Resort fees, then & now

When resort fees first started, you didn't know about them until you checked in or out.

Now, at least we know before we book.

I hated them at first but now it's the way things are and I can deal with it.

 

Don, Don, Don. You're a moderator. Why provide embers when the winds are still swirling from the most recent resort-fee firestorm??? :evillaugh

 

haha

i knew about them then, and i know about them now. they were never a surprise for me before because i am one of those neurotic people who reads the fine print. but even knowing about them doesn't change my opinion of them. my problem is there is no choice for the customer. you have to pay a resort fee no matter what. i can see charging it initially and then taking it off the bill once you check out and none of the services were used. the resort fee for us is an added expense since we have no use for the services they offer. we simply choose to stay where there are not resort fees. hopefully, we'll always have that option. it's hard to say if other hotels will follow the pack on this and start charging a resort fee.

 

Don, just curious. What were the resort fees a couple of years ago? Did they identify specific things you were being charged for?

 

Think you're thinking about this the wrong way.

He's a moderator. Without things to moderate what is he? He is just insuring continued demand for his services.

But of course you know that the fee actually has little to do with the services, right?

Just figure it into the total cost of your stay. Doesn't matter if you use the gym or wireless. If you would rather pay X (rate + fee) to stay at a fee resort than Y (rate) to stay at another, avoiding it just because of the fee is irrational.

I doubt many of the MGM stayers only stay at those properties because they get a newspaper and wifi for $20/night. They just prefer the deal they get on those properties in spite of the fee.

 

I still come back to the bottom line. What does it cost to stay at Hotel A vs. Hotel Z. I can do the math quickly in my head. And if Hotel A with its fee costs less than Hotel Z without a fee, I'm money ahead even if I never use any of the reputedly fee-supporting amenities.

Put it this way: Every hotel with a pool charges for that pool, it's built into the rack rate. What if I never use the pool? I'm being overcharged, no?

Sure, sure sure, it's chickenshit to pull out the fee, but the bottom line is what it costs to stay per night, whatever hotel "amenities" are used or not used. It's not a line-item budget.

 

And this says it all. Just like "free" drinks when you gamble.

 

My biggest beef with the resort fee is that I think they should include it in the room rate up front. Especially since it is mandatory. That way, it's easier to compare rates.

 

The old resort fees were not disclosed until you checked in. They just added it to your bill. At least now, it's in fine print before you book. The old fees and the newest fees are two different animals.

 

well of course i look at the total cost of each hotel and book according to that. it just so happens that i have never found a cheaper rate at hotels with resort fees. my point was that i prefer to stay at hotels that don't force services (aka, fees) on you.

 

Does this thread have anything to do with the Plaza's new resort fee?

Resort fees are chicken dung because they allow a hotel to appear to have a lower cost when using Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity to search out rates.

I want "walk out the door" pricing: rate, taxes, occupancy fee, electric fee, recovery fee, resort fee, parking fee, wifi fee. I have a pencil, paper, and can still do 2nd grade math. Just like my ex boss said when he was delivering yet another dung sandwich from the suits in the corner office: "we all have choices".

 

really? i must have missed that period of nondisclosure. the last time we stayed at a resort fee hotel, we had booked early enough to be grandfathered in to no resort fees. then it was another year before we went back to vegas. by then, everyone was up in arms about resort fees. that's when we started staying at cet only.

 

Yes. Unfortunately -- I guess -- that's not the travel market, and Vegas is simply reflecting what has been SOP elsewhere for a very long time.

Try an urban hotel where parking is 25 bucks a day.

But the nice thing is, consumers have choices. And I'm certain that soon MGM Resorts, Station and the like will be brought to their knees.

 

The bottom line is that people are in business to make a profit. There is nothing wrong with profit. We all work to make money.....we have to to love (and to go to LV!). You have to cover your costs and pad it to gain your profit. Now you can be up front with your price, or you can make up a phoney price to appear to have lower rates in search engines until you go to book and the resort fees add in. Some engines are very clear about it and others are not. You can do the math but it is just a pain. I avoid places with resort fees just as I avoid a la cart dinners. I like to know what a dinner costs me when I look on a menu, not trying to calculate what the side dishes, dessert, and extra gravy is going to cost. It is a merchandising trick just like candy at the check out counter.

I just prefer to have things upfront. Have a standard room with this ,that and the other thing. Then a delux room for x more luxury, or more extras.

I think being upfront in business it the best way, and it is what I prefer.....just my opinion and one shared by most of us I think.'

Jimbo338

 

I was hanging with you jimbo right up until that a la carte dinner thing.

A la carte isn't a merchandising trick. It's about options. And of course there are plenty of restaurants that don't offer it, which is as the market should be.

 

Lets put it this way: if you stayed at a hotel for $150/night with no resort fee, and the hotel had coffee makers in the rooms, a fitness club for hotel guests, and free wifi, would you be mad that the hotel had those services? i mean, the cost of them comes out of your room rate.

In other words, is it the visibility of the fee that's bugging you, or do you really want a Spirit airlines hotel chain that gives a room as cheap as possible, and has separate fees for anything you use.

 

I am still waiting for a honest reason why the resort fee "for my convenience" isn't included with the rack rate......it deception from the get go.....everyone one knows that here........just like the car dealer with their Great Sales 4th of July Sale until you get there and it's only on the completely stripped down car and that one just sold....the sale did just what they wanted....TO GET YOU IN THE DOOR.......

 

For me at least it is an issue because nothing was added. I stayed at MGM properties before the fees and after. Some services didn't exist, some existed and were just included. I'm not sure if they had charged for internet then or not. Now I'm forced into paying for services that were already included before. Walmart didn't keep the price of milk the same and then charge me extra tax at the checkout, they increased the price of milk.

I just find it deceptive. They know they could have just raised the prices, and they know that would have screwed them on hotel search engines.


I will still pay resort fees, but that is because I spend way to much time preparing for a trip so I can find the best rate even including the resort fees. I'm informed, I think the majority of people traveling to Vegas are not.

 

And I am still waiting for someone who might know what the "old resort fees" actually were. Did they even exist? Or is this just something that started up more recently?

 

They are a recent thing. Wynn/Encore may have had a resort fee when they opened. Since I don't stay there I'm not sure. They never existed downtown, never at CET properties, and never at MGM properties until recently.