holtju2

Was looking for rates tonight and the taxes seemed to be somewhat off based on the base rate. Was rather surprised that the hotel had hidden the following "tax" to the taxes/fees.

Room rate: USD 179.00 USD 179.00
Room rate excludes the following:
Room Tax: USD 22.55 USD 22.55
12.60 % Per Room / Per Night
Tech Bundle: USD 12.00 USD 12.00
USD 12.00 Per Room / Per Night
Estimated total**: USD 213.55 USD 213.55

Was wondering what this "Tech" bundle might include? Hotel charges for the internet that is of course waived for PLT's.

This is truly deceptive practice. Hotel makes the headline price look lower and then buries fictitious fees under the taxes.

NDDomer86

From this article, the fee "includes two bottled waters, WiFi, valet parking and local phone calls."

izzik

Wow, that sounds like the Hawaii resort fees..

appletini

I have had that as well. Are you a Platinum member? I called and argued that as a platinum member, I already get free wi-fi and free bottled water at every hotel and that I don't want valet parking. The Westin Westminster has tons of open parking so it's not an issue. Once I made that point, they waived the BS "tech bundle fee"(since when is water "tech"?). I've had this argument with them the last three times I've stayed there. To be fair, it's not much of an argument. Once I make my point, they put me on hold, check with their manager, then promptly waive the fee.

RogerD408

Yes, this is very deceptive and should be banned as a business practice! It won't be much longer until we see fees for using the elevators, opening the room door, or (heaven forbid) entering the club lounge!

Businesses are looking to increase revenue where ever they can. The days of offering a good product at a fair price seem to be long gone. It's bad enough you have to price rooms day by day to see if there is a lower rate during your stay since the web usually just picks the highest rate and applies that for the entire stay. All this started with resort fees and the other properties want in on the game.

When I find properties trying to abuse me in this way, I avoid them, as I will for this property!

mahasamatman

You've gotten lucky - water is not a Platinum perk.

This is identical to the "resort fees" that are proliferating throughout the system.

whitedoor

It's getting annoying. I'm holding a reservation for 5 nights on points at the Westin Excelsior in Rome and am looking at an extra rollaway charge of 97.90 EUR per night for my 13 y/o. Talk about sticker shock.

mahasamatman

I don't think a rollaway charge or anything else specifically requested by the guest can be compared with a forced "amenity fee" that's just an across-the-board non-taxable rate increase.

sc flier

It's not a Platinum perk, but it is a perk of certain room types.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...ter-brand.html

I've had several stays at this property, but I've never been charged this fee. Some of my stays have been on my corporate rate which includes free wi-fi. Some stays have been on BRG claims. As best I recall, I've always gotten a room on an SPG floor which should include free bottled water as a Westin brand standard.

neo_781

It's just low tech

mahasamatman

I'm always leery of taking the water that still has the $8 tag on it, even in designated rooms where it should be free.

TheWestinWestminster

Thank you for the comments regarding the tech bundle fee. We always welcome and value feedback regarding our hotel. Listening to our customers is important and we are constantly looking for ways to improve the customer experience.

The tech bundle fee was a result of some feedback we received from some meeting planners and guests. Our customers felt that hotels are charging fees at every chance they get with valet, water, internet, etc. Instead of having all these charges we decided to bundle them and make it easier on the customer. It is also a cost savings to all our customers. If a guest was to pay for valet, water and internet it would total $40 per day compared to the $12 per day we are charging.

I do not want to devalue the comments by coming up with excuses and will make the commitment to re-evaluate this fee with the management team. Please feel free to contact us directly to discuss further.

Also, the fee is waived base on status. SPG Platinum members it is automatically waived.

mahasamatman

Please don't try to tell us the hotel management is doing this out of the goodness of their heart. We're a bit smarter than that on FlyerTalk. I'm sure the hotel is raking in much more cash knowing they're getting money from people who don't need any of these services. In fact, based on your numbers, I would guess that only 25% of guests use these services.

And if a guest did not want any of these (or should get them on a complimentary basis through status), if would total $0 compared to the $12. Basically, the people who don't use these services are subsidizing those who do, and the hotel profits greatly in the end.

itsaboutthejourney

^^ Good policy. Knowing the OP is a Platinum member, I hope his charge of the fee was a simple oversight.

AND, welcome to FlyerTalk!

azepine00

Any chance that those feedback providing guests were your revenue enhancement consultants?

If you have a mandatory charge for those services then adjust your room rates accordingly - what your do right now is deceptive.

BTW welcome to FT!