Hyatt Hotel Puts Bathroom Soap And Lotion On The Counter Like They’re Free — Then Charges Guests For Using Them

Hyatt’s recently-foreclosed Thompson San Antonio – Riverwalk has bathroom items staged to look complimentary, but that are actually part of the minibar. Times are tough there!

A guest took video showing the price list tucked behind the products and partially obscured, so you could easily use soemthing without noticing it costs extra. And why would you expect otherwise? They’re bath amenities in the bathroom!

The hotel’s FAQ does say that they have soap, lotion and shower amenities in the room that cost extra. You wouldn’t expect that!

What in-room items are available for purchase?
Full minibar, 2 robes, L’AVANT Hand soap and Lotion, D.S. & Durga shower amenities.

@jadenllc Has anyone else encountered chargeable bath products at hotels? There’s gotta be a better way to denote these are paid add-ons #darkpatterns #behavioraleconomics #hoteltips #travel #businessethics ♬ original sound – jaden | business & pe

The worst hotel charges aren’t the most expensive. They’re one ones that bill guests for something someone would assume is included with the room, or that are set up so you incur them by mistake.

Ironically, the Thompson San Antonio Riverwalk has a $25 per night destination fee – but that doesn’t include all the bath amenities in the bathroom!

Mandatory resort and destination fees are problematic on their own because they are mandatory which means they are part of the cost of staying at a hotel, but they aren’t included in the room rate. They are stripped out for the purpose of being deceptive.

• They deceive the guest, even when disclosed, because they make it harder to compare rates across hotels. That’s especially true when comparing across chains rather than on a chain’s website where you can often at least opt into showing room rates inclusive of these fees.

• In some jurisdictions, hotels don’t pay local taxes on resort and destination fees, so there’s tax arbitrage. For instance, in Texas, local hotel occupancy tax applies to rooms used for sleeping – only the room charge (and not other package items) are taxed. However, some jurisfictions argue the contrary, for instance Austin says their tourism district tax applies to destination and resort fees.

• They often aren’t commissionable – they’re charged on property, not as part of the room rate, so the hotel excludes them from the payment made to online travel agencies and travel advisors.

Marriott even lets hotels charge these fees to guests redeeming their points for free stays (Hilton and Hyatt do not). That’s a tax on loyalty bookings.

I also think that, while you expect hotels to charge a premium, there’s a point at which the sticker price genuinely shocks the conscience like $26 for an in-room bottle of water at Aria Las Vegas.

There are also minibar sensors that charge guests for things they don’t consume, and layout traps similar to hiding the note about a charge for some of the toiletries, along the lines of the hotel desk trap that hides a $50 charge to plug in your laptop. Unplug something on the desk and you get charged.

Then there’s actually lying about charges like billing everyone for parking, and saying that’s required by the government or an official-sounding add-on fee that’s really a charge for the hotel’s property taxes.

The FTC calls it a ‘dark pattern’ when the presentation tricks or traps the customer into spending more than they realized.

• Camouflage the fee: puts paid items where free items normally are, like bathroom counter products that look complimentary.
  
• Drip pricing: show a room rate, then add mandatory fees later.
  
• Misleading labels: Call a hotel-imposed fee “city,” “historical commitment,” or “worker protection” instead of “extra charge we made up.”
  
• Accidental activation: touching the minibar items or moving them, or interacting with the desk in a way that triggers a charge when you’re not actually intending to buy anything.

Thomspon San Antonio Riverwalk is staging bathroom soap and lotion where guests expect complimentary amenities, even though using them can trigger extra charges. That’s a textbook hotel dark pattern: make something look free, hide the price list, and count on guests not noticing until it’s too late and they’re stuck.