Kill Resort Fees (tm) ...

This one is making the rounds on the Interwebs this evening ...

http://killresortfees.com/

(Please don't shoot the messenger!)

 

They've been around for a while. Their Twitter almost always comments on any resort fee related Tweets.

 

Lots of spelling and grammar issues on their main page. They need to fix that if they want to appear to have any credibility.

 

I've seen some articles where people are pressing the government to pass a law to get real price quotes with the price of resort fees included. Here is one:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/04/resort-fees-are-facing-fresh-crackdown-members-congress/

 

It's always read as a bit of a goofy site to me. What stood out to me was this disclaimer...

"NOTE: Nothing above is legal advice. If you want legal advice, talk to a lawyer. If you want hotel advice, reread this page. If you want a gordita supreme, go to Taco Bell."

 

I mean... I get it. We don't like resort fees. But at the same time, it isn't deceptive. You can clearly see the charge on every website.
You know what you're paying for.
This is exactly like every business that has secondary fees.
Resorts always show the lowest price... "Rates as low as $39." Yeah, weekday. Is that deceptive? Kinda, but you can clearly see the weekend is $109.
Same thing with everything in this world. Concerts, sporting events, flights, they advertise the lowest price. You couldn't advertise every single option, would be a freakin' mess.

 

I think that misses the point of those arguing against Resort Fees - when the hotel advertises the lowest price as "from $39" that isn't actually the price. The real lowest price is "from $39 + $35 resort fee" The headline price should be advertised as "from $74"

 

True! I completely missed that. ><
I guess I'm just used to adding on all the additional fees in my head.
But at the same time when you go to book it, you see it, say hell no, and leave the site lol.
But yeah, the hotels might as well just advertise the actual price.

 

A Vegas Uber driver made an observation about this tonight that I hadn't thought of before- the percentage of tourists who come to Vegas to gamble has been in decline for years. Even though Strip hotels are usually at over 90% capacity, less and less people are gambling- they are here for shows, shopping, food, clubs, family vacations. He suggested the resort fees are a way for a casino-hotel to recover some of the lost gambling revenue.

 

Offcourse you can refuse/chargeback or make a scene. Just keep in mind the hotels can also refuse you on the premises

 

Not sure that I agree with that thinking though. Look at it this way, those shows, high end dining, spas, shopping, clubs, etc are not cheap by any means. The hotel was comping them before for those that were gambling. Basically a shift of some of the revenue from gaming to non-gaming. They really want you in the door spending $, I don’t think they care if it’s $500 for a nice dinner and a show or if it’s on the casino floor. Also, if they cared that much about the gaming revenue, they would improve the conditions... they seem to be doing the opposite.

 

You can bet if people are pressing the government for this, the other "side" is pressing harder not to pass the law. That is the way our government works for the most part. It would take a very public outcry from a LOT of people to make a difference. $$$$ always talks louder.

 

This has been the rant of choice for years. Many see this as a way for casinos to raid your CC. Fact is, casinos don't make the money some might think. Looking over the last ten years, you'll see most are just getting some room to breath after a tough period. 15-20 years ago they derived 60-65% of their revenue from gaming. That figure now is more like 35%, so one way to narrow the gap is room revenue. RFs are basically a rate increase without having a rate increase! You can outlaw RFs tomorrow and the next day you'll see rate increases across the board. Fact is they need that money to survive.

 

Yes, it has been moving this way for years, but it is their own damn fault. They wanted to make it a shopping and entertainment mecca and that is what they got.

 

I read somewhere that resort fees were charged because they get the whole fee and don’t have to give Priceline, etc their cut, only room fee. Of course having access to a fax machine makes it worth it-says no one in this century.

 

Ha!

 

I was literally just having this conversation with my buddy earlier today. He got called to the bar just recently and is setting up shop as a lawyer and actually had to decide whether or not to get a fax machine... because apparently it is still used in some areas of litigation and real estate. So while to us it seems ridiculous, it would appear there is *some* use of it, even in 2020

 

HR and legal departments believe fax is more secure than email transmission.

 

So for those following this. My girlfriend and I are on a trip to Portland, OR. We just checked into the Duniway (A Hilton Hotel). I got a friend to get me an insane deal. Anyways, there is a resort fee, but it's called an "Urban Destination Charge" of $25 a day.
BUT, check this out:



Pretty damn good, that $25 f&b is for every night. 4 nights, $100. It also accumulates, allowing us to use it all at once. Already pays for the fee. Internet, typical. The bike rental, which we are going to use makes this $25 a day charge worth it.

 

That IS pretty good but it's not a resort fee. We don't typically get anything back on a resort fee especially for something like a food/beverage credit which THEY pay for. It's about draining more money out of the customer, not giving something back.