Marriott, the world’s largest hotel group, is being sued in the United States for concealing the real price of rooms. Behind this is a very common practice in the sector that we at TravelGuys find outrageous: the “resort fees”.
Marriott: a good target to make an example
The Washington State Attorney General has sued Marriott, accusing it of hiding the real price that the customer will have to pay and of boosting its profits by adding “hidden” taxes that the customer only discovers when paying.
To be honest, he could have attacked any chain or resort on the American territory, but we understand that getting the skin of the world number one will have more value of example and warning for the sector. As much as we hate them, we can’t say that resort fees are an isolated practice in the industry.
Resort fees: what are we talking about?
As their name indicates, resort fees are applied in resorts, i.e. leisure hotels with a seaside vocation in most cases.
What do they correspond to? To be able to use the pool, the beach, to be able to use a deckchair, to take a towel… And for this you are charged a daily fee, sometimes painless, but up to 50 euros and much more.
But when you are not in a “resort” you can use the beach, the pool etc. without extra charge? Yes ! So why in a resort? Because one day some smart marketing guy must have thought that when you go to a resort it’s to take advantage of these facilities while you can go to a “normal” hotel and skip the pool, so it would be a shame not to charge for it.
Resort fees, ancillary revenues and rate unbundling
Is it the same as when an airline unbundles its fares by charging for things that were previously included in the fare? Not really.
The objective is the same: to increase the bill. But the practice is different. When an airline decides to charge for checked baggage or in-flight meals, the passenger has the choice to travel with a carry-on bag or to take a sandwich at the airport. None of this is true for resort fees: they are mandatory, whether you use the pool or not.
Some hotels are a little smarter than the average: they give away resorts fees to members of their loyalty program or at least to “Elite” members. For example, I remember a resort in Orlando that did not charge me resort fees because not only was I a member of the loyalty program, but I was staying there for a conference.
On the other hand, the disastrous Westin in Honolulu gave us the full treatment. Undersized, unpleasant facilities and all subject to payment of an additional fee regardless of the customer’s status.
A highly localized but no less questionable practice
However, we must recognize that this is a very localized practice: resort fees are a North American specialty. I don’t remember such practices in Asia or the Middle East for example. On the other hand, in the United States this scam is the norm and the fact that the practice is very localized should not excuse it: access to the hotel’s facilities must be included in the price of the room and displayed at the time of booking, regardless of the type of hotel.
The United Kingdom banned resort fees earlier this year. Or to be exact, it obliges tour operators and hotel chains to display the real price to be paid upon reservation, regardless of the location of the hotel, as long as the sale is made on its territory.
It is a nice progress but beyond the display of the price it is the practice that should be prohibited: why pay to have a deckchair in Miami and not in Bali or Dubai …?
A deceptive practice that goes totally against a good customer experience and with strings a little too big to be acceptable. And not only at Marriott because almost everyone does it.
Photo : resort hotel by Food Travel Stockforlife via shutterstock
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