Comments on: Can they charge a “resort fee” for a hotel I bid on?

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:57:33 +0000

I too am mad as hell about undisclosed fees that are known to Priceline and the Hotels prior to our bidding.
We pay extra based on a hotels star ratings which are in turn based upon the amenities offered. When I bid on a star/resort level I think ALL my fixed nightly costs should be included in taxes and fees.
I have contacted the class action attorney above plus two other groups of attorneys and will follow up with some local ambitious DA’s – the local cities are missing out on millions in extra taxes on our nightly charges and we know how our bureaucrats react to “stealing” “their” money!
Mr Shatner and the folks at Priceline, Hyatt, Marriott Hilton etc better be budgeting big bucks for attorney fees- we will win this!

By: Pam

Pam — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:58:15 +0000

I didn’t dig deep enough in my research and unfortunately I’m one of those who got trapped by Priceline with the resort fee “sort of” revealed AFTER you win your bid! You have to click on the taxes and fees link and read the fine print to see at the bottom the explanation of possible resort fees! There ain’t no possible about it! It’s definite! This is the first time I ever used Priceline and it will be the last! I’ve always been leary of them but some of my friends have had great success so I thought I’d give it a shot. NEVER again! And I will be telling everybody about my negative experience. They also listed the Trump Hotel as being “ON” the strip. Uh no it’s not on the strip, it’s a block or 2 off. You can access the strip through the mall (during operation hours) or walk it and the walkway isn’t a sidewalk all the way but stone and various other things. Also seems to not be very well lit at night! So besides being towards the end of the strip and not even on the strip, very false placing it in the category of being on the strip. Hopefully our experience will be good but I’ve heard quite a few negatives. Extra fees, bad service, bathroom floors being sticky, and other things that could make for a sour trip. Things that you wouldn’t think of worrying about at a 5 star hotel. Will definitely be carefully checking every detail of my bill before I check out! Keeping my fingers crossed for a good experience

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:14:44 +0000

Resort fee? What in the world is that. It is a scam. I would be very much disturbed if they put on my bill. I am very pro-business but this is really too much.

By: patty

patty — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:50:40 +0000

i recently stayed at the Palace Station in Las Vegas, I booked the room on
Las Vegas.com, which the price was great 50% off, when I got to the hotel they
have you sign the agreement that your card will be charge an extra fee for such uses as the internet,phone and movies , etc. I didn’t even open the door to the exercise room or use anything extra, everyone by now has a cell phone you really don’t need a phone in the room, I didn’ use anything extra at all, I didn’t even ask
for an extra towel, when i got home my bank account was slapped with a fee from Palace Station of 32.55, this was a huge surprize to me, when I called to find out
extactly what these charges I was charged for the explained everyone gets this fee, I advised that I didn’t use anything at all extra, she states again that everyone gets the fee, this can’t possibly be good , practical consumer business, this has to be unfair, I have gone to Vegas for the last 20 years and can’t ever remember my card being charged an extra fee like that unless I used the phone or something, there has to be a way to stop this kind of unfair business legally, I would gladly start proceding immediatly.

By: mitch kalcheim

mitch kalcheim — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:27:12 +0000

I am a consumer class action lawyer in Los Angeles who has been working on a Priceline case for their failure to disclose mandatory fees for approximately 3 years. I would very much like to discuss the details of what happened to you during your transactions with Priceline. My contact information is below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Mitch Kalcheim
KALCHEIM LAW GROUP, P.C.
9300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 508
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Tel: (310) 461-1210
Fax: (310) 461-1212
Mitch@Kallawgroup.com

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:31:17 +0000

These “junk” fees fall into 2 categories:

1) Non-optional fees (fuel/energy surcharges on hotels/airlines, “vehicle license” fees at car rental places, room taxes, etc). It should be illegal to ever quote a price not including these — feel free to raise your prices whenever you like, just disclose the real total I’m required to pay

2) Breaking out of “optional” services that are included in some hotels, not in others — for example, pool/resort fees, Internet access, parking etc. I don’t mind separating these, since some people might not choose to use all of them, but this should be properly disclosed when you’re choosing between hotels — I should be able to select the features I want on a website, and get the total price including those features (for example, if I check “pool”, the price I get back should show the resort fee. If the property next door has a slightly higher rate, but no resort fee, I can properly compare the total price).

I find the most relaxing stays for me to be at mid-range chains like Best Westerns and similar, where all of these things are usually included and I don’t have to worry about what’s being charged for what. I find it ironic that the $60 a night hotel can give me free wireless internet, while the $250 a night one has to charge another $30 for it.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:34:52 +0000

@ Carlo

About the mini-golf, to the night clerk’s credit, she looked a little ashamed when she held out the paper for me to sign and after a very nice conversation she removed the charge. Basically she said she thought it was stupid too and they dropped the charge all the time but if she didn’t at least try to get people to get people to sign her boss would throw a fit.

By: Carlo

Carlo — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:12:03 +0000

Anytime you stay at a downtown hotel in a major city, you can expect parking fees. Cities don’t have available parking. All of the hotels will charge for whatever they have available. I think if you’re planning to drive, you just need to be prepared and ask about it.

Resort fees are another story. They are a ripoff. Even if you’re actually staying at a resort. You want people to pay for the amenities, work it into the cost of staying there. Otherwise, don’t offer the amenities. And that mini-golf thing? My jaw dropped when I read that.

By: Jim_J

Jim_J — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:54:04 +0000

My wife and I recently booked a room in downtown Chicago through Priceline at a Hyatt hotel. We decided to skip the rental car and use public transportation. By doing so, we avoided the outrageous parking fees that the hotel was charging. The Priceline room rate was $75 per night. Self-parking was $48 for each 24 hours, valet parking was $60.

By: Liz K.

Liz K. — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:17:10 +0000

Another unfortunate example of hidden fees. :-(

By: Chicky

Chicky — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:05:24 +0000

IMHO, resort fees are a serious rip-off. If they want to charge for amenities, then you should have to swipe your credit card to open the door to the gym, or to the pool, or whatever “amenity” you choose to use.

I am fondly reminded of the Hampton Inn in south Denver, just off I-25. My sister and I were staying at the Motel 6 next door, which didn’t have a business center. I wanted to check in online for our flight the next day, and the nice guy at the desk at the Hampton Inn gave me a free temporary card so I could use their computer and printer to check in and print our boarding passes. Now THAT is service, and if I’m ever fortunate enough to go to Denver again, you can bet I’ll consider that Hampton Inn as a good place to stay.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:48:20 +0000

What I hate most about resort fees is that they are always supposedly charged for the use of something. Well what if I didn’t use the gym or the pool or read the crappy newspaper they left me? I stayed at a Best Western once where they tried to charge me $3.00 for “complimentary” use of the mini-golf place next door. As delightful as mini-golf is, I was only going to be checked in for 6 hours, and I planned to use those for sleeping! And how is it complimentary if I’m paying for it?

Sadly “i didn’t use it,” no matter how true it might be, doesn’t always work since you sometimes get that jerk who’s all “Well its for the *privilage* of using it” or “We have no way to tell if you used it or not.”

By: Carver Farrow

Carver Farrow — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:23:22 +0000

Resort fees are completely indefensible, even by a pro-business guy like myself. They are simply a way of quietly raising rates while providing nothing in return. To make matters worse, since resort fees are neither part of the room rate or taxes, a hotel can charge them even for guests who are staying on points. Then, to add insult to injury, you don’t even get points for the portion of your bill attributable to resort fees.

By: Stephen Paliska

Stephen Paliska — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:05:04 +0000

After having been hit with several resort fees (mainly in PHX) now I ask prior to making a reservation. This normally entails a phone call because a resort charge is not included in the room rates. My worst experience was in Akron, OH where the Hilton tacked a phone charge on to my check out bill. When I mentioned the phone was not used, the answer was the charge was for the privilege of having the phone available in my room. To their credit the charge was removed from my bill. Since most of my travel is business, normally I do not utilize the “Resort” amenities.

By: Ed Greenberg

Ed Greenberg — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:53:28 +0000

I visited the web pages at http://www.radisson.com for several of the Orlando properties. I searched for ‘fee’, ‘charge’, and also looked at the fitness center descriptions. No mention of a charge for the fitness center, nor any mention of charges or fees.

My feeling is that if a hotel offers these things, and doesn’t say that there is a charge, then the imposition of a charge is deceptive advertising and should be reported to the state attorney general.

In addition, almost every charge at a hotel may be disputed. I’ve had phone calls removed, movies removed, etc. I’ve gotten free parking and free internet, because the charges weren’t properly disclosed when making the reservation.

It’s always worth complaining.