Hotels getting creative with add-on fees and surcharges.
A continual trend in the hotel/land-based hospitality industry has been an increase in fees, taxes and surcharges to supplement revenues. Even more alarming: hotels large and small are getting creative in the types of fees they charge and what they charge for. The Wall Street Journal featured a very interesting article on the subject (see below).
These fees can vary by hotel and location and can easily add up to throw off budgets for land based programs.
Paying for the Pool: Hotels Are Piling On Fees
Your hotel bill may be carrying some extra baggage.
Eager to boost revenue and perhaps emboldened by the success airlines have had adding fees, many hotels are raising fees and hitting customers with more surcharges that don’t show up next to room rates.
Some hotels are charging mandatory valet parking fees if you show up with a car. Some have upped their “resort fees,” required whether or not you use the pool or exercise room. Housekeeping gratuities and bellman fees are aggressively being added to bills, travelers report. Some motels are even charging for in-room safes, regardless of whether you use them.
Filed under: Meeting & Incentive News