Many hotels near NYC’s Times Square now tack “destination fees” onto guests’ bills. (Image: Jim Glab)
Business travelers heading to New York may no longer be immune from a daily add-on to their hotel bill that used to be limited to leisure destinations like Hawaii and Las Vegas. And hotels in other big cities might not be far behind.
At the leisure destinations, the hotels call these contentious charges ”resort fees,” supposedly covering the hotels’ costs of providing things like pool towel service, fitness center use, phone calls, daily newspaper and so on – and the fees are mandatory whether the guest actually uses any of the covered services or not.
Probably the most notorious destination for charging exorbitant hotel ”resort fees” is Las Vegas, where big hotels routinely tack more than $30 a day onto guests’ final bills. And they are not included in the quoted room price during web searches.
Now, according to a report in the U.K. newspaper The Independent, resort fees are coming to many hotels in New York City under another name – the Urban Destination Charge.
The newspaper found that a number of hotels in Manhattan – especially those in the Times Square area – have started tacking a mandatory “destination fee” or “facility fee” onto guests’ bills, with the amount ranging from $15 to $25 a day. The fees are being charged by properties belonging to major chains like Marriott/Starwood and Hilton.
A Marriott spokesperson told the newspaper the fees were imposed at some of its properties as a four-month test program, and estimated that about 40 New York hotels are now charging them.
Las Vegas hotels are notorious for the size of their resort fees. (Image: Jim Glab)
Like the resort fees, the new charges are supposedly covering hotel services like Internet, fitness rooms, newspaper and so on, whether or not the guest uses them. They may also include a one-time food and beverage credit (even though the charge is imposed for every day of the guest’s stay), or discount vouchers to use for city tours, etc.
Hotel resort fees have been drawing scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission for years, but so far the agency hasn’t done anything to rein them in except to warn hotels back in 2012 that they ought to be more transparent in disclosing such fees to customers.
In 2015, the FTC rejected a request from a consumers’ group that hotels should be required to incorporate resort fees into their regular room rates. Earlier this year, the FTC’s Bureau of Economics issued a report on hotel resort fees that concluded they can harm consumers by making their room searches and price comparisons more difficult. That report was issued in the final days of the Obama Administration during early January. With the changeover to Republican rule in Washington, it is considered unlikely that the FTC would come out with any new regulations restricting hotels’ freedom to assess resort and/or destination fees.
So don’t be surprised if more hotels in other urban centers take note of the New York experience and decide to tack on some new fees of their own.
Readers: Have you encountered any unexpected mandatory hotel fees recently? Where, how much, and what were they for?
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This is ridiculous – like the writeup says above, these fees should be in the quoted room rate when you search online. Any hotel taxes can add up a ton too. Why can’t all fees/taxes simply be included in the room rate so that you know exactly what you are paying before you book the room?
Agree completely With checked bag fees there is in principle (at least) a path to avoid the fee, so it can be regarded as “optional.” Mandatory “fees” are simply a way of obscuring the actual rate. Imagine if airlines concocted a mandatory “seat maintenance” fee (not that I want to give those choads any ideas)!
Any fee that is not optional and not included in the original rate you see online should be illegal.
“With the changeover to Republican rule in Washington, it is considered unlikely that the FTC would come out with any new regulations restricting hotels’ freedom to assess resort and/or destination fees.” Especially since the current occupant of the White House is in the hotel and resort business.
As for the state AG’s using consumer protection laws, the fees are usually not illegal if they are prominently disclosed prior to booking.
Traveled to NYC twice and didn’t stay at hotels that add on resort fees. On one trip, I thought of a side trip to Atlantic City. Even the flea bag motels miles from the casinos wanted to add a resort fee. It’s January and one can’t use the pool or get tan on the beach. Even the Harrah’s in KC, MO slaps on a resort fee and the nearby Missouri River might be good for fishing.
I would disagree with this, “With the changeover to Republican rule in Washington, it is considered unlikely that the FTC would come out with any new regulations restricting hotels’ freedom to assess resort and/or destination fees.” Many R’s find these fees ridiculous and nontransparent. The free market cannot properly function when costs are hidden.
Also, any conversation with state AG’s (perhaps NY’s) about these hidden fees violating state-based consumer-protection laws?