A fee for drinking coffee in your room? What’ll they think of next!

Leslie Kelley’s room rate at InterContinental’s Barclay New York was an astonishingly low $129 a night. Astonishing, because the published room rate is $329 a night. And astonishing, because of the extras the hotel allegedly tried to add to her bill to make up for some of the lost revenue.

At least that’s her story.

Here’s the rate she booked through Hotwire. As a reminder, Hotwire is an “opaque” site that doesn’t tell you which property you’re staying at until you’ve made a nonrefundable reservation by credit card.

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Wow, that’s some deal.

But then things got interesting.

I guess they were not making any money off of us, since they tried to charge us more than $80 for a breakfast the day we were checking out — and that we did not have in their dining room. Got that taking off the bill as the signature on the receipt was nothing like my husbands and we were just heading out for breakfast. Don’t think we’d be eating again right after eating $80 worth of food there.

OK, that’s unfortunate, but it sounds like an honest billing error. Happens all the time, and the Barclay fixed it quickly. But then …

When we got home and got our credit card bill they had added another $3.25, not on the original check-out bill, for the coffee bags placed in the room.

Have you ever heard of a hotel charging for the coffee or tea that I previously thought was an amenity in the room? They certainly were not in the locked mini bar. What a bunch of cheapos! Is this a new practice of all hotels?

This is the first I’ve heard of a hotel charging for the in-room coffeemaker. Some unethical hotels add a “resort” fee that they say includes the use of an in-room coffeemaker, but I’ve never ever seen a fee for drinking coffee in your room.

Have you come across a surcharge for drinking coffee in your room?

  • david

    Unfortunately, everyone is trying to squeeze their customers for more money… I just got back from a trip to the bank. I tried to cash a check and the bank wanted me to pay $5 because I dont have an account with them. The check was drawn on their bank!!

    I packed up and went to my bank and cashed it free. I guess I need to demand cash now from people!

  • Jayne

    I have stayed at this hotel, and it is a very nice property. I think –under the coffee in the room, there is a note that says they will charge you for coffee if you consume it. I have also seen this at other hotels where they have a mini bar menu/price list and coffee is listed as $3-$6 per bag. Next they’ll be charging for how many sugar packets you use, trash removal, and as they do in the Caribbean, towel refreshing.

  • Passing Through

    David, was that Bank of America? Because if it is, they’ve been doing that since, at least, 2003…

    They didnt tell me it was gonna cost me $5 until they’d already cashed it. I was more than a little pissed off. I went across the street and opened an account with another bank so that I could start cashing my paychecks there.

  • Bill

    I’m not sure what the connection is between coffee and the bank fees. Even if you go to a bank that the check is drawn upon, they do not know you, and you are inconveniencing them. Deal at your own bank.

    As fror the coffee in the hotel, I’ve seen where they give the first pot free and charge for extra. If they want to charge for those things, they should disclose it.

    I strongly disagree with resort fees since they are not optional, but if they tell you about the coffee (which they seemingly did not) you at least can make a decision about whether to use it or not.

  • Katt

    “the signature on the receipt was nothing like my husbands”

    How can this be assumed as a honest billing error? This just sounds like forgery to me. I think I would be a little more upset that someone tried to forge my signature for an $80 breakfast than I would be at the $3.25 for coffee.

    As far as the bank thing, most banks do that if you are not an account holder there.

  • http://www.tripbase.com/blog/ Katie, Tripbase

    That is just plain mean. Nothing worse than meanness, it leaves a sour taste.

    What about Ryanair charging to use the bathroom on their flights. Unbelievable!!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4861505/Ryanair-may-charge-1-for-toilet-use.html

  • http://www.cutcat.com Regina

    Another ludicrous fee! I’ve never stayed in a property that charged for the in-room coffee. (Since hotel coffee tastes like brown dishwater, I don’t drink it anyway.) In this case it was not presented on the customer’s bill when she checked out, but added on after the fact without her permission. Hello, isn’t that illegal?

  • Carver

    I” ve been at W Hotels that charge for coffee as its placed in the amenity tray. As long as its well disclosed I can’t really argue too much. You have a choice at that point.

    A few thoughts…

    I understand the reason for the bank analogy. Itsjust that there are things which people are unaccustomed to paying for and thus are surprised when a fee is imposed. There are reasons why you might want to cash a check at the maker’s bank, not the least of which is that you immediately know whether funds are available.

    @Katt

    I think the OP meant tha the hotel wasn’t complicit in the fraud. WHich makes sense as $80 is way too much money for someone to overlook, particularly for breakfast which most of us remember eating or not.

    @Katie

    Ryanair charges are per se reasonable. That’s the business model of such an ultralow carrier. You know when you buy you ticket they charge you a la carte for everything except the air that you breathe, but, in return you can get a ticket a low as 1Euro.

    Just my $0.02

  • Judi

    I actually had this happen a couple of years ago. My husband and I were staying at the Orleans in Las Vegas for a wedding. There was a coffee maker, cups, coffee, etc. in the room.The itty bitty sign above the coffee maker said $5 if used. I didn’t use it- why would I when all you need to do is sit in front of a slot machine and someone would bring you free coffee? I disputed that at check out and got it removed.
    The next time we stayed there was now a $5/ day “resort” fee added. This turned out to be a good deal becuase it included the coffee, access to the business center (which I needed) and unlimited access to their spa which usually charged a fee in previous encounters (much more than the $5 resort fee).

  • Ames

    The bottles of water are another surprise – sometimes there is a tag on them sometimes it’s just in the room service menu. Last hotel visit, it was $6 for a litre size Evian. And $1 for a local phone call. I used my cell phone, which surprised the front desk, to call to ask about the TV remote. I was not sure if an in hotel call was a local call so why risk it?

    I have put all the “for sale” items in a spot out of my way and left a note saying where they were so housekeeping would not replenish them and told the front desk what I was doing – the stuff is a nuissance! If I wanted to sleep in a store I would do that.

  • William Rowell

    My best is still the day the Sheraton at PHL charged me $2 to make a 1-800 phone call. Let me see….we call those “Toll Free” for some reason….. Then, when I complained, the manager stated “we’re making the phone system charges so that we can pay for a new phone system”……uhhhh, right…… that was the last time I stayed at a Sheraton.

    For the last 9 years, every year;
    Platinum Holiday Inn
    Platinum Marriott
    Diamond Hilton
    Diamond Choice
    not a dime at Sheraton, priceless?

  • Ed

    Hmm, I just came back from a week at a Ramada at the beach and they gave us coffee everyday and didnt’ charge us a cent for it! The room rate was good ($145/nt). In fact, I have *never* seen a hotel charge for coffee…including the two hotels I stayed at in Hong Kong last year!
    But here’s the rub…I’ve noticed that the more upscale the hotel, the more nickle and diming you are subjected to…I find that the more affordable hotels are more inclusive!
    Ed

  • Joe Farrell

    @Ed – the high end hotels have little competition – you want a nice room and good service there are maybe 2 choices in a city, sometimes only 1. But at the Courtyard/Embassy Suites/Hampton inn end of the scale there will be many many choices anywhere in a local area and they tend to compete on basic amenities service like coffee and internet . . .

  • http://amazingserviceguy.com Kevin Stirtz

    More great examples of companies abusing customers instead of serving them. If this is how they respond to a recession just imagine how they’ll treat customers when the economy improves.

  • Denise

    Be careful with the notion of moving the snack bar goodies around in your room, as Ames suggests: Some hotels have sensors on the basket or shelf where the stuff is stored (not to mention the door and shelves of the mini-fridge). If you move the goods your room is automatically charged for the items. Presumably this is to prevent you from eating their conveniently-located $2 bag of M&Ms when you get the late-night munchies and then stopping by the grocery store to replace it with a $0.45 bag so you don’t get charged the two bucks. Same with the Naive — oops, that’s Evian — in the fridge!

    Better to keep a stash of your favorite munchies in your dresser (a cheapo styrofoam cooler is great for drinks, since they don’t charge for using the ice machine yet) and just ignore the hotel’s stuff.

  • Brian

    I stayed in a hotel in Big Bear Lake, California and when I checked out, I got a fee for an extra guest which was $ 20. The hotel claimed that I had brought a third guest into the room which I disputed immediately because there was none. As soon as I did, the hotel clerk removed the charge. I am betting that the hotels are going the way of the car rental business by quietly adding fees and hoping the customer doesn’t notice it. My advice to all travelers; keep your guard up at all times when reviewing your bill, even when you go to a beach resort.

  • Jennifer Hanuschak

    I agree with Katt. That $80 error looks like forgery and should have been prosecuted as such…or, at least, not treated like a billing error. I hope it was looked into properly.

  • FJP

    Hmmm. . . just stayed at the Barclay last month and I am pretty sure I did not get charged for the in-room coffee. Did not book through an opaque site, though.

  • Bill

    You know, I used to worry about every little thing. I wouldn’t pay $40 for a breakfast in a hotel and I wouldn’t accept a charge someone else made. But if they are going to charge for the coffee or something like that, you are not going to change the world.

    NO to compusory resort fees. Everything else, if they have a sign, a notice, or a price list…fine, if they surprise you…not fine.