Hotel fees just totally suck. And while the obvious ones are pretty annoying like the charges for WiFi, parking, mini-bar and fitness centers, the hidden ones blow even more. Here's a little round-up of status of hotel fees today.
· Hilton Hotels: If you cancel a room at a Hilton, they will not only charge you the room rate but also occupancy tax. In this case, a guest contested the tax and was refunded. [Consumerist] · Early Departure Fees: We sometimes forget about this one. If you leave a day before you were supposed to, you will get dinged. Charges start at $50 and go up. [Go California] · Checked Baggage...in Hotels: We all know that airlines are getting fee-happy but sometimes are starting to charge you $1-$5 for leaving your suitcase with the bellman after that pain-in-the-ass check-out time of 11am and before your 3pm flight. Grrr....[CNN] · Booking Sites List Fees: Shame on hotels who don't list all of their booking fees online. But third-party booking sites may. [Travel + Leisure] · A Video Tutorial: Catherine Hamm of the LA Times made this video on how to avoid the hidden fees. [Video Jug] · Random Fees: We've been keeping track of some other random fees that hotels charge as well. [HotelChatter]
Because if the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC really wanted you to work out, they wouldn't ask you to cough up $10 to use their fitness center.
This is what happened recently to a hotel guest:
They charged ten dollars for the gym. Is that normal in the States now? The whole place was pretty mouldy to be honest. Unfriendly and inefficient service.
May we add that this was a hotel guest who was staying there and not some schmoe off the street?
Typically we hear of gym fees at big resorts and at the Vegas casino-hotels but for a Hilton in Washington, DC, this sounds pretty silly. And with rooms starting around $300 a night, it's practically a crime to charge guests to stay in shape.
That said, silver, diamond or gold Hilton Honors member get to use the gym gratis.
Fodors has put out a list that we strongly suggest everyone read because it might save you some moolah and the frustration of finding random fees on your bill when you check-out.
The 14 Hidden Hotel Fees includes some charges we knew about (pay-for towels at the pool, business center and fitness center fees, mini-bar charges, etc) and a few we didn't really think about like Groundskeeping and Baggage-Holding, which we do all the time thanks to the crappy early check-out time hotels enforce.
Some of them you can't fight like energy surcharges and resort fees but the hotel should make you well aware of these charges before you book or at least when you check-in.
We also say pay close attention to the Random Incorrect Charges. This happens frequently when we check-out. We get double-billed for a movie or internet access or even room-service.
But most importantly, try to settle these unnecessary charges at check-out if you can. If you leave the hotel without checking your bill and then discover the charges upon returning home, you will have to deal with a hotel's accounting department and they keep Mon-Fri., 9-5 with an hour lunch break type of hours.
In a conversation with an FOHC, (Friend of HotelChatter), we listened to them gripe about their search for a Nantucket hotel to visit, just before Memorial Day.
In any case, they settled on the Jared Coffin House. She was able to get a room in Spring price range of $180, but was shocked to see their cancellation policy (shown above.)
Hotel cancellation policies vary from hotel to hotel. Some give you 24 hours, some give you 14 days. We just think the Coffin's policy is a little harsh, especially because they charge you $25 even if you cancel three weeks before your arrival date. Also, if you have to leave early, you have to pay the full amount of days booked. Then again, at least it's not the Ritz-Carlton.
And we're not saying you won't have a good stay here at the Coffin but just make sure you will actually be there when you say you will.
Last week we let you know about a "Good Neighbor" policy at the Franklin Hotel on the Upper East Side. UES residents are entitled to a 15 percent discount off the hotel's best available rate. We found one for Friday night for $319 but a tipster let us know that the hotel adds on a $12 charge to the room rate.
Here's what he wrote in to us:
if you look closely on their website you will see all their so-called free amenities are not so free after all. They charge a $12 per night service fee on top of your room and tax. That fee is not calculated in your total until check out.
Most likely, that 15 percent off is saving you the hotel fee and some of the crazy New York City taxes. But if you're an out-of-towner, you're forced to pony up the whole shebang.
We're not sure how you feel but we think that hotels who have such added (sometimes called "resort") fees should just lump it into the hotel room rate and spare us all the itemized details.
Let us know how you feel about these types of hotel fees.
Hotel fees just totally suck. And while the obvious ones are pretty annoying like the charges for WiFi, parking, mini-bar and fitness centers, the hidden ones blow even more. Here's a little round-up of status of hotel fees today.
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by juliana
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