Plus many of the hotels add a daily extra charge for their 'amenities'. I booked into the Omni at Championsgate a few years ago just for 1 night until my villa was free. I was amazed to be charged $12 extra and told them I had not had a chance to use any of their amenities as I arrived late at night and left early morning. I have seen it quite a few times since. There is a word for the charge but I just can't think of it!!! Old age again.[msnwink]
Think it might be resort fee
Plus the astronomical charges for telephone calls from hotels, in LA they regard the next county as long distance.
I was one fuming Brit on that occasion, the bill was over $200 for 2 calls, this was the Sheraton.
But I did get the charge reduced I think they realised I was not leaving the reception until it was resolved.
The staggering comment from the duty manager "but your company will pay it????" What company we are on vacation.
The charge was reduced to $3.00!!
Unbelievable
Lynne
Can equal that - some years ago we stayed at a 5 star hotel in Acupulco and we were charged for using the mini bar only we had not touched it so refused to pay. Eventually we had to ask for the duty manager as they were refusing to back down but as soon as we insisted the manager was called the fee was cancelled. We thought it was probably a scam some of the staff were running on foreign tourists who they thought would sign the bill without looking first to see what charges had been applied to the account.Originally Posted by Pookie
We're in danger of developing a comment about parking charges into a bit of a 'free-for-all' attack on hotels as a whole. I agree with most of the comments but if potential guests don't take a little time to have a look at the hotel website to see what the charges are before booking then they surely must accept a degree of responsibility for incurring them.
I've just returned from a trip which involved a week home rental and stays at 3 hotels in different cities. I enjoyed them all and would happily repeat the experiences in the future. I was charged what I felt was a high rate for parking at one hotel and would have preferred it to be free but I knew that was going to happen because I checked first. If I'd wanted to avoid paying to park I would have done my homework beforehand and stayed elsewhere.
Just to try to balance the discussion up a bit, I would add that all the hotels allowed me to book in advance without paying a deposit and I could have cancelled any of them without charge if I changed my mind right up to 6.00 pm on the day of my stay. All the rooms had refrigerators and 2 of them were stocked with free soft drinks and bottled water. I was collected and dropped off at the airport/car rental depot for free and had a superb meal at one hotel without having to walk more than a few yards from the elevator. Nobody asked me to pay for cleaning, making my bed or toiletries and I wouldn't expect a reduced rate for not taking advantage of all the facilities anymore than I would have asked for a discount if I hadn't used the pool in my rental accommodation. I absolutely agree that using a phone in a hotel bedroom is a quick route to bankruptcy but you can avoid all telephone charges by spending $15 on a sim for your mobile when you land in the US. Using the mini-bar anywhere in the world is a no-no at all times.
I think all I'm saying is that there isn't a mode of holiday accommodation that doesn't have negatives as well as positives and, used wisely, you can have the best of all worlds depending upon your preferences or what you need.
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 04-10-2012 at 02:38.
As usual you put your points over well and considered. I have to say I agree with you 100%
I agree that parking charges seem to go with larger towns. Have never had to pay for hotel parking anywhere in America in smaller towns. I agree Hotels can be cancelled at short notice but they are quite likely to get rooms re-booked at short notice and one less room booked is not a huge problem whereas villa owners are not likely to get a late booking if someone cancels at the last minute.
Maureen Green
I can sympathise there. Even if the amount is small, they're the ones that irritate the most aren't they?
You're completely right on that of course Mo. Nobody should expect the same level of flexibility from an individual owner of a rental property that a hotel chain can offer. The key for me is everything being made clear in advance and knowing what the consequences of cancellation are. I'm sure the owners on this site do just that.
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 04-10-2012 at 02:46.
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