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The Dark Side of Hawaii Hotels: Resort Fees

[Ed. Note: Alex Salkever is the founder/editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com.]

You've coughed up mucho dinero for the getaway of your dreams in Hawaii (or, if you're local, that luxe holoholo). Natch, the resorts will charge a premium for food, drink and activities. But what the hell is a resort fee and why is it on my bill?

These fees appeared a while back in Hawaii and have become a key source of hotel revenue. They are also kinda sleazy. The hotels do disclose them but, for example, charging paying guests $20 per day for parking their own cars in the hotel lot is beyond the pale.

Some resorts are worse than others. Many include things like yoga classes and high-speed Internet as part of the resort fee. Fair enough -- such things are still extra at many high-end resorts. Others, such as the Ritz-Carton Kapalua on Maui, push it a bit.

The $18 daily resort fee at the Ritz gets discounted greens fees (off the already stratospheric rates at Kapalua), shuttle service to the nearby shopping district (shouldn't that be free) and coffee or tea in the lobby each morning. Umm, great. And what if I don't play golf? [Note: This hotel is actually closing down on July 2 to undergo a $110 million makeover.]

Other resort fees appear to be a bargain. At the Wailea Maui Marriott, kids eat free with adults for the resort fee of $20 per day. That's a great deal. The fee also includes two Mai Tais per day. Make that a superb deal (resort Mai Tais usually run around $10 a pop).

The excellent chaps over at Travel Hawaii (a local travel agency that knows the islands well and isn't afraid to make hard-nosed judgments) have cobbled together a list of resort fees at the 15 hotels which charge them.

Others (the Hilton chain) charges them indirectly through parking and other fees. This is a good place to look.