One Marriott is reportedly hiding parking charges as mandatory “City Fees” — even for guests without cars. It’s not the first hotel I’ve heard of doing this.
A reader shared how one hotel is sneaking in junk fees. She stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Plano, Texas, a property she’s visited several times before. She didn’t drive and didn’t park, but she was charged a $2.87 “City Fee” which exactly matches the advertised $2.87 parking fee at the hotel.
I happened to notice that the past free parking now said $2.87 a day. When I received my bill the morning of checkout, I connected the $2.87 ‘city fee’ because it matched what I saw under ‘parking fee.’ I stopped by the front desk and the agent happily removed it. But had my brain not connected the same numbers, I’d have had no idea.
She notes that there’s a “massive shopping center across the street with a Michael’s…The parking lot is not secured at the hotels, and, in fact, there is unlikely any enforcement since there’s no way to ascertain which cars had “paid” or not in the expansive parking lots…”
The charge wasn’t labeled “parking.” It looked like a municipal tax — something almost no guest would think to question. But the amount matched the property’s new daily parking fee. When she pressed the issue, the front-desk associate acknowledged the charge and removed it.
She added, “According to the front desk, this parking fee is relatively new; it baffled him too.”
Ben over at One Mile at a Time got the same email and reached the same conclusion: this looks like a deliberate obfuscation — calling a parking fee a “city fee” — and reportedly applying it to every guest, regardless of whether they have a car.
If true, that’s not just deceptive. It’s likely a violation of Marriott’s own fee-disclosure policies, which were tightened after the brand’s 2021 settlement with Pennsylvania’s attorney general. Hotels are supposed to clearly label all mandatory fees. Calling a parking fee a city tax would seem to do the opposite.
Now, a $2.87 ‘city fee’ that matches the advertised parking cost is suspicious. But it’s possible it could have been a coincidence. So I looked at the actual hotel taxes in Plano, noting different rates for the two nights of the stay – $116.10 and $98.10.
- In Plano the only legitimate “city” hotel tax is 7% of the room rate, so it can’t be the same dollar amount on two different nightly rates.
- There’s also a 6% state tax, although the guest was exempt in this case.
- The correct Plano 7% tax was charged on the folio – $8.13 on the $116.10 room rate and $6.87 on the $98.10 room night.
- Plano taxes are percentage-based, and can’t be the same $2.87 on nights with different rates.
- You also see a ‘state cost recovery fee’ on the folio. That is not a tax, and it’s not required by the government. It’s a hotel-imposed surcharge meant to recover what the hotel itself has to pay the state in business taxes and regulatory costs. (The hotel keeps this money.)
Susan, a Titanium elite who says she “lives in hotels year-round,” summed it up perfectly:
I don’t expect much from a Fairfield, but I expect honesty… I wish they all knew that many of us elect to stay elsewhere solely because of these trash fees.
It’s a small dollar amount — $2.87 — but the bigger story is how quietly this kind of nickel-and-diming spreads. A bogus three-dollar fee, multiplied across every occupied room, becomes meaningful revenue. And if it’s masked as a tax, it’s easy money and easily fraud.
Hmmm….check owner of the franchise?
Literally had this happen at different locations and companies. The Four Seasons in Montreal tried to charge a $55/night valet parking fee, and we used Uber to get to/from there. Gotta review the invoices at checkout; and check afterwards so that there were no additional charges. Sure, there can be mistakes, sometimes automated errors, and other times, it’s greed. Be vigilant. Fight it.
I’m better
How is this not fraud? Seriously. I’m sure by passing it off as a “fee” they don’t have to give Marriott a slice of the revenue. So they’re not only cheating customers but they’re cheating Marriott.
@Michael Madden – appears to be Chase Hospitality https://www.chasehospitality.com/
@1991 — Oh no… you got me!
@FNT Delta Diamond — Yeah, we all wish Marriott corporate would actively enforce its own rules and standards against rouge operators like this property. As always, thanks to Gary, and the other blogs, for naming and shaming when bad actors do bad things.
Again, large hotel chains are not in the business of running hotels. They are in the business of selling hotel franchisees, some of which are shady as can be. The large chains do not seem to care and/or have control over what these owners do or don’t do.
At least when you fly Delta (or any other airline) you’re not getting some unknown third party that owns the planes and employs the crews.
It has 99 rooms. The average hotel occupancy in Dallas is 65%. So, that’s at least $171,798 a year in revenue the owner is making. Marriott operates based on a franchisee fee and a fixed percent of revenue. Revenue disguised as taxes goes right into the owner’s pocket.
Double the George… double… the… fun… I’d say you are technically correct about hotel chains verses operators, but it’s also a ‘false advertising’ problem.
As to airlines, uh, have you not heard of American’s Envoy Air and Piedmont, Delta’s Endeavor Air, and United’s Air Wisconsin Airlines, or other wholly-owned regional subsidiaries to operate flights under their respective brands? Again, most laypersons just see ‘United’ or ‘Marriott’ and trust the brand to uphold minimum standards.
Just fight the charges with your credit card. The time and trouble that the hotel will have to expend for so little money will send the message.
The SHS in Cromwell,Ct out in the boondocks does 1 better, by default every room by default has to pay the $3 parking fee that shows up only as “Fee”. So a family of 4 with 2 rooms now pays $6 to park the single car, you Ubered to the hotel they still charge your room the $3, you and 2 coworkers have 3 rooms , each person their own room but you have just 1 car , never mind that car will cost $9 to park per night $3 x 3
@Jeff — Not always as easy as that, but it can be a method. Usually, attempt resolution directly with the merchant (the hotel) and/or their affiliates (the brand), documenting each attempt. Then, initiate the credit card dispute, with a succinct explanation and documentation supporting your side. Expect them to automatically side with you; but, when the merchant eventually responds, the credit card company will automatically reverse, so you will need to ‘appeal,’ then, usually it’s resolved in your favor. A few extra steps, but it can be a ‘method’ for relatively straightforward disputes.
Like many cities, Plano requires a certain number of parking spaces per room. One could make an argument that the acquisition cost, property tax, and maintenance costs apply to everyone, whether they used the parking lot or not. But it’s more likely just a way of getting more money after someone signs for a competitive rate which is fictional.
As a Hyatt Globalist, I’ve had to chase off…probably 2-4 resort/destination fees per year (and have spent more than a little bit of time preemptively chasing the charges off as well).
The dark irony is that I suspect some of these hotels (particularly those that don’t issue parking tags) are sloppy enough that they’re probably making it easier for people to get /legitimate/ parking fees knocked off through practices like this (since if they’re just automatically issuing the fees, it starts getting hard for them to substantiate who /did/ park there).
If they’re still under monitoring from Pennsylvania send a notice to them and cc Marriott. I’m sure Marriott would deal with this pretty quickly at that point.
@1990 a wholly owned subsidiary like Piedmont or Endeavor is no different than a Fairfield inn that is owned by the Fairfield subsidiary of Marriott.
They are still owned. They’re layers of corporate BS by Marriott.
More accurate example would be Skywest Airlines they fly for American, Delta, United, and Alaska airlines under each of their regional brands.
The Skywest airlines is not owned by a major carrier there are a few others like them too. They’re just the biggest.
I had the same at Hampton in Syracuse NY….a chain with supposedly free parking. I did not have a car and still had $3.87 charged each day as a Parking Facility Fee
Now do a story on Avis airport fees.
@Kela — Good points. Mesa is another.
This is against the law. If a business charges a fee that is listed as going to the government, then it must go to the government.
@Mark Lindey – see, for instance https://viewfromthewing.com/avis-and-budgets-hidden-fees-exposed-in-new-lawsuit-the-dirty-secret-of-rental-car-pricing/
This is EXACTLY why my wife and I have now started using Drury Inns whenever possible. We have well over 140,000 Marriott Bonvoy points this year but with these hidden “fees” becoming more common we have found that the Drury Inns have a great deal more to offer. From free full breakfast buffets to free welcome evening buffets (usually a pasta, bbq pork sandwich, tacos, etc.) and 3 free drinks, alcohol.
Have you been BONVOYED? This website advises:
Join millions of others who have been BONVOYED and tell your story at https://www.bonvoyed.com/
@Ken A — I’ve been Bonvoy’d plenty…
While I did not work at a Marriott, i did at another chain that started this practice. If we at the front desk did not tick the box for parking, regardless if guest parked or not, we were written up. I did not agree with deceptiveness and always put in the comments the guests did not have a car. It did not seem legit when the memo passed around was not on letterhead like other hotel memos were. The morning front desk thanked me over and over again because they would be overwhelmed with calls. They could not handle the volume plus regular front desk duties when they were by themselves which was every shift.
They are doing the same in LA, passing on a fee related to unions and blaming the government, calling it an ordinance fee. Hilton doesn’t do this. It wasn’t disclosed clearly in the reservation. I disputed it with my credit card company and they wrote it off no questions asked.