Strategy to avoid paying a resort fee
Mar 24, 2006, 11:29 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57
The interesting thing is that the higher the price of the room, the more hidden charges. This makes it apparent that the practice is not for the purpose of making ends meet.
I'm typing this in the Extended Stay America LAX. Something like $650/week including tax ... and including parking. The only added charge is for Internet access: $5 per stay. Never seen a stealth charge here. There are of course plenty of other hotels nearby, and I would be reimbursed if I were paying considerably more, but this is the only one I've found with a complete kitchenette. Meanwhile people staying nearby are paying $145/day for the room, plus tax, plus $10/day for parking, plus $10/day for Internet access, and still complaining about stealth charges.
Just greed.
Edward
I'm typing this in the Extended Stay America LAX. Something like $650/week including tax ... and including parking. The only added charge is for Internet access: $5 per stay. Never seen a stealth charge here. There are of course plenty of other hotels nearby, and I would be reimbursed if I were paying considerably more, but this is the only one I've found with a complete kitchenette. Meanwhile people staying nearby are paying $145/day for the room, plus tax, plus $10/day for parking, plus $10/day for Internet access, and still complaining about stealth charges.
Just greed.
Edward
Mar 25, 2006, 9:51 am
#17
Moderator: Midwest, Las Vegas & Dining Buzz
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Posts: 17,976
Originally Posted by CIMorse
Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.
I needed to have some faxing service done - $1.50 per page - including the cover page - sending and receiving.
Room service - outrageous! Don't even think about taking anything from the mini-bar either.
And this was for a room that was $475 per night before taxes/fees/etc.
Mar 25, 2006, 10:26 am
#18
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA LT Gold; BA Silver; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,081
Originally Posted by iluv2fly
And trust me, the hotel gets worse every year. I have been going there for the past 7 years for an annual convention, and the service sucks more each subsequent year. And check your bill CAREFULLY before you leave - they tend to put charges there that don't belong to you. I never had a car there but they always seem to want to charge me $24.50 per day for parking.
And I think there must be a way of getting around "resort fees" if they're illegal in FL. Two weeks ago I was at The Palms in South Beach and they tacked on some sort of daily fee that included Internet access. One thing I've started to do is complain to our society's meeting planners. They negotiate these contracts and when places are courting business travelers (well-heeled, less likely to get drunk and trash the rooms), it's highway robbery to charge add-on fees for high-speed Internet, which most business travelers require. I told them they need to negotiate a rate and then tell them it includes Internet and there will be no add-on charges (other than possibly parking) or they'll make a deal with the place down the road. As it is, many of us stay at "down the road" places such as a Courtyard or Hampton Inn when available, rather than stay at the convention hotel, because we get more services for less.
We'll see what happens.
Mar 27, 2006, 10:41 am
#19
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 55,189
Originally Posted by mikew99
Since you have no direct control over the hotel in this case, the only thing you can do is to make sure to write a comment on the conference evaluation to say how much you disapprove of the resort fees. If enough people do that, maybe the conference organizers will consider that next time. I know it's a long shot, but apart from laws that make this sort of thing illegal, I don't know what else to do....
Mar 30, 2006, 12:45 pm
#20
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: WashDC
Programs: UA, AA
Posts: 635
Originally Posted by CIMorse
. . . These sort of tack-ons burn me up. Ah well, I'm swimming against the tide since adding mandatory fees to published costs is the norm for travel these days.
