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23-08-2023, 03:11 PM
PUBLISHED SUN, AUG 20 20236:52 PM EDTUPDATED SUN, AUG 20 20238:20 PM EDT
Monica Pitrelli
My hotel bill from a three-night trip to New York City included 21 charges.
Nine were for “destination fees.”
There were three daily fees of nearly $35 each — notwithstanding that my third night was supposed to be “free”— plus separate sales and occupancy taxes on each fee.
And that was just for one of our rooms — we booked two. All in, the fees were US$240.
......
I’d read about “junk fees” in the hotel industry — how they’re often couched in such terms as “resort,” “destination” or even “hospitality service” fees, that they’re on the rise
......
destination fees” provide amenities like:
- Premium internet access
- Access to a fitness center
- Concierge business services
- Newspapers on request
- One bottle of water per guest at check-in
Those are all things I presumed would come with my booking, especially since entry-level rates regularly exceed US$500 per night.
There’s more. The fees also provide discounts: a free hour on a bike rental (with one paid hour), 6% off The New York Pass for sightseeing, 8% off a hop-on hop-off bus tour, and “exclusive access to 20% off” zoo tickets — all fine things, but nothing I wanted or would use.
......
consumers paid around US$2 billion in hotel fees before the pandemic, and mandatory fees have grown since then.
......
I’m left wondering why hotels don’t simply wrap these fees into the room rate. After all, the same guest who is fine with a US$300 nightly rate may balk at paying US$250 for a room and $50 for a “hospitality service fee.”
......
this was never about the money. It’s about the inherent unfairness of being handed a hotel bill composed of multiple charges you didn’t see coming.
Better to read full article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/21/what-is-...-them.html
Monica Pitrelli
My hotel bill from a three-night trip to New York City included 21 charges.
Nine were for “destination fees.”
There were three daily fees of nearly $35 each — notwithstanding that my third night was supposed to be “free”— plus separate sales and occupancy taxes on each fee.
And that was just for one of our rooms — we booked two. All in, the fees were US$240.
......
I’d read about “junk fees” in the hotel industry — how they’re often couched in such terms as “resort,” “destination” or even “hospitality service” fees, that they’re on the rise
......
destination fees” provide amenities like:
- Premium internet access
- Access to a fitness center
- Concierge business services
- Newspapers on request
- One bottle of water per guest at check-in
Those are all things I presumed would come with my booking, especially since entry-level rates regularly exceed US$500 per night.
There’s more. The fees also provide discounts: a free hour on a bike rental (with one paid hour), 6% off The New York Pass for sightseeing, 8% off a hop-on hop-off bus tour, and “exclusive access to 20% off” zoo tickets — all fine things, but nothing I wanted or would use.
......
consumers paid around US$2 billion in hotel fees before the pandemic, and mandatory fees have grown since then.
......
I’m left wondering why hotels don’t simply wrap these fees into the room rate. After all, the same guest who is fine with a US$300 nightly rate may balk at paying US$250 for a room and $50 for a “hospitality service fee.”
......
this was never about the money. It’s about the inherent unfairness of being handed a hotel bill composed of multiple charges you didn’t see coming.
Better to read full article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/21/what-is-...-them.html
