When William Pou reserves a room at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort using his frequent-stayer points, he’s surprised by a $10-a-night resort fee, disclosed only after his room is confirmed. What’s more, he’s told the fee is required by state law. Is it — or is he owed a refund?
resort fee
When Dennis Kavanagh booked two nights by phone at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Squaw Valley, Calif., the agent quoted him a rate that didn’t include a small surprise: a $16-a-day “resort fee” that covered “free” local calls, a newspaper delivery, in-room coffee and teas, Internet access and use of the health club.
Mandatory resort fees added to your hotel bill have been annoying hotel guests for almost as long as I’ve been covering the hotel industry, which is to say, a long time. But how do you persuade a property to remove these extra fees from your bill?
Few airlines love fees more than Allegiant Air. The carrier literally charges you for anything that isn’t bolted down on the aircraft. But now now you can experience that kind of gratuitous unbundling, courtesy of Allegiant, when you buy a hotel through its site.
Sue Allen and her husband, Dale, have been coming to the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin for years. “We love the convenience and location,” Sue says of Orlando resort hotel.
Back in January, I noted with amusement that Harrah’s had issued a press release saying it does not “impose mandatory resort fees attached to a room reservation.”
What’s this on Sonja Johnson’s hotel bill? A mandatory $25 per day “resort” fee for the use of the spa. But didn’t the rate she booked through Hotwire include everything? No, it didn’t. But that doesn’t mean she’s out of luck.
A few weeks ago I got into trouble for claiming it was difficult to find a hotel in Las Vegas that didn’t charge a resort fee.
What do you get when you put a Las Vegas hotel, a mandatory resort fee and an opaque Web site together? If you said “trouble,” you’re absolutely correct.
Tired of being shocked by a barrage of fees and taxes on your hotel bill — everything from “resort” fees to taxes and convenience charges? Then you might want to travel abroad. John Humbach did, and learned that sometimes, the price your quoted for a hotel room can be the price you pay. To the penny.
Mandatory resort fees, as everyone knows by now, are completely evil. But do the avaricious hotels that charge them have a partner in crime? Yes, they do.
As long as we’re saying aloha today — it’s Aloha Airlines’ last day on earth, sadly — we might as well talk about something else Hawaii should say goodbye to: its greedy and ubiquitous resort fees.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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