Price on the back of the door
 

I am in a big Renaisance in Florida, and on a rate of 279/night. I just noticed that the rate on the back of the door says the max rate is $225. I have noticed this sign on the back of the door before but never paid much attention, and always thought it was a way to get you to feel like you got a good deal. :cool: I am, of course, going to ask the front desk about it, but has anyone else experienced this, or challenged the front desk with it before? I am just curious of experiences and any tips anyone has.

Thanks!

I'd call them on it. Presumably what's on the door is a legal or quasi legal document. I'm not saying the hotel won't have a satisfactory answer for you....but if they don't, you can always take up the matter with the Guest Services 800#.

I would get on the plat line ASAP and have them call the front desk before you go down yourself--good catch.
I will have to make sure that I am not overpaying for my room based on what they "publish" on the back of the door.

Both very good ideas from the replies above. I took another look at the sign, and it is an official State of Florida sign, and not looking too old and tattered. This hotel is fairly updated, so it cant be more than a few years old.

Thanks for the quick replies, I will let you guys know what I find out! ^

YES, please update us on this one, I am extremely interested in the response.

Wow, I'm amazed that there's such a low rate on the door. If anything, I'm usually blown away at the $799 or whatever crazy rates that are posted as the maximums.

My impression, as a non-lawyer who just travels a lot, is that those legal signs must be a throwback to days when hotels would bait-and-switch the unwary traveler, or an attempt to limit the gouging that occurs when a special event is in town (but I wonder if all those Marriotts in Phoenix really had $1000 maxes posted on their doors).

I secretly thought a good way to limit the ridiculously high limits on those door postings would be to charge the hotels property taxes based on the maximum revenue at maximum occupancy. That would force them to balance their desire to be able to charge a lot a few times a year with the fact of life that for the vast majority of the time they won't be able to charge anywhere near the max rate.

Ah, well. That was a long and rambling reply, but I'm as curious as the rest of the lot to see what the hotel tells you!

Try to get a copy or picture of the paper, if you take it down to them... they just might keep it and deny it was ever up!

Update
 

Wow, this is not as cut and dry as I though...

So I called this afternoon while I was out and about. Called first to Plat line customer care, and got a really nice agent who was very suprised to hear about the lower rate. She referred, and transferred me, to the "Look No Further" helpdesk, which I found kind of ironic, because as their saying goes, I didnt have to look far to find Marriott's lowest rates! :p So a very surely agent, who answered the phone by saying in a very drive-thru style voice, "can I help ya...", said she could do nothing for me and that I would have to take it up with the front desk. So I did when I got back to the hotel.

The front desk manager did not know quite how to answer the question, and began to stumble upon the answer with a "this is high season", when another employee, the head of food/bev claimed that these "maximum" rates were averaged across the two seasons to "cover them". So very cool, I asked why the rate would not just be posted higher, or even idenified as a low/high season rate. No answer for that, other than the fact that they promised those signs would be updated. They promised to notify the director of operations at the hotel, which I also agreed to do. :D He then offered to buy me a glass of wine at the bar since the game was on but I had to decline because of the work I needed to do. :td: if he was trying to buy me off of this.

I was very cool about all this, but explained to them that the answer was not a satisfactory one since it defeated the purpose of posting maximum rates. I will let you know what I find out from the head honcho....

ah yes, and thank you for the suggestion of taking a picture of the sign. Something tells me it will change while I am out of my room tomorrow.

You not only want a pic of the max rates, but also any of the "innkeeper regs" that may be part of the card. If there is a Florida state or city law or ordinance that requires them to publish their max rate, then they'd be in violation of that law if they tried to charge you more.

I'd make sure the GM realizes this. I doubt he/she would want to have you contact the city or the applicable state authority for what might turn out to be a nasty legal expense on their part. I'm sure if you approach it right you'll get the $225 rate - which you are legally entitled to.

Call a TV station, no one wants to have Channel Seven snooping around their hotel asking questions that they know won't be answered...

Hey, isn't demanding the $225 rate more than a little greedy? Yes, the hotel apparently got caught with its pants down, but the OP went in expecting to pay $279 and feeling that was a fair rate. He helped them out by pointing out the sloppiness in not updating their signs, they offered a free glass of wine, and that should be the end of it AFAIC.

I disagree. I think the greed card should be given to the hotel. They are charging the highest amount possible, or what the market will bear, in the high season. Yet, they have posted a rate on the door of every room in their hotel informing their guests of the maximum amount they will charge for the room.

It seems that they have gotten caught being greedy.

The OP is in effect, saving them quite a bit of money by pointing out their error. They should be giving him the reduced rate and thanking him for not informing the other 300 or so guests about the posted information.

Of relevance could be Section 509.201 Room rates; posting; advertising; penalties from the Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

The rates posted in the rental units may not exceed those on file with the division, and an establishment may not charge more than the rates posted in the rental units and filed with the division.

You may want to contact the Division of Hotels and Restaurants to see if they have some comment.

Greg

I'm curious to hear what happens...