As much as travelers hate being nickled and dimed by the airlines, for many trips, resort fees far outweigh additional airline fees.
Resort fees are inescapable. With airline fees, travelers who pack light, bring their own food and don’t care about priority seating or boarding, can avoid most of the extra airline charges.
A few hotels, like the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, have optional programs. In the Hilton’s case, $25 a day gets you free internet, admission to the spa, two free drinks a day and discounts on other activities. That’s not a bad deal for visitors who use those services.
Other hotels, like the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui and Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island, along with the Mauna Lani Bay Resort, are still holding out against the fees.
But in general, the fees are not only becoming more common, but are expanding to destinations like Las Vegas. These resort fees are now serious money. Guests that stay, at the Hyatt Regency in Maui will pay a resort fee of $105 per room, while those staying at the Sheraton at the other end of Kaanapali Beach will pay $182 a week. Plus, these fees don’t qualify for any of the “Fifth night free” or “Second room half price” discounts.
Adding insult to injury, many guests may find they use none of the included items. Curiously enough, while many hotels make internet access and/or parking an additional cost on top of the fee, almost all hotels include free local or 800-number calls for both of their guests who don’t have cellphones?
Is there any recourse? Not at this point, other than choosing a hotel without fees.
In the interest in truth in advertising, any hotel that has mandatory fees must include them in any advertised prices or have the amount of the fees featured prominently in any and ads, including those for packages.
It also should be simple to find out what services are included in the resort fees. Perhaps if a hotel had to feature the details prominently they might be embarrassed to state what’s not included and competition might encourage some of the stingier properties to offer more.
In my dream scenario, if a hotel doesn’t want to comply with this transparency rule, they must have an opt-out clause for guests who choose not to pay the fees. This seems reasonable enough and a way to avoid unexpected and unavoidable sticker shock. It is only fair for those who really scrimp and save for a tropical vacation of a lifetime, or a honeymoon, and then get hit with this extra charge upon arrival.
(The whole situation is particularly frustrating for honeymooners who have been given a trip, or for those who give such trips, because the fees cannot be prepaid.)
Personally, I’d love for all resort fees to be optional, but clearly they are a huge cash cow for hotels. Every time I hear a hotel person talk about what a “great deal” these mandatory fees are it’s hard not to laugh. If guests really perceived them to be a good deal, then all hotels would follow the Hilton Waikoloa’s example and make them discretionary.
Or hotels could come up with a choice of packages, like the Fairmont Orchid, where guests who want, for example, to spend a lot of time doing water sports can pay a one-time $75 fee that covers many activities and equipment rentals. Or guests can spend $150 for a card that gives them any ten fitness or yoga classes of their choice.
If we can’t eliminate the mandatory fees, at least let’s make them transparent. It would be a start.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
