Courtyard Virginia Hotels|"Hotels Quietly Adding Lots Of Extra Fees"

Source              :   newsday.com
Category         :   Courtyard Virginia Hotels
By                   :   SARA CLEMENCE
Posted By      :    Hotels in Virginia Beach North Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Hotels

If anyone is an educated hotel guest, it's Bjorn Hanson, dean of New York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management. But even Hanson got confused during a business trip when a hotel bill included $18 in charges for gratuities. One fee was for a bellman he didn't use, and the other was for housekeeping service, even though he had already left a tip. It took some discussion with the manager to get the fees dropped. While travelers were complaining about airline fees -- additional charges for putting luggage on planes, reserving seats and other services -- the hotel business quietly experimented with fee after fee. The result is that your bill at checkout can be confounding. Hotels are tacking on lots of extra charges in addition to sales tax and the city and state tariffs that apply only to the hospitality industry. Common fees include resort usage, airport pickup, parking and gym visits along with charges for room service.

Some of the more surprising charges include a fee for moving items around in the minibar (not actually consuming any), a bellman (whether you use one or not), the room safe (even if you don't stash valuables in it), checking out early, checking in early and upgraded amenities (such as shampoo). And here's a new fee: parking in an open, unattended lot. These charges are most common at higher-end hotels, resorts and properties in urban centers. A parking fee at suburban hotels is still relatively rare. Most hotels in the middle of the price spectrum -- the most popular segment in the United States -- continue to avoid most fees in favor of offering free Internet, free breakfast and free parking. Fees collected by the hotel industry this year will hit a record $2.1 billion, according to a projection released this month by NYU's Hanson, who tracks hotel fee trends annually. That's double what consumers paid a decade ago. Among luxury properties, 99 percent charge for a late cancellation, compared with 29 percent among so-called midscale properties, a 2012 study by the American Hotel and Lodging Association found.

The biggest problem with fees, Hanson says, is not disclosing those that are mandatory. Last fall the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to 22 hotel booking companies for leaving details out of the price projection when consumers shopped for hotels. It is now common to find a section on fees on hotel booking sites as well as a disclosure when a "resort fee" applies. Nearly a quarter of hotels now charge for in-room Internet access, according to a 2012 survey commissioned by lodging association. Wi-Fi charges are most common in luxury hotels -- with the fee assessed at more than three-quarters of all properties in that category. Business travelers to big cities, in particular, are targeted for the Wi-Fi charge -- which can be as high as $15 a day. "If you're headed to downtown -- anywhere, there's a good chance you'll see a Wi-Fi fee on your bill," says Jeremy Murphy, chief executive of TheSuitest.com, a travel website that analyzes hotel rooms and prices. NYU's Hanson says it can be tough for consumers to understand what might end up on their bills. "Fees and surcharges are not even uniform across brands," he says. If you can, find out in advance what the extra charges are, and pay close attention to your bill when you're checking out. Tom Waithe, director of operations for Kimpton Hotels in the Pacific Northwest, encourages hotel guests to challenge charges they disagree with."The desk has, in many cases, the full ability to reverse a charge or reduce it, but be fair -- the charges are often posted in advance," Waithe says.

Source : newsday.com/business/hotels-quietly-adding-lots-of-extra-fees-1.5940804