Don't forgot the gym fee. You pay $300 bucks a night but you still have to pay $10 to use the treadmill.

Nice business practices. Now you can ask all the above questions to the desk clerk the next time you check in and see what they say.

I was at a hotel that had a $25 a day "resort fee." It wasn't on the website, it wasn't mentioned when we checked in but there it was mocking me when we checked out. The kicker was that the room was $300+. For Christ's sake at that point I think you can just call it $325, it isn't like we were bargain shopping. Oh and there was also a $12 luggage fee -- both ways, even if you carried your own.

Cheap.

On my last stay in a real hotel they had the $4 warm bottle of Ice Spring brand water on the table. Or I could step out my door, turn the corner and pay $1.50 for a cold bottle of the same stuff.

What is really obnoxious is the $30 internet access fee per user to get a computer online. That was at the Hyatt in Chicago. I suppose business travelers just put it on their work account.

and on top of all that there's the hugeeeee tax on logging. usually 10+% from what i normally see...

I worked in the hotel business for many years. Those charges are the easiest thing to dispute with your credit card company. When you make a reservation all the charges need to shown clearly. If they try to tack stuff on just dispute it.

My last stay at a hotel (Hampton Inn) didn't include any of these fees. I was able to use the gym for free, got a free breakfast, free bottle of water in my room every day, free wifi, free parking, free local calls, etc. All for $80 a night (including taxes). It wasn't a shithole, either. It was actually quite nice.

On my last stay at a hotel, just this past weekend in the Chicago area, a Hyatt screwed up my reservation so badly that a group of three wound up with a single double-size bed room and the hotel would not move us to an acceptable room or even give us a rollaway bed. So one of us had to find alternate accommodations at his own trouble and expense and one of us wound up sleeping on the floor.

Yes, I said the Hyatt left someone on the FLOOR.

Don't stay at the Hyatt Woodfield.

Oh yeah, and they charged $10/day for Internet access.

Next time I go to Chicago I'm going to find a place that charges $45/night, has free breakfast, and doesn't charge for net access. $100/night for the above treatment is just apalling.

I filed a complaint earlier today and we'll see if they actually appear to give a shit. Anyone got EECB info for them in case they don't?

@Coder4Life: Well, I think there *should* be a hefty tax on logging. Particularly since everyone already paid that groundskeeping fee.

The Housekeeping and Bellman Fees

I'm one of those people that actually DOES tip housekeeping at the end of my stay, and I would be pissed to find out that because of this fee I just tipped them twice.

Riddle me this... I stayed at a boutique hotel in NYC at a pretty penny, Wi-Fi was $12/day. However, ye old La Quinta down in Dallas, TX was not only 1/5th the price per night, but also had free Wi-Fi.

You would think at such a high price, these shi-shi places would just throw it in, right?

So weird. Don't get it. Phone home.

@rjhiggins: Save the rainforest!!!

@Buran: $45 bucks a night? In Chicago? I'm not sure when the last decade was that you could find prices like that, but I don't think computers, let alone teh interwebs had been invented yet.

One weekend a year I stay at a Hayatt for a game convention. There aren't really any fees except parking (I park across the street, saves $10/day) but the taxes get you. 10% hotel tax, 2% local tax, and I think there was some other piddly tax added on that too.

The hotels I've stayed at on vacation haven't had any of these fees up front but all have the big $$ phone/water/soda charges in the rooms.

@MatthewVA: I stayed at a boutique hotel in NYC...

Therin lies the problem. The La Quinta Manhattan has free Wi-Fi. :)

Pretty soon you'll be patting yourself on the back for avoiding the hotel room minibar, until you check out and find the $10 Minibar Underconsumption Recovery Fee.

Damn, that's good... I should work in the hotel industry!

I also enjoy the stadium fee when you rent a car at the Denver airport. But I had to laugh when Southern Living tried to charge me a $3 shipping and handling fee to renew my wife's subscription.

@Buran - (240) 744-1000. That's the phone number to their corporate office in Bethesda, MD. Christopher J.Nassetta is President and CEO. You can get more info by downloading their annual report:

[www.hosthotels.com]

The hotel I work at in Toronto always quotes you the price "before taxes and fees" and will specify the fees if you ask.

We charge a nomial fee per day that covers access to highspeed, the health club, the business centre and all local phone calls.

Long distance calls (as a rule in the industry) are 50 to 60% above the actual carrier rates.

Ontario has bizare levels of tax on everything and in Toronto taxes on accomodation are 14%.

It's room service that will kill you, I've seen a post of tea cost upwards of $12.

@ptkdude: The Hampton Inn isn't a "full service" hotel, with a restaurant, concierge etc. So they give you the good stuff to make up for it. I love the Hampton Inn when it's my dime paying for the hotel.

The Hiltons in Hawaii were part of the suit mentioned in the article. Now they have optional resort fees for the gym and spa and such. The pool is included for everyone. And, of course, because they're "full service," internet and parking are about $15/day each.

I always get a chuckle out of the "Bed Tax" that applies to my hotel stays.

@Beerad: Generically speaking you can find hotels that let you stay at that price. Varies by market. Places I have in mind are places like Motel 6, Days Inn, La Quinta etc. All perfectly adequate for most.

@ptkdude
We stayed at a Hampton last summer when we were traveling. Compared to some of the other places we stayed it was freaking awesome. I don't know if they are all as well kept, the one we stayed in was less than a year old. It cost us about $90 a night (had kids with). Free breakfast, wifi, pool, gym, nice rooms with a fridge.

@Buran - scratch that:

Today Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:HST) announced its CEO, Christopher J. Nassetta has resigned as President and CEO. Nassetta is resigning effective Nov. 30, so he can help his replacement with the transition. Mr. Nassetta is planning on taking the President and CEO position at Hilton Hotels. Host Hotel's board of directors has named W. Edward Walter as the new President and CEO effective today.

So it looks like W. Edward Walter is your new contact.

@Imaginary_Friend: Oooh, thanks. I'll use this if I don't hear back in a few days.

@Imaginary_Friend: And thanks for that too, although if I end up escalating before the 30th I'll contact the first guy since he won't have quit at that point. We'll see.

@MercuryPDX: Most La Quintas do - hence one reason I cited them by name when I described my horrid Hyatt experience. La Quinta is fairly priced and gives you a good deal.

I wound up in the Hyatt due to a convention rate but that's not an excuse to be jerks to customers who registered five months in advance (the reservation was filed on 6/16)

@timmus: Dammit, I just discovered that exact fee last night on my Verizon long distance bill. On a plan I had originally chosen specifically for having no monthly minimum.

@ buran
You couldn't get me to stay in a $45 a night hotel in Chicago on a dare. If there still is such a thing I would imagine it would be below the 1/2 star rating.

@Buran:
Actually, the Hyatt Woodfield is owned by The Harp Group
[www.theharpgroup.com]
They bought it in May 2007.

A few hotels in Vegas have a "Phone Activation Fee". They charge you $1-$3/day for turning on the phone in your room, so even if you never make a local or long distance call, you pay for having the ability to make such calls.

Oh, and you can't refuse to have the phone turned on, because "what if the hotel needs to reach you in your room?" Yes, the "phone activation fee" includes inter-hotel calls to room service, the front desk, etc.

As for the "The Housekeeping and Bellman Fees", I've stayed with so many people who've had NO CLUE they were supposed to tip the housekeeper $2/person per day or the bellman $2 per bag, so I get why hotels have started to tack this fee on.

But that don't make it right.

As someone who works as a front desk agent most of these charges are insane but there are some that make perfect sense for the industry and easily avoided by guests. In defense of the water charge, there is absolutely no requirement for anyone to drink the water in the room. You could always use the ice machine which is transformed into chilled water in a couple hours for FREE. There is also the option to simply go off property and purchasing the water from somewhere else. You're paying for the convenience and your own greediness, nothing more. As for the telephone fee, who doesn't own a cell phones these days. And who in the world makes a phone call without checking how much it would cost first???? This sounds like someone with money to burn.

I think hotels should just pay the maids and bellman living wages and then we wouldn't have to tip them. (Same goes for waiters.)

A HoJo I stayed in recently charged $1.50 a day for the convience of having a safe in the office for guests use. You could, if you saw the sign in time, ask to have the fee taken of your bill at check-out assuming you didn't use the safe.

@ceejeemcbeegee: $2/bag? Not even my friends who don't bat an eye over $7 bottled water would pay that much. $2/day for housekeeping is definitely appropriate, although sometimes I do leave them more when I leave a huge mess in the room.

All I have to say in response to this article: Thank God for American Express online dispute resolution.

when i'm traveling [usually driving] i always stop at a truck stop and pick up one of the travel / lodge guides [not sure what they're called exactly]. you can just about always find places for under $50 with free wifi all over the country.

I also go to the airport help desk / visitors center, tell them i missed my flight and they'll get you a reduced rate [it's usually 15-20% off the hotels normal rate.

I just stayed at an expensive hotel outside of Vegas for a convention. The mini-bar there was hilarious. It had a weighted tray with items sitting on it, if you actually took something off the tray for longer than 45 seconds, it registered the weight and charged you for it!

The worst part, one of the items on it was a First Aid Kit!! How wrong is that.

but does the housekeeper actually get the housekeeping fee or does the hotel pocket it?

@SOhp101: I'm lazy as hell when I travel, so if min. wage bellhop is lugging my heavy overstuffed bags in and out of my car and to and from my room, hell, $2 bucks in totally worth it.

I also tip skycaps $2/bag. My great-uncle was an AA skycap and worked his ass off yessir, no mam-ing all kind of assholes to put his kids thru medical and law school.

@ceejeemcbeegee: Of course, I write off all tips as necessary business expenses.

I recently stayed at a place in Washington DC. The room description said it had a refrigerator. When I get there, it's filled to the brim with the mini-bar stuff. When I called to the front desk to have the stuff removed, they said there was a "$50 mini-bar removal fee"

And their "available wireless internet" was $10/day

ugh

@nytmare: ARe you serious? I heard a parody commercial yesterday of a lady complaining to her cell carrier about an extra $30 "underage" fee (as opposed to an overage fee). I thought some clever copy writer just made that up...

Ok, the resort fee I kinda' get -even though I think it's stupid to charge that if the hotel you're paying 300/night for is, in fact, a RESORT destination. I suppose someone's gotta' pay for all those exotic birds frolicking in the lagoon so it might as well be us.

What I really take umbrage over are the safe fees. If a hotel, after taking a substantial amount of your hard-earned money for the privilege of staying there, has to provide a safe to guarantee that none of the help is going to slip your watch into their pocket, that should be on their dime, not ours.

But then I also believe that clothing companies should pay US to walk around with their logos plastered all over our shirts.

I find that most of these fees are only assessed at "luxury" hotels such as Hilton, Doubletree, and such. I worked on the road for about 9 months and I always stayed at places like Super 8, Sleep Inn, and Comfort Inn and the only extra fee was for the safe (< 1/2 the time). Luckily there was always a sign at the front desk that let everybody know so it would be easy to take off. After those 9 months I spend 1 night at a double tree and suddenly everything costs extra. I need to pay for internet access, pool use, exercise room use, and breakfast. Cheap hotels like Super 8 may cost less but it's pretty obvious which hotels are "cheap."

It's not exactly the fees themselves that are ridiculous (though many of them are, obviously.) It's the fact so many of them are treated as mandatory fees for all guests rather than usage fees for whatever amenity they nominally apply to. If the room costs $350/night, advertise it for $350/night, not $275/night and then tack on another $75 in "telephone availability" and "safe availability" and "breathable air availability" fees. It's deceptive and sleazy and that's why the hotels are losing these cases.

As to the horrific taxes... it's everyone's favorite device, taxation without representation! Politicians don't take much heat for taxing people who don't vote in their districts, y'know, so they like to tax tourists and business visitors with the wallet-raping charges we see on rental cars, lodging, etc. I don't go to the stadium around home, much less in bloody Denver, it's not my responsibility to pay for the damned thing just because I need to rent a car at DIA.

I still can't get over that the Beverly Hills Hotel -- the Beverly Hills Goddamned Hotel -- charged a $15 per day WiFi fee. Apparently that $50/month cable modem and a few $40 routers are enough to drive them to bankruptcy unless the guests chip in.

For business travel I had really good luck with Best Western.

@MatthewVA:
In my experience, the most expensive hotels tend to charge for things that "lower-end" hotels offer for free. For example, both the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC and the Fairmont in Dallas charge $10+/day for wi-fi, whereas run-of-the mill LaQuintas and Holiday Inn Expreses offer them for free.

Also, the Waldorf is very over-rated, stay there only if you like to lose $1000+ a night and sleeping in a museum.

@GearheadGeek: Colorado also has a "right to work" tax. Which means just for the privledge of holding a job, you have to pay .2% of your income to a tax to support the welfare to work people get retrained. Most of them would go back on welfare a month later because when you're broke anyway, and realize that $300 a week before taxes is really nice, after taxes is crap, but $700 a month on food stamps without any taxes incurred goes REALLY far!!!