Gotcha: the worst hidden hotel fees and other cash-grabs

So the advice from this is to give the US a miss until they can sort out their broken free-for-all system. 

Crazy USA prices, no free upgrades, I once paid US$14.00 to print my boarding pass in San Fran down at the Wharf.

The Sydney Hilton charged me $20 to hire an umbrella on a recent trip.  I vigilantly cared for that umbrella during my rainy stay in Sydney.  I returned it and requested the charge to be removed from my bill.  It wasn't and has been worth more than a measly $20 bucks of  my time to get a credit.

I went to a major hotel in Melbourne recently and was told that I was getting the breakfast package.  It turns out that meant I could have breakfast in the hotel but it wasn't included and they charged me $40 per person for a pretty ordinary spread.

The room service tip/gratuity is interesting. At the Sheraton Waikiki a few years ago, my meal arrived and I signed for it and grabbed my wallet to give the delivery person a tip. He immediately said, "Oh no, sir, no tip is required, there's already a gratuity incorporated into the bill."  Good on him! 

Another reason to thank the Australian Consumer Law! It is illegal to advertise (to Australians) a price which is not the final and all inclusive price... none of that rubbish if you do your searches from Australian websites usually.

The worst I had was in a hotel in Las Vegas during a convention, they wanted to charge me $50  "for storing personal items in the minibar or for altering the contents of the minibar." The best thing to do it just to push back from all this. In this case ring the front desk, tell them you will be emptying the minibar but not consuming anything, so that you can use the space for your own items, and at the end of your stay you will refill the mini bar, so you are alerting them that they can't charge you $50. That's what I did, no drama when I checked out.

With most of these charges, at least the sneakiest ones, you just need to be up-front with the hotel, question the charge and make your case against it and ask it be removed. Don't get into heated arguments with the front desk staff, it's in their power to remove the change or enforce it, so just keep your cool, make your case as to why the charge shouldn't be levied, be "firm but fair" as they say.

Don't forget service charges on included breakfast. I stayed at the Sofitel in Chicago and booked a rate that included breakfast. Upon checkout there was an extra $100 charge which turned out to be a service charge for breakfast. When I asked how it was calculated or what the % was they weren't even able to tell me. It's often the most expensive hotels that are the sneakiest with these sort of charges.

Exactly why I now avoid USA as a holiday destination. Tips, gratuities, services charges etc etc; as far as the eye can see. The only saving grace for the USA is that shopping can be a steal-literally!

Im fed up of hotels especially in usa not having housekeeping done daily. I insist it is done. If they are going to diminish service with eg housekeeping once every 3 days,  then adjust the room rate down. No excuses acceptable. Just spent 2 weeks at homewood suites sw 1st av Miami and for what was paid, it was poor standard.

My favourite was back in 2010 at the high-end Maui hotel that didn't have any shade for loungers by the pools unless you paid a minimum of $US100 for various versions of a shelter or $US250 for a gazebo.

My heavily pregnant and pale-skinned wife & I splashed out on a basic one for a day and picked one out by the pool steps for the next day. We settled in next morning and sure enough some loud-mouthed, entitled American woman had a row with the staff insisting she had booked our spot. When staff asked if we would mind moving we obliged without complaint because we were literally moved 3 metres over (the guest tried to buy off her guilt by buying us lunch but we declined that too).

We laughed last though - the staff thanked us by upgrading us for free to the giant gazebo with four loungers, a couch, a bar fridge and a TV - totally over the top but amusing. 

The constant pay-for-everything upgrades though are frustrating and exhausting - how a beach resort can't provide any shade for guests is just weird.

Well known hotel at the square - I inquired at their business center about a small parcel to be sent overseas, and was curtly demanded to supply CC details before they even knew the size, weight or destination for the parcel - was informed CC details required to source a quote, thus cancelled and made other arrangements. Charge first then inquire what service you require, perhaps this is the standard in the US.

Not just the US performing this little trick.

On a recent NSW Country weekend getaway,  we returned home to find credit card had been charged with an additional $4.50 

Result of inquiries was that we had used the long life milk from the rooms fridge. Now when we are told coffee and tea making amenities were available we assumed this included the milk held in the rooms fridge.

NO it did not!

Really?? This milk can be easily obtained from Coles/Woollies for around $0.90 

Couldn't care less about the $4.50, neither here nor there, but kind of sneaky wouldn't you agree

Wow some amazing stories .. Here's a tip - the 3rd partry booking websites are now so powerful that Hotels have to be on these websites to survive.  My tip is to get your price off the 3rd party website and then contact the hotel direct and ask if they can do better, generally they will as anywhere up to 20% of the 3rd party booking site price goes to the 3rd party. 

Everyone talking about the USA… have Australia hotels removed their 2-3% surcharge for credit card payment? I actually threatened to pay one in cash once. Only to be told they couldn’t accept over $5k. 

I travel extensively in the US. Just in the first 3 months of 2022 I spent 60 nights in the West Coast hotels.. Las Vegas, SF, and Hawaii hotels are notorious for their hidden charges. Me and many other people went to consumer bureau and complained about "resort fees" back in 2015-18 period. California has some of the strongest consumer protection laws. They changed the name to "destiantion fee" as a compromise. It is a gray legal zone, that is why some hotels do take it off the bill, but much less likely lately. Their excuse is Covid, etc. The hotels are making the most $ historically in the US. You can forget about customary daily cleaning (excuse is Covid, although that makes no longer sense). Big chains like Mariott stick to it. I was at Mariott Seattle, had to call in every second day to ask them to clean my room. At one point they suggested if I needed fresh towels to come down to the lobby to get them. At that point, I absolutely refused and gave them my piece of mind. 

I am afraid the fees are becoming huge. My stay at a lovely hotel in SF (Caza hotel) charged me "destination fee" $29 plus tax; Overnight parking $65 (you can not park on the street, since you are almost certain to find your car broken into); Amazon package delivery $10; Mail (envelope) $6; Rate for the room was $290/night.  Drink at the bar (local beer - $13!!!) All together you end up paying well above $400 / night for what would be 3star hotel in Australia / Asia. Unless you absolutely have to travel to the US, it would be advisable to not give US tourism business at this point. 

I’m in the USA now..latest trick is to charge credit card $100 a day to cover expenses not known and then leave it to you to fight for it back.  Then of course there is the foreign exchange rate that banks charge in credit cards.  Also top end hotels look stunned when you ask them to make up your room….it’s a towel replacement only policy.

I know it's cheeky but every time I travel I email the hotel in advance, say I am carrying medication that needs to be kept refrigerated, and can they arrange for an empty fridge in my room when I check in.

90% of the time this is accommodated with no issues, no charge.