In the world of short-term rentals, we’ve all seen our fair share of additional fees. From cleaning fees to service charges, these extras can often be a thorn in the side of an otherwise excellent stay. But, my recent discovery of a rental property takes the concept of “additional fees” to a ludicrously new height, and does so in a way that hides the ball too.
I’ve come to expect the standard cleaning fee, though it would be better just to amortize it into a higher room rate (longer stays, lower nightly rates). But then, things escalate quickly. Would you be surprised by a ‘linen fee’ for bed sheets; an ‘electricity usage fee’ that would fund a small factory; or a ‘kitchen amenities fee’ for using the refrigerator?
How about bundling all of these fees into one, not even naming the benefit, and burying it in the fine print? Here’s a rental whose fee structure doesn’t just nickel-and-dime you, it throws the entire piggy bank at your head.
“Excluded: $100 cleaning fee, $200 resort fee, $286 tax, $1000 destination fee”
How is this not illegal@bookingcom pic.twitter.com/QaoJnSseG8
— Alex (@CallMeGillette) January 17, 2024
I’m sure I’ve never seen any place that charged both a resort fee and a destination fee, since they’re actually the same thing (a destination fee was the innovation where hotels that aren’t resorts could get in on the action).
And this is real. I assumed the image was altered. This is the property. And there’s a $1,000 destination fee in the fine print.
Booking.com even has a section called the fine print, where they also disclose,
A damage deposit of $300 is required on arrival. This will be collected as a cash payment. You should be reimbursed on check-out. Your deposit will be refunded in full, in cash, subject to an inspection of the property.
There’s a $300 deposit you have to pay separately when you arrive. In cash. And you have to wait around when you check out to have the unit inspected in order to get the $300 back. And you can’t just check in and check out when you wish. You’d better not have an early flight out of Miami airport – or, what happens if you’re flight there gets delayed?
Hotel chains, under pressure from both the federal government and state attorneys general, have been cleaning up how they display prices on their own websites – at least offering the ability for customers to see an ‘all in’ price when they search.
However online travel agency sites do not do this. That makes it hard for customers to compare actual pricing, but it makes those sites look like they’re offering a better deal (indeed, a better than than booking direct, which is rarely true with Expedia or Booking.com).
It’s time for short-term rental homesharing to clean up its absurd drip pricing act, and for online travel agencies to clean up theirs over how they display the price of all accommodations.
Reminds me of ebay sales where the price is $1 but the shipping is $102.
Just to be showing the lowest “price”.
Read ALL the fine print. Atleast the bookings one shows it up front.
No need to read the fine print. As long as these games continue, I will never book one of these rentals – even from an honest player.
If my business is wanted, the honorable players in the industry better get it cleaned up for everyone.
Those are called ‘unavailable’.
I wonder if the deposit is returned in counterfeit bills.
The destination fee is higher than the room rate. Clearly, this is the Excalibur.
The fees for these properties are ridiculous because the fees are not subject to commission by the listing party, I believe.
Icon Brickell is trash central. Imagine spending that much to hang out around drug dealers and onlyfans pornstars 24/7
Drip pricing is a form of market failure that benefits sellers.
If you get a change of administration, it will never go away in the US as only regulations and enforcement will make them go away, as we’ve seen with hotels, and the other side is anti-regulation (i.e. anti-consumer).
$1,000 destination fee on a home that rents for $176 a night (before fees of course)?
People rent these places?
Seriously?
To be fair this $1k destination fee is the same amount regardless of 1 night or many nights. So maybe not so bad if it’s a 30 night stay
Still working on getting my new hotel going.
$1 rooms
$40 resort fee, $35 destination fee, $15 energy fee, $8 service fee and a $1 cable fee.
“Reminds me of ebay sales where the price is $1 but the shipping is $102. Just to be showing the lowest “price”.”
Sellers listed items that way at one time because eBay used to collect commissions only on the sales price and not on the shipping. By listing a $103 item for $1, you only had to pay eBay a small percentage of the $1 if the item sold.
They now charge commission on both the sales price and the shipping. And EBay stopped letting buyers sort listings by “lowest price” years ago because of this. Now the pulldown menu only shows “lowest price plus shipping.” A $99 item with free shipping will show up as being priced lower than a $1 item with $102 in shipping.
Reason #2 why I generally avoid airbnb, vrbo like the plague. Only when there are no other options.
To view the best ripoff lodging price visit Booking dot com, Booking dot yeah.
We need to require hotels and rental car companies to include all non-optional things in the quoted price. It’s not just them. I needed to replace a car window a couple of weeks ago and kept clicking through to the end where I saw a “recycling fee” for disposing of the old glass. I’m all for recycling, but if it’s required (which it was), that needs to be part of the quoted price, not a hidden add-on that you only see at the end, and only if you click through a “taxes and fees” listing. My activity at that website ended then and there.