Category Archives for Hotels.
Some properties add mandatory fees that are not actually disclosed to guests when committing to a stay. They might charge a resort fee that’s not shown on the hotel’s website or in the confirmation e-mail. They might add an undisclosed extra fee for property taxes and energy fees. But hotels usually pick just one fraudulent fee.
Airbnb rules are frequently infuriating. You pay a cleaning fee and still have to clean. Just stick it in the rate, right? And the list of chores can be maddening. I’ve been told to carry trash to a community dumpster several blocks away, and I’ve encountered condos with lock boxes over the thermostat to prevent use of the air conditioner. Others have been told to wait on property to manage repair services, and to mow the lawn.
Here’s a reported notice to guests, though, that contains some items I haven’t seen before
A great staycation can be getting a room at a local resort and enjoying everything they have on property, but you can do this without even booking the room. Many resorts offer day passes, and some people go without buying the pass. And it can make a great place to kill time before the airport, especially if you don’t have guaranteed late checkout where you’re staying.
The Thompson Hotel Denver is a recent-build property owned by T2 Hospitality. Like many lifestyle hotels, they don’t just rely on room revenue to earn a profit. They lean heavily into food and beverage. And this hotel has a unique strategy for bumping up their revenue – by 3%.
As this charge slip from the hotel’s bar shows, they add an automatic 20% surcharge and pocket 3% of it for themselves. You’re not just required to tip the servers, you’re also required to tip the owners.
A housekeeper at MGM’s Vdara in Las Vegas is accused of stealing more than $1 million in jewelry from a guest room consisting of “two Rolex watches, an Audemars Piguet watch, a Cartier watch, seven diamond Cuban link chains, a couple of bracelets and a gold ring.”
Here’s the story of tweedle dee and tweedle dumber.
The brand new St. Regis Chicago wasn’t offering Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members breakfast as they’re required to. They claimed that their restaurant was operated by a third party, and this got them out of the obligation. This all was addressed quickly, in just a couple of days.
In the meantime, however, there were a flood of consumer reviews of the property on TripAdvisor – most of which were very bad (and likely fake).
Both chains are more booking platforms than hoteliers, since they not only don’t own hotels they generally don’t run them either, preferring to franchise. Choice currently has over 7,000 properties and Wyndham over 9,000.
Hilton has announced a new extended stay hotel brand that’s supposed to resemble an apartment for guests planning visits of at least 20 days. They’re announcing it even before they have a name. For now, it’s Project H3.
I’ve read the release and have no idea how their concept is different, other than a lobby that “allows sight lines from the front desk to fitness, laundry, and a simple retail market” and communal grills and fire pit.
The new St. Regis Chicago thought it found an ‘elite breakfast loophole’ allowing them to avoid providing breakfast to Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above. But they didn’t.
Between homeless and refugees an increasing number of low-end properties are being used to house people by the city – and even relatively better hotels are being converted for this purpose. The 50% number may not be right, but the magnitude of the challenge – financial, and opportunity cost – is real.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
