5 Hotel Rip-Offs & Scams

1. Resort fees and other mandatory charges

Both these fees are the worst rip-offs and just plain scams.

Popular tourist areas like Orlando, Vegas and even JW Marriot resorts, artificially lower their prices but then charge these additional fees upon arrival to the resort. The fees ranges from $25-$75 a night, some even charges additional fees on top of that to use a pool available in their spa area, e.g., JW Marriot, charges an additional $20 a day for access to their spa pool and their spa fitness room.

These resort fees and mandatory charges claim to include a list of amenities, i.e., pool usage, fitness facility, etc... However, if the resort is already including this as part of their hotel and it is a mandatory fee, it is already part of the price.

 What to do about this? currently there is no way of getting around this, you can call and try to deal with the customer service folks and hope to get some additional incentives like resort money to spend while you are there to make up for these fees. JW Marriot being one of those resorts that are willing to accommodate their guests a bit if you are Marriott credit card holder of if you inquire about it prior to booking.


2. Mini-bars

These mini-bars are the worst and seem to be not only in hotels but also on cruises.

On a carnival cruise, if you did not plan ahead and bring on your bottle water or sodas, you are looking to pay $4-$5 for a bottle of water or $2.50-$3.00 for a can of soda.  Meanwhile, in posh hotels in Vegas or NYC, it may be $8-$10 per soda.

 What to do about this?

Planned ahead, upon arrival go to a nearby grocery store, get yourself some water/soda and use the fridge for yourself.  Or simply, avoid it all together.


3. Wi-Fi fees

Less than a year ago, I was still traveling to NYC quite frequently for work and I would stay in those boutique hotels that charges $500-$600 a night, however, breakfast is not included and Wi-Fi for some reason was only free in the business center (a.k.a. a room downstairs in the lobby), meanwhile, a holiday inn, residence inn and lower end hotels and even motels, Wi-Fi is free. How is that possible?

All I can conclude is these are just a big fat scam!!

 What do do about this?

There are plenty of hotels that include Wi-Fi and if a call to the front desk or reservation beforehand does not work, don't book there.

Another work around is that I found is get an upgraded room that will include this and possibly even a free breakfast daily, for slightly less than cost of Wi-Fi per day.

We recently traveled to Jamaica and stated at Sandals Royal Caribbean for our wedding, upon check-in, we were taken to our room and when inquired what is the password to log into to our Wi-Fi, we were told that we would have to pay $14.95 per day for access as free Wi-Fi was only available with a Concierge Class level rooms which were approximately $10 more day, so we immediately opted for that as it didn't make any sense to pay $14.95 for Wi-Fi when we could pay less and get all the amenities of a Concierge Class room which included an in-room stocked bar that include spirits, juices, beer, access to Concierge lounge and activities (i.e. Shopping trip into town, wine-tasting, etc..) however, this is just one lucky example, not all deals are this low but does not hurt to inquire and check.

4. Parking fees in surburban areas
  
We travel quite frequently and we do expect to pay for parking when staying in the heart of town but when we are staying on the outskirt of town where there are plenty of space for parking, having to pay for parking seems ridiculous.

We encountered this a ton since living in Arizona, the first time, we went to Roy's for dinner, again this is at JW Marriot, as we pulled up, we thought that the valet service would be free and we expected to spend $5 on tip, come to find it out, it is not free and they charge $10 plus whatever we want to tip on top of that and this fee is also per day if you are staying at the resort. 

What to do about this?

Call ahead and ask these questions as to where they have free parking.

We inquired about where free parking is and discovered that it was right around the corner, so we started to park there (literally 1 minute or less walking distance). 


5. Room Service

We discovered this when we were in Colorado, we came back from a concert and were hungry and we pulled the menu and found out that in addition to the phenomenal fee for a sandwich, the hotel add on a room-service fee and a service charge. And obviously, the person who delivers this would still expect a tip. Needless to you say, an ordinary BTL could cost you $25.

 
What do do about this?

Plan ahead; there is plenty of eatery in the walking area. Lots of hotel now allow outside restaurants to deliver to hotel guest rooms. And most even have menus or available information at the front desk.