Hotels boost fees

If the movie or mini bar doesn’t squeeze you on a hotel bill, the fax that you receive or the room safe that you use might.

Bjorn Hanson, who is a professor at New York University’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, says hotels this year will drive up fees and add new ones after they raked in at least $1.8 billion in fees and surcharges—their highest recorded totals—in 2011.

Hanson declined to guess how much extra that consumers can expect to pay in 2012, but he says consumers should expect fees for services such as receiving a package in a room and increased fees for early checkout.

Unlike airline fees, extraneous fees at hotels likely will change from one hotel to another, even within the same city. He says consumers should inquire about fees when they make their reservation, and see whether nearby locations have better deals. He also encourages consumers to ask for details about the hotel’s fees.

“Get the reservationist’s ID and ask what charges there will be beyond occupancy and sales taxes,”
he says. “Then, if you are surprised, you can say, ‘I talked to this person, and [he/she] said there wasn’t any such fee that would be charged.’”

Even though consumers can challenge some fees successfully, Hanson says consumers cannot avoid hotels’ higher fees.