When I worked at a hotel they itemized everything. Including the 25 cents charge for the daily USA today. I was at the desk when two women came up to complain about it, return their papers and ask for the quarter to be refunded. I silently cheered.

Because things are always go more efficiently when the government steps in??

Not meaning to be obnoxious Meg, but no. Just no.

Until our goverment is fixed (because it is sooo badly broken) I want their dirty little paws on as little of my life as possible thankyouverymuch.

Yes! Yes! More government is the answer! SAVE ME OBAMA!

Where will the government get the money for increased involvement in the hospitality industry? Oh yeah, THOSE MUNICIPAL AND STATE TAXES HE DOESN'T LIKE!

Ok, ok. I support increased transparency in pricing. It's pretty ridiculous how the uninformed can be taken for a ride the first time they stay in an upscale hotel. Then again, did anybody really assume the peanuts were free or that the robe wasn't complimentary?

I stay at entry-level business hotels usually once per month, and can't recall being charged something that I didn't buy outright. Granted, a lot of business hotels can charge $20 for breakfast and $10 for internet because a good portion of the people staying there can either expense the cost or can afford it. I haven't been charged for a safe fee unless I've used it, or charged for a robe because I know not to wear it unless I want to buy it.

@TinkishDelight: She was paraphrasing the author. Hence, the quote.

@TinkishDelight: Eh, if you're going to let the government get involved in ANYTHING, I would hope it's truth in advertising and fair business practices.

@Canino:

I certainly understand charging for optional things like movies, food, beverages, even Internet.

However, I don't really understand where the problem is here. The hotels that I stay in charge me the rate plus taxes. However, when I book the room it indicates what the total amount will be after taxes at that time.

I don't think I've ever been charged any differently than what was indicated when I booked the room.

@Blinky987: Well at least Captain Obvious didn't get laid off in this recession.

When I travel, unless I'm just sleeping along the highway, I prefer guest houses or small family run hotels/ B&Bs

Not all B&Bs are the stereotypicial romantic type, and small hotels/guest houses give you a LOT more amnenities such as meals, cleaner rooms, social atmosphere, than you would find at a big place.

Most offer separate baths, and the price you pay isn't much more than a hotel after all the fees.

@Applekid: Yeah, but I agree with @TinkishDelight, less government the better.

Despair Inc. has it right: [www.despair.com]

@pb5000: yeah, in my hotel career i have made a few 50 cent credits to room bills for USA today and the local paper [combined] but it may have happened half a dozen times in three years?

In a sense, there is regulation (they usually have it posted on the back of the door). Kinda loose but there's stuff there.

I wonder if you ask the hotel what their fee schedule is if they will provide it for you?

@Blinky987: over spring break they tried to charge us like $150 for using the safe. No body touched the safe the entire time we were there. I think the person who paid did a chargeback of that amount and got it straightened out.

@Blinky987: Implied purchases are bullshit. They are taking advantage of the fact that they have your credit card on file.

It's very reasonable to assume you can use the robe for free. It's very reasonable to assume little trinkets in the room are free. Why? Because soap and towels are free, why isn't the candy bar or robe? And nothing has prices on it, so it makes no sense to call it a sale.

But most of all, the room prices are so high that one can easily assume 3 dollars in candy and a 2 dollar robe is included. Instead the hotel says these items are not free after the fact and charges you 20 bucks for that candy and 30 bucks for that robe.

@TinkishDelight:

I think with all this bank stuff going on when someone says "government" people think take over, but I dont think that is all what the author meant. I am with applekid in that I think they are asking them to, and I know this is a shock, make and enforce laws that require truth in their advertised price versus what they bill. No takeover, just laws.

@undefined: Chill out. I wasn't calling for government regulation.

@Applekid: Eh, if you're going to let the government get involved in ANYTHING, I would hope it's truth in advertising and fair business practices.

Exactly, I sympathize in general with Tinkishdelight, but this is one area where little to no harm will come from intervention, and will benefit the vast majority.

Good Hotels will get their satisfaction ratings to go up (becuase they wont have to use breakout fees to compete) Sleezy hotels will have to increase their quality or find some other way justify their total price, and consumers know what they will be charged and can fairly and quickly evaluate the marketplace offerings (compare apples to apples)

That is what you want, right tinkishdelight? - a fair, open, competitive marketplace where consumers can make informed choices and businesses can honestly compete? That requires some government oversight I'm afraid.

Hey, Travelocity and Hotels.com...if you really want to help, why don't you let reviewers post REAL Hotel bills up on your site showing all the charges that get added for taxes, fees, etc.?

@Jack Doyle: That's been my experience also. The last three or four hotels I've stayed at, I was charged the room rate plus taxes and that was it.

So in that sense, yeah, price transparency is something the government needs to fix. But good luck getting all those city, county, and state governments to rescind their hotel and entertainment taxes.

@Jabberkaty: I must be on the wrong website. Two people, in the same thread, agreed that government regulation is NOT the way to fix something.

On the contrary, the best way to combat this problem is to not do business (if you have an option) with hotels that nickel and dime you to death. My wife and I stayed in a Best Western in a suburb of Memphis last January, and outside the taxes (I really, really, wish retailers, service providers, etc., would just include the taxes in their quoted rates/prices) we paid exactly what we were quoted when we made the reservation. That, and that the hotel was SPOTLESS, guess what hotel is going to get my recommendation for anyone who comes to visit when we move out there?

@Corporate_guy: Definitely, if they are going to charge you for it, they should have a price tag on it.

I love the "Complimentary" $5 bottle of water hampton inn has. It's a bottle of water with a tag on it that says to enjoy this Complimentary bottle of water and in fine print it says, your room will be charged $5 if you open the bottle.

This isn't unusual - US prices generally (not just hotels) don't usually include tax, while quoted prices in Europe do.

The only surprising thing here is the free minibar - I've seen that in one place, I believe, and honestly, I don't much like it, since I don't drink very much, so I end up effectively subsidizing those who do.

@Jack Doyle: I don't think I've ever been charged any differently than what was indicated when I booked the room.

Me either and I stay at hotels frequently.

@Tmoney02: No, it does not require government oversight, it just requires that we, the American public, stop being so lazy and just putting up with such BS. It means asking for EVERYTHING up front, and if they start rattling off a list of everything they charge for, you hang up the phone or walk out the door.

It isn't that the market doesn't work, we, as a whole, just aren't willing to put the effort into making it work. Too many people just roll over and pay it, or stay in that hotel because they don't want to be troubled to drive to the next one down the street.

@VideoOrItDidn'tHappen_GitEmSteveDave:

LOL. I love it!!

@barty: How often do you go back to a hotel? How can you tell if a hotel is going to charge by the sheet for the TP until you've already stayed there? You can't. Hence, regulated business practices - that, by the way, won't cost them anything. They'll just have to roll charges for extra maid service and morning coffee and the McNews into a single charge.

@Canino: Yeah, Obama, stuff works better WITHOUT the gub'ment sticking it's snout in! Like mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps!

@Applekid: If it's something like what they did with the cosmetic industry (the model has to be using only the shampoos/conditioners/makeup they're selling, no falsies for mascara ads, etc etc) then I'm fine with that. If it turns into, well that worked so well let's keep going, that's when I have a problem. I'm actually a democrat. I don't have any fundamental issues with government regulation it just seems that our government always seems to screw it up.

@kmw2: See, what you do is go through a process called "checkout" whereby you get a bill that you can read. You do this BEFORE you leave.

@Canino: Yes, but at that point you're already obligated to pay it, so you have no leverage. There's no way of knowing ahead of time what random fees they're going to tack on.

@Jack Doyle: You've never stayed at a "family resort" hotel, have you? They almost all charge a "resort fee" which is not included in the rate. Sometimes they "forget" to mention it when booking, and you get to argue with the manager on checkout.

@TinkishDelight: If only I was Captain Reading Comprehension, I could've saved you from your borderline illiteracy!

I think the only hotel chain I've stayed at that's never attempted to nickel-and-dime me was Motel 6. A HoJo actually tried to double-bill me and was unable to fix the "error" until I did a chargeback.

@Meg Marco: I'm not sure if that was directed at me, but I didn't think you were.

I had a similar great experience in Belgium last fall. All of the hotels and inns I stayed in were economical and wonderful. The only surprise was the lack of additional charges on the bills. And, no one wanted my credit card at check in. Only at checkout did they take my card. It was my only vacation ever where I didn't want to leave.

There was one horrible exception: A Formule One hotel. I thought this would be comparable to a Super8, but the building was basically an unstaffed automatic hotel room vending machine. The PIN number I was given when I prepaid for my one night got me into the building and into my room. The bathroom was basically a one-piece plastic room, as if someone had stuck a porta-john in the closet. Very bizarre.

@NeverLetMeDown: I wish that the US required the actual pricing -with taxes included- to be displayed. It makes a big difference in places like TN with our 9.25% sales tax.
(I don't cry too much- property taxes are ultra low. But then again don't get me started on the fairness/equity of sales taxes versus property taxes.)

And what about those silly governmental regulation recovery fees which the phone companies charge???

I've stayed in several hotels in Istanbul, Budapest, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Crete, Heathrow (London), Munich and countless others. They were all pretty much the same as U.S. hotels. The only difference is that "magical tax" that gets added to your bill after your purchase in U.S.? Yeah. That's all in the bill up front in every other country. VAT is generally included on the price tag.

That's one thing I HATE about the U.S. Tax is this mystical fee that gets tacked on AFTER you make a purchase. "Oh, you want to buy something? Here's your 8% punishment fee!"

People visiting from overseas have a hard time grasping that.

@NeverLetMeDown: I got gipped for 5 quid on a Red Bull from a hotel mini bar in Birmingham, UK. That was back when the exchange rate was about $2 for a single quid.

. . .

There were tears.

@David Brodbeck: Yes, but at that point you're already obligated to pay it, so you have no leverage.

I take it you have never checked out of a hotel. Or used a credit card.

@tc4b: Your attnetion in the terminal, Southwest Airlines paging tc4b. tc4b, please pick up any white courtesy phone for a message from Southwest Airlines.

@Blinky987: I've noticed that upscale hotels nick and dime you more than entry level or mid-priced hotels. Hotels like the average Marriott don't generally charge for parking (unless in a high density area) or WiFi, whereas a Ritz Carlton charges for parking (at minimum $25/day), internet, opening the fridge, etc.

Note: I've only stayed at the fancier hotels through family/friend discounts. It's just annoying to splurge for some extra comfort and end up paying way more because of all the added fees and the fact that NOTHING is included.

@Preyfar: Conservatives push for it to stay that way. The idea is if the tax is visible, people will oppose it more.

@Canino: Sure, I have. But if the charge me $10 for two local phone calls that I thought were free, the conversation is pretty much going to be, "well, you made the calls, didn't you?"

I'm a front office manager at a major-chain 4 star hotel in a mid-sized city.
I can tell you that, if you don't purchase anything during your stay, your bill will show just your room rate and tax. We can't get around charging taxes, obviously. And as far as the taxes not being part of the rate... when you go to the store and buy something that has a displayed price of $19.99, do you expect to pay $19.99, or $19.99 plus tax? How is a hotel room any different?

And to be honest, if you don't want to be charged for other things, then don't use them. Don't want to be charged for WiFi access? Don't buy it. If you're in a position where you absolutely need WiFi access during your stay, research which hotels in the area don't charge for it. Don't want to be charged $3.00 for a bottle of water in your room? Don't buy it. Bring some water with you. I could go on... it's really as simple as that.

@Cattivella: Yeah, that bugs me too. I guess the assumption is that if you're staying in a nice hotel, you have deep pockets and won't care about spending an extra $25 for parking and such.

I'd just appreciate it if prices I saw listed included tax. That would thrill me.

@TinkishDelight: This discussion is ridiculous. Anyone who says that strong government oversight, of every industry, isn't absolutely necessary has no idea what they're talking about or is being paid by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses cannot and do not police themselves, and markets do not work the way they do in Ayn Rand - Milton Friedman Fantasyland. People are not all perfectly rational, they do not have access to complete information about every transaction, and they do not have equal access to every competing business at once. Businesses, which happen to be controlled by human beings, regularly do business in ways that would be irrational in Fantasyland, but are profitable in the the real world.

Without government regulation there is no market and therefore are no businesses to complain about how the government won't let them steal from their customers. Governments make markets possible and have the right and obligation to regulate them, and regulate them hard. The problems we are seeing now are in large part the result of the government's failure to do its duty.

@tc4b: Yeah, if the government wouldn't have regulated the banks so much, they wouldn't have had to be so greedy while destroying the world's economy!! Or something.