On a recent trip to the Caribbean island of Antigua, Melissa Middlestadt, a Toronto-area writer, was charged a $12-a-night resort fee by the all-inclusive Jolly Beach hotel. She was told this involved the use of non-motorized water sports equipment and WiFi.
“We asked them to remove it but they didn’t, which was a shame because the WiFi was so spotty it didn’t even reach our room, and the kayak hut had such limited opening hours that we couldn’t use it either to take advantage of this,” said Ms. Middlestadt, 30, who was on her honeymoon with her husband. “It was spending money to get nothing, which was annoying and ruined the all-inclusive experience.”
Resort fees are some of the most hated in travel. These are typically mandatory fees that hotels charge to cover amenities like access to a gym and the Internet, as well as less useful things like free local calls.
The Biden administration is lumping them in with other “junk fees,” including concert ticket service fees, late credit card payment penalties and airline baggage check-in costs.
“They amount to hundreds of dollars a month,” President Biden said, according to prepared remarks for his State of the Union address in February. “They make it harder to pay the bills or afford that family trip.”
Two new proposals before Congress aim to ban resort fees, as a long-fought battle gains new fire. Here’s what you need to know about hotel fees, how to find them, and how to avoid them.
Define resort fees
Whether known as “resort fees,” “destination fees,” or “city fees,” these additional fees often do not appear in the room rate during an initial online search for accommodations until a consumer clicks on a payment page to find them Overnight accommodation price excessive.
A 2017 Federal Trade Commission report concluded that separating resort fees from room rates makes it difficult for consumers to compare prices and makes their searches more difficult.
Hotels charge fees “to keep their published base prices lower in order to compete with other hotels in online or mobile tools,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and founder of San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group. “It’s annoying for the traveler because hotels are not transparent and resort fees are unavoidable.”
The American Hotel & Lodging Association said only 6 percent of hotels charge a fee, an average of $26 per night. Still, they are lucrative; A 2018 report by tourism analyst Bjorn Hanson found that hotels rake in nearly $3 billion annually in resort fees.
Nightly fees can range from $10 at the otherwise affordable Freehand Chicago to $50 at the high-end Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, California. There is a detailed list of amenities covered by the fee, including a welcome drink ($20 value). , according to the hotel’s website), daily yoga on the beach ($85), one hour of bike use ($14 per person), and Internet access ($15).
“Truth in Advertising”
In a 2023 Consumer Reports survey, 37 percent of American adults said there was a hidden fee when staying at a hotel. More than half said fees pushed the cost of the stay beyond their budget.
The practice is firmly in Congress’ crosshairs. In the spring, Senators Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, introduced the Junk Fee Prevention Act, which targets a range of fees, including resort fees.
Over the summer, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, and Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas, introduced the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, which would require hotels and short-term rentals to report the full price a consumer would pay, including fees, up front .
The American Hotel & Lodging Association said it supports the Hotel Fees Transparency Act. A statement from its president and chief executive, Chip Rogers, called it “the best-in-class solution for creating a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging ecosystem – from hotels to online travel agencies, metasearch sites and short-term rental platforms.”
“It’s a good wallet issue that affects everyday Americans,” said Lauren Wolfe, chief legal officer of Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group, and founder of the website Kill Resort Fees.
In August, Travelers United sued the Hyatt and Sonesta hotels for “falsely advertising” their rates by not including fees that are part of the nightly rate, the complaints say.
In recent years, attorneys general from states including Pennsylvania, Texas and Nebraska have sued hotel companies over the practice with some success; Marriott, for example, has settled cases in Pennsylvania and Texas and agreed to include resort fees in prices displayed on websites.
“That’s the truth in advertising,” said Charles Leocha, the founder of Travelers United. “If you see a price, you should pay it.”
Opt-in fees
Even though hotel fees are criticized, travelers’ bells and whistles adopted by airlines seep into hotel operations. For things that used to be free, like E.g. early check-in or late check-out, fees often apply today.
Arlo Hotels operates in Chicago, Miami and New York and offers early check-in between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. for an additional $40 and check-out until 3 p.m. for $75. However, management said it accommodates such requests free of charge if space allows.
“Hotels are saying, ‘Look, if you want more time in the room and we can’t service it, you have to pay us something,'” Harteveldt said, noting that hotels have been monetizing such extras for five years.
He added that they are increasingly using the perks to reward higher-ranking members of their loyalty clubs. Hyatt Place, for example, offers early check-in and late check-out starting at $10 for newcomers to its loyalty program.
Avoid hidden fees
When she traveled to Key West, Florida, in 2016, Ms. Wolfe paid $400 for a hotel room from Travelers United. When she checked in, the clerk held her room key until she paid another $20 for the resort fee. The incident inspired her website, Kill Resort Fees.
“It is not only misleading, it is illegal to charge and get more money for a room than advertised,” Ms. Wolfe said, citing consumer protection laws and the actions of many state attorneys general against them.
She suggests travelers demand resort fees be removed from their bills.
“I say, ‘Ask nicely twice,’ but the people who answer the phones at the front desk aren’t the ones who set the policy,” said Ms. Wolfe, who managed to get a $40 fee at a New York hotel U.S. dollars per night after pointing out that the fee was never disclosed.
It can take some time to find a hotel with no resort fee, but the website ResortFeeChecker.com can help with its searchable hotel database.
If you are forced to pay a resort fee, Ms. Wolfe suggests requesting a refund from your credit card company or filing a complaint with your state’s attorney general. The latter strategy is more likely to be successful in states that have already cracked down on such fees, she added.
Others suggest applying for an exemption before issuing a credit card. Craig McLean, 66, a retired government employee from Olney, Maryland, traveled frequently for work and said he made a point to explain at check-in that he was a federal employee and had no intention of using paid amenities .