Worst Hotel Rip-Offs: Airlines arent the only outfits in the industry that overcharge travelers. Hotels, too, are guilty. And as hotel managers look enviously at airlines successfully charging fees for everything, the hotel situation will probably get worse, not better. Fortunately, you can avoid most of the worst rip-offs by opting out of whatever the charge might be. Sadly, however, the trade-off for avoiding a rip-off is often an inconvenience, which is undoubtedly the reason hotels can still get away with many of them. Here are the worst rip-offs that you should watch out for when staying at hotels. 1. Expensive Wi-Fi Fees at Posh Hotels If a $60-per-night highway motel can manage to offer free in-room Wi-Fi access, its hard to fathom why a $600-per-night luxury hotel has to charge extra for the same service. I checked January rates at the 25 hotels in New York City that Expedia lists as five star, and I found that 13 of the 25 charge extra—typically $15 per night—for in-room Internet access. All 13 guilty hotels have Expedia room rates of $375 or higher, seven of them charge more than $600 per night, and one of them lists its lowest rate as $955 per night. 2. Minibars This one has been around for a long time, and just about everyone who has studied it has concluded that the markups hotels apply to minibar drinks and snacks are outrageous. Fellow consumer advocate Christopher Elliott recently reported on a $10 Coke in a minibar, and according to Mint, lots of minibar prices are set at double to four times the going rates. My guess is that hotels are shooting themselves in the foot on this one; theyd make more profit by selling far more stuff at reasonable prices. 3. Trendy Hotels with Tiny Rooms When you pay double or triple the cost of a budget hotel room, you should expect substantially more in the way of accommodations: a room of at least 350 square feet, a king bed or two queens, a good-sized desk or work area with a lamp and accessible electrical outlets, a comfortable sitting chair with a reading lamp, and a large bathroom with both a walk-in shower and tub—for starters. So I cringe when I see a hotel that charges top dollar for a 200-square-foot room with minimal furnishing—but boasts a designer interior, a hip ambience, and a luxury brand of shampoo. Cmon, folks, youve all heard the saying, We sell the sizzle, not the steak, and all too many expensive hotels are mostly sizzle and very little steak. 4. Room Service These days, room service adds as many as three separate charge layers to the base cost: Prices on room-service menus are typically higher than on the hotel restaurants sit-down menu. Hotels add a room-service fee and a service charge. The person who delivers the food still wants a tip. Work-Around: Lots of hotels now allow outside restaurants to deliver to hotel guest rooms. In fact, many hotels leave menus or information about nearby places that deliver in the guest information books. This works best if you like pizza or Chinese. Check me out at: fta-vacations/travel/ernosworldoftravel
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:19:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015