Forbes Traveler has compiled a list of the top 10 most annoying hidden hotel fees. We’re not exactly jetsetters or anything so a few of them were news to us.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who haven’t heard of some of these fees, Forbes Traveler says that there have been lawsuits over them:

In Maulding v. Hilton Hotels, Hilton was forced to settle a class-action suit relating to hidden resort fees at 11 of its resort properties. Wyndham Hotels paid $2.3 million to settle with the state of Florida in 2006 after a five-year investigation showed that it had not adequately disclosed hidden fees. Today Wyndham discloses all fees nationwide and requires that online sites that sell rooms on its behalf do the same. Still pending is a lawsuit by James Shulevitz against Arizona’s Phoenician resort, where he was forced to pay undisclosed housekeeper and bellman gratuities.

The Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees:

The Resort Fee
“Why, then, would a resort tack on an additional $10 to $25 resort fee for each day of your stay, even if you never go near the pool or the beach? Because it can.”

Telephone Fees
“AT&T would charge our hotel 10 cents per local call. The hotel would then charge the guest between $1.50 and $2. Long distance was even worse. It’s a very easy way to add to the bottom line.”

The Energy Fee
“In reality, the fee has nothing to do with the amount of energy you actually consume during your stay. It just is what it is.”

The Technology Fee
“You’d think by now hotels would be scrambling to offer free high-speed Internet access as a competitive advantage, but that’s often not the case.”

The Groundskeeping Fee
“Here’s hoping you enjoy looking at the rose bushes that line the resort’s driveway. They could cost you an additional few bucks in “groundskeeping fees,” one of the more absurd fees that some resorts have come up with.”

The Towel Fee
Proceed with caution, especially at poolside, where cabana boys will offer you extra towels and then ask for your room number.”

The Safe Fee
“One could easily argue that a fee for an in-room safe is fair…if you actually use the safe. What’s unfair is charging you $3 a day just for the privilege of sleeping in the same room with a safe even if you never touch it. “

The Housekeeping and Bellman Fees
“Maids and bellmen work hard for the money, and they depend on tips to supplement their income. That’s fine, but the tips should be up to you, not up to the hotel, which may assess mandatory gratuities but not tell you until you check out, long after you’ve already put cash in hands all around the hotel.”

The Parking Fee
“Hotels routinely get away with charging $20 or more per night (plus tips) for mandatory valet parking, even if there’s a convenient hotel parking lot just steps away.”

The Mineral Water Fee
“How nice to see a bottle of Evian or Fiji water on the credenza next your bed, just begging to be the quencher of your traveler’s thirst. And how utterly frustrating to be charged a $7 anti-dehydration fee.”

The Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees (Article) [Forbes Traveler]
Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees (Slideshow) [Forbes Traveler]
(Photo:DCVision2006)

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