) resulted in the room actually costing €151.70 the first night, €151.42 the second night, and €151.00 the third night. Compared to the credit card conversion costs, that variance is budget dust, but it's sort of interesting to see a hotel bill with different rates for each night.

That's what I wondered, too. Maybe I'll ask at check-out next time it happens.

I agree.

holtju2

Hotel tries to sell you this by saying that then the CC won't do the currency conversion. Utter BS because you end up paying the CC's foreign transaction fee anyway.

mecabq

Well, we should score one for Marriott corporate. I sent an e-mail to the Platinum service department, and within 24 hours they sent me a simple note apologizing, thanking me for my loyalty to my Marriott, and crediting my credit card the difference between what I was quoted and what I was charged after the conversion.

I would like to see Marriott address this practice systemically, but of course I cannot complain about the resolution and must compliment them on their quick response.