Resort fees are infuriating. The price of a hotel room isn’t the price. You book a room advertised at one price, but the hotel charges you that plus an additional fee. And since that ‘resort’ or ‘destination fee’ is mandatory, the room rate is deceptive because it doesn’t tell you how much it costs to stay at the hotel.
- Most resort fees don’t even have ‘real’ benefits, they have lists of things you could theoretically get – discounts on services, classes you don’t want that take place at times you won’t be at the hotel. Then there are prices attached to those things. That makes it sound like the resort fee is a ‘deal’. But if it were a deal, it could be voluntary and you’d pay!
- They’re really fraud, a way to disguise the true price of a room, and drip pricing that lets them raise the cost after you’ve clicked through to a property. It doesn’t just disguise the cost from the consumer, but also anyone receiving a commission as well.
The President declared resort fees deceptive and called for a ban but didn’t actually doing anything about them. However you can do something about them.
- You should prefer hotels that don’t charge resort fees
- You should prefer chains that don’t charge them… as often. Hyatt and Hilton don’t add resort fees onto the cost of award stays like Marriott does. Hyatt Globalist members don’t get hit with resort fees on paid stays, either.
But one hotel manager for an IHG property in Toronto says that all you have to do to avoid resort fees is make it clear you don’t want to pay them. Here’s how.
I am a manager at an upscale IHG property in GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and my property recently fixed an “Amenity Fee” for the hotel
Since then we have received a barrage of negative reviews on the e questionnaire, Google reviews, [Tripadvisor] the works. Seeing our guests scores go down, upper management took the decision to allow the removal of amenity fees for any guests that complain. The ones who complain online, have their fees removed post check out.
He says “ensure you put 1 star reviews on any and all platforms you can. And mention amenity fees as the primary reason.” And don’t feel bad if you actually had a great stay but still do this, “You can always put a one liner saying how you had a good stay and maybe put names of the staff that helped you. But still put the lowest possible review online.”
I think it goes without saying that you should not be aggressive or a jerk with hotel front desk staff over the fees. You can complain about the fees when they ask you how your stay was, “I’m being charged $30 a night for a Noon yoga class but I’m always off-property working at that time.” Some properties might waive the charge, some won’t, how much flexibility the front desk has isn’t up to them and if they can do it they’ll be more likely to if you’re nice anyway.
And different ownership groups will connect the dots between their poor reviews and customer satisfaction scores and taking action on the resort fees differently. Some may decide that you’ve already left the review, what does returning some of your money help?
Still, this manager suggests that writing a negative review and noting the problem was the resort fee is often a way to get the hotel to give your money back that they took unfairly in the first place.
I think it goes without saying that if guests routinely pulled guns on the front desk staff over fees, they would be eliminated industry-wide in extremely short order. We just need to set up legal defense funds for the brave guests who will pioneer this movement.
The best is a hotel providing alcohol in a resort/destination/amenity fee to guests who either aren’t legally able to drink, guests who have religious objections to drinking, or guests who are recovering alcoholics. I wonder when it will be socially acceptable for hotels (or even airlines) to provide or otherwise offer marijuana, just as they provide alcohol?
If you know you are due the resort fee you should pay it, but it doesn’t mean you should not skip leaving a bad review if you feel like they are just ripping travelers off with useless benefits. Most of the time when you leave a bad review and they “make it right” they want you to reconsider and update it. That does nothing to help the next victim of the hotels shoddy pricing tactics.
May work at that one hotel where ownership decided to allow them to be taken off but seriously doubt it will work at 99% of hotels that charge a similar fee
Username does not check out. SFO/EWR, have you recently relocated to Texas (sorry, DFW/IAH)?
Or maybe you had an extended layover and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night with a “breakfast fee”?
SFO/EWR, I hope you realize that anyone doing that will be arrested. Threatening someone with a firearm over a fee gets you in really deep, hot water.
greggb, did you read the second sentence in my comment? An arrest is not a conviction, and a great attorney gets their clients out of deep, hot waters.
@greggb57 “y’all should get in trouble for me so that I don’t have to pay resort fees anymore. Go ahead, I’ll pay your legal fees”. Wonder who he got that idea from.
I have never paid any add-on fee , by simply refusing and asking if the police could help resolve it ?
Once the police are mentioned everything is resolved , and the add-on fee is removed .
A business never desires a police complaint from a paying guest .
So basically this is a post about a hotel manager saying he will waive resort fees. Don’t think this is going to work at-large, especially if you’ve already left and didn’t even bring it up until you leave a review. I thought he was going to share some legalese about putting something along the lines of “I refuse to pay the resort fee” on the reservation comments, or something more sophisticated than “resort fees suck, I hated paying them”.
Not buying this one. I just don’t stay at those hotels. Wish EVERYONE did this, without exception. They would have been gone 10 years ago.
I think the bottom level reviews citing the resort, destination or parking fees is a great idea.
Paying a parking fee at a budget place like Fairfield Springhill or Embassy with an empty outdoor lot is just a rip off.
I will avoid booking properties that add Destination or Resort fees. I’m at 100+ nights with another 50 or so to go.
I try to vote with my wallet, but I’m only 1.
@Doug: I would love to hear a lawyer’s take on a hotel charging for parking. I imagine a hotel has reduced or no liability if a car is stolen from an open-air parking lot. But if a hotel charges for parking, I imagine it’s harder for them to argue they don’t control over the parking lot.
I don’t like resort fees any more than the next guy. But it seems scummy to agree to a fee when booking (and, yes, they are disclosed before committing to the booking) and then deciding that you don’t want to pay for something you agreed to. I like the idea of a low review citing the resort fee as a reason (and maybe they will offer to remove). But trying to weasel out of something you agreed to doesn’t come off well.
To each their own, of course.
For most hotels with extra fee(s), the only person that may be able to unilaterally remove fee(s), that did not provide a benefit that you actually used, is the hotel manager. If the manager is on duty ask to talk to them. If the manager says no to your complaint, then follow up with a threat to call the police. The odds are good the manager will change his mind and offer to remove the fee(s). If later, you discover the fee(s) were still included as part of your hotel credit card charge, then write a really bad review for the hotel and specifically mention that the manager intentionally did not or perhaps accidently forgot to remove the fee(s) when she/he stated that they would. Then the hotel has a bad rating and the manager has egg on face!
@FNT … Both your comments are excellent , (alcohol and parking liability) .
Another approach is to identify the owners of the property and doxx the heck out of them. Make clear why this is happening.
@Dougie … +1 . Except I don’t bother with the manager first . If I smell a fishy fee , I immediately ask for a police presence to assist in resolving it , thus putting the ball in their court . The fee is immediately removed with a smile , and the manager never needs to show up .
I’d expect these reviews to be moderate, at best, in their influence over decision-makers at hotels. Here’s an idea: masses of people booking refundable stays at hotels that charge scam fees, cancel at last permissible moment and email hotel telling them “I cancelled when I learned the rate for the room is NOT the amount you advertised”. Hotels do NOT like rises in cancellation rates.
“I wish everyone did this” [stayed at places that don’t have resort fees]
Large scale boycotts in 2024 are simply not possible anymore. You can run a single restaurant out of town but a large company will always find someone to pay.
Where individual people CAN make a difference is in the reviews. 1* reviews are absolutely horrible and as soon as a property dips below 4.5, management and owners start to take notice. Uber will ban riders and drivers sub-4.5. Same with Amazon for sellers and on and on and on.
Keep writing those 1* reviews. They will make a difference. It brings down the entire average and when people see others do it, they will too and it becomes an avalanche.
^^^^ and I say that as a retail business owner in the 8-9 figure range with operations in 11 states. I will do almost anything to avoid 1* reviews and make someone happy.
At the very least Marriott and Hilton no longer separates the resort fees from the price listing. Something is better than nothing. Obviously, this is not going to get priority in Washington unless it becomes a voting Wedge issue.
I don’t go to Vegas much anymore because of these fees and would rather not feed the wolves. However I used to ask front desk to remove the fees when I’m there in the winter months. I would ask what the resort fees include and they give me the usual nonsense benefits. But when they get to the part about the use of their world famous swimming pool I would point out it’s 40 degrees outside aaaaand your pool is empty soooo… They usually just say I’ll refund your fees or they offer to refund half. To which I’ll say ok but I’ll be noting that in my reviews.
You could also just ask the front desk during your stay. I was staying a night in a hotel with a resort fee. I arrived late and planned to leave early. When I arrived after 11pm, it took more than an hour to check in. I politely asked the front desk agent if he could waive the resort fee, given the length of the queue and that I was only staying a night and he immediately agreed. No 1-star review required.
If the government wants to investigate something real resort fees should be number one. Often you’re charged a resort fee well over $50 per day for thinks like bottled water (the cheap kind) and shit$y coffee. It’s a total rip off.
Come on, Bahamian Basket weaving doing yoga, taught by a purple haired ,democrat woketard ,wearing a Che Guevara shirt is a real deal for 299$ retail regular value !
You know the resort fees before you decide to book so add up the total and decide if you want to stay there. Yes, it was better when the total rate was stated and there were no add on fees. Back then if you never used the pool or the 10% off coupon at Greasy Pete’s, it never occurred to you to try to get anything knocked off your bill. The hotel is going to charge the same whether or not part is broken out as a resort fee.
@FNT Delta Diamond I’m not a lawyer but I remember from my college Business Law days that liability in a parking lot isn’t determined by whether you paid for it or not, but who has control of the car. Self parking lots, you retain the liability and park at your own risk. Generally a notice that property isn’t responsible is sufficient. However, valet is another story. You’re surrendering your car, typically to be parked in an area reserved only for valet cars. They have control of the vehicle. A note that they’re not responsible for damage or theft just isn’t going to cut it, no matter how many times they want to say that. Lawyers here please correct me if that’s wrong.
@Bob: Actually, Marriott does NOT display resort fees when searching for award redemptions until the final page of booking. And even then, at least as of a few weeks ago, the resort fee is listed as taxes and fees. Marriott is complying with assorted legal settlements for cash bookings, but not bookings with points.
I just stayed at a Hilton in FLL that most definitely adds a resort fee.
Maybe one way for travellers to not end up paying the extra resort fees would be to out right refuse to pay them at all and if enough travellers did that,then hotel chains would have to seriously take notice and then knock off such unwanted fees
Several months ago, I stayed at a State run park lodge. Granted, the State owns everything but they have a management company run the lodges. They now charge a $17.00 “Lodging fee”. That fee included the mandatory State park fee (don’t know why the State would charge a fee if I am staying in the lodge ON PROPERTY but…), two bottles of water in the room, fresh fruit (a couple of apples and bananas) that one must go to the lobby to get, “high speed wifi” (turtles can run faster than their claim). I tried to get out of the fee since I didn’t need their water, the “fresh fruit” nor the wifi since I tether to my iPhone, to no avail. When I had the NASTY breakfast buffet that they also charged $17.00 for…I got pissed. I had the manager of the restaurant refund my breakfast. Being a senior advisor with TripAdvisor, I gave them a 3 star for the lodge and a 1 star for everything else. I also wrote a letter to the Director of Parks and Historic Sites. Boy, that started a sh**storm! Now I’m getting calls from the lodge GM, the president of the management company writing me a letter and stepping all over themselves. I did not respond and I would not remove my comments. Our organization, which has been coming for years and taking 20+ rooms…ain’t gonna do it any more. Moral of the story…take the bull by the cahones and NEVER let a private do what a general can do better…go straight to the director of parks and historic sites.
Just not staying at properties with outrageous resort fees is the best way to solve the problem. I avoid them not just because they are being deceptive, but it’s also a sign they will be nickel and dining you on other stuff.
SFO/EWR I like the way you think. And really, since the fees are fraudulently extorted from customers, they can argue it was self-defense.
Displaying a sign absolving a parking lot of liability doesn’t work. Judy claim you didn’t read it.
At check out, when they ask me—or give me a card—to post a positive review on Trip Advisor, I reply, “Thank you, but if you want a 5-star review I charge a positive review access and convenience fee equal to the total of your hotel’s amenities and resort fees.” Sometimes it works and sometimes they just look confused.
The Fees are a rip-off and a bit of a distraction – the far bigger rip-off is the industry policy of charging hotel guests, as well as cruise and tour guests, the built-in travel agent commission of 10-15%. The agent commission is included in the charges for every hotel room booked directly with no travel agent involved. Book directly with a hotel, and you are charged the travel agent commission, which the hotel simply pockets, seriously enhancing their profit.
In states with strong consumer protection laws, this policy would seem to be illegal. You cannot charge consumers for services like resort fees or travel agent consultation/advocacy that they never received. The travel media does not write about the commission rip-off because of the financial value of travel industry advertising.
The majority of these comments are really sad. If you can’t afford or don’t want to pay the resort fee, go somewhere else. It’s that simple.
I also find it hard to believe that a “manager” is going to tell you to leave a bad review. It’s repulsive that people threaten to leave bad reviews to get what they want. Read the fine print. If a hotel has a resort fee, don’t go!
Stop acting like entitled little brats having a temper tantrum because you want everything but don’t want to pay for anything.
Those resort fees cover a lot of things, including paying the staff to cover those benefits.
So either grow up or go to Motel 6. They will leave the light on for you…for no fee.
I’ve contacted properties before my stay saying that I want to stay there but the resort fee is turning me away forcing me to choose another property. A couple times I’ve done this they’ve told me they’d waive the fee.
I think one time they replied trying to defend the fee and I stayed elsewhere
I stay, almost entirely, with Marriott. When I stay with Marriott, I only book through the app. The app is set to include taxes and fees. I’m not defending these fees, but I guess I’m saying it doesn’t bother me as much because I see them included in the entire cost when deciding between locations and properties. Once I’ve narrowed down a few properties of similar cost, the resort fee will determine where I book. If the resort fee is garbage (to me), I will choose another property. But if it includes some perks I might enjoy, I’ll choose that property over another. Again, assuming location and cost are comparable.