FEE FOR ALL
HAVING GUESTS SURPRISED OR ANNOYED BY THOSE FEES IS NOT A GOOD LONG-TERM STRATEGY .
SEAN HENNESSEY , CEO , LODGING ADVISORS taxes . Hotels also like the fees because they typically are not subject to franchise royalties or travel agency commissions — yet — although Booking . com is working on a way to change that .
Robert Cole , senior research analyst for lodging and leisure travel at Phocuswright , says research shows that add-on fees are “ a tremendous dissatisfier among consumers .” The real issue , he says , “ is that you can ’ t comparison-shop effectively because you have no way of knowing what the price of a room will be without taking multiple steps .”
Cole , like other critics of the practice , argues guests often neither need nor appreciate the bottled water , pool access , Wi-Fi , newspaper or other benefits bundled under these fees , but they can ’ t opt out because the fees are mandatory , unlike airline charges for checked bags , for instance .
FEE FOR ALL
U . S . destinations where fees are most common
CITY
NUMBER OF
PROPERTIES * Orlando 201 Miami 197 New York 157 Las Vegas 122 Los Angeles 103 San Diego 97 Myrtle Beach 75 Phoenix 73 Boston 72 Oahu 71 San Francisco 55 New Orleans 42
* As of July 2019 ; includes hotels , resorts , homeshares and vacation rentals .
Source : resortfeechecker . com
Mark Grenoble , president and CEO of 360 AMI , an asset management company , says being able to show value makes the fees more palatable to guests . “ I won ’ t stay in a hotel that charges me for Internet use , but if it ’ s part of a fee that covers other things , I ’ ll pay that ,” he says .
Regardless of what the fees cover , Hennessey thinks properties that don ’ t impose them could be at a disadvantage , even if their room rates are competitive . “ If you see two hotels on Expedia , one with a resort fee and the other without , most consumers will choose the cheaper hotel based on the rate before the fee is added ,” he observes .
He thinks the industry overall needs to settle on a standard for disclosing fees before regulators intervene .
If the District of Columbia does prevail against Marriott , Prywes says , “ the ripple effect will be far-reaching .” He says other states would likely pursue claims against Marriott and other hotel chains , and consumer class-action suits might follow .
And in the end , ironically , the consumer might end up paying more : Add-on fees are not subject to occupancy tax , Hanson points out , so folding them into the advertised rates — as the District of Columbia ’ s lawsuit would require — would bump up the tax burden on travelers .
— CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN ROWE
October 2019 hotelsmag . com 11