Let’s say you went to stay at a Vegas hotel for the week. You found a cheap deal online and booked your hotel thinking you are not going to break your bank with a hotel. You have a nice stay in Las Vegas and you go and check out. The person at the front desk says, “Thank you for staying with us, here is your charges for the resort fee that is charged per night for services.”
The person looks down at the charges and there is about $60 worth of extra charges added on to what you already paid for the hotel. Has this happened to anyone? Well if you stayed in Las Vegas then I am sure it has. I have always known about the extra fees they tack on at the end. Especially since I have been traveling a lot and sometimes stay in a hotel in Vegas during the week when needed. However, even though the front desk tells you upfront about the charges people are still outraged about the fees. Especially when the fee is about the same price you paid per night for the room.
On the other hand I can see why people get mad because it does add up and the “services” they say they charge you for a lot of times are not even used. Let’s take a look at a recent stay I had and what they charged me for in the resort fee.
- Shuttle service to the strip (I have my own car so this is never needed)
- Use of the swimming pool (I won’t be using this and besides it is not even opened)
- Use of the hotel gym (I won’t be using this and besides I have a gym membership in Las Vegas)
- Use of their phones (I believe most people have cell phones so this isn’t something I would use)
- Use of the internet (Here is something I use. They give the price as $5.99 but is already charged in your resort fee)
Of the five items listed above I would only use internet. I can see why people get mad when they are being charged for services they are not using. Just the fact when you check out after having a nice stay and see all these charges that add up can just get people upset and depressed. My thought is why doesn’t the hotel just give you an option of what services you want and then pay for those instead of a lump sum? If the person doesn’t want the gym but wants the pool they charge them a price for use of the pool and give them a card key for it or someone at the pool checking if they paid for the service. It makes sense and at the same time doesn’t make the customer upset. Then again these hotels are used for people who are on vacation and not like me and used to stay during the work week if I need to. So from a business standpoint it gets the hotel some extra profit.
I don’t know but I just feel if they want to charge for the use of something they should charge for the services the customer is actually going to use. What’s next, charging to hear the couple next door have sex because their walls are too thin? Yes I had to listen to that this past week while I was eating dinner in the room. Anyway moving on from that, what is everyone’s thought on hotel’s charging resort fees? Do you think they should just charge for services that you use or am I way off base and what they do now is good? Let me know and comment. I would like to hear from you.
On a side note this Sunday is the Super Bowl. Since the Patriots destroyed the Broncos in the playoffs, I will have to go for the Giants. Sorry.