“Why can’t things be like that here?”

Tired of being shocked by a barrage of fees and taxes on your hotel bill — everything from “resort” fees to taxes and convenience charges? Then you might want to travel abroad. John Humbach did, and learned that sometimes, the price your quoted for a hotel room can be the price you pay. To the penny.

Or, in his case, to the euro.

I just returned from a business/pleasure trip to Vienna, and wanted to report my delight with a hotel experience. Not only did our central Vienna hotel have no fee for “services” we did not use or want, there was also no fee for in-room Wi-Fi or even — and I really had trouble absorbing this — the items we used from the minibar.

The bellhop practically insisted on taking our bags out of our taxi and up to our room (which I normally slightly resent, because we usually have only our easily rolled carry-ons that we manage to get around with everywhere else). But then he acted slightly stunned when, after he thoroughly introduced us to the room, I offered him a tip. He did take it, of course (after a moment or so), but then every time we saw him later he acted like our long-lost friend, and seemed very sincere in his gratitude.

When we got our bill at the end of our stay, it contained one item — our previously agreed room rate times four, for the four nights were were there. No extras, no separate taxes, no nothing. Just the room rate.

I was an amazingly refreshing experience.

Why can’t things be like that here?

Good question.

From a hotel’s perspective, there’s absolutely nothing to be gained from quoting an all-inclusive price. If it offers the actual room rate, including all taxes, fees and nonsense “resort” charges, then their customers might jump to a competitor who is quoting a base price minus the extras.

The only way to fix this problem is for a government or regulatory agency to step in and say: From now on, the price you give your customer is the price you must charge (minus optional extras like food and beverages). If that were to happen in the United States, I predict customer satisfaction scores would jump dramatically.

Just think: no more surprises. No more resort fees, in-room safe fees, fax delivery fees, bellhop fees, taxes, energy surcharges … the list goes on. None of that on our hotel bills.

Ah, to dream.

  • Heather Collins

    In general, I don’t have a problem with the ‘one’ charge concept. I would welcome
    a law that required this….after all they ARE supposed to be looking out for the voter!
    I would however, offer this suggestion in the world of ‘that’s probably not going to happen’:
    the alternative law would be that if the guest does NOT use a service off their ‘ala carte’
    menu of charges, they CAN NOT be billed for it.

    That’s what the airlines are doing!

  • Lianne

    I would also welcome a law statign that all NON-AVOIDABLE charges have to be included in the room rate. I don’t want to suppliment someone else’s minibar usage by having a true “all inclusive” price on a room.

    Just yesterday I was searching for a hotel deal in Vegas and was about to choose the Luxor when I saw there is a “manditory” phone charge of $6 a day on the website. I own a cell phone, I will likely NEVER use the room phone. Either bundle in the room fee or make it an optional charge.

    I went with the Rivera instead, which is a lower “class” of hotel but didn’t indicate extra fees (and I printed out all disclosure pages for ammo if needed). Not planning on spending too much time in the room anyway :-)

  • carver

    As a businessman I can’t tell you how much I hate the all inclusive pricing model. Lets deconstruct.

    1. Abolish tipping. So what’s the incentive to treat the the guest well. Why do you think French waiters can get away with being so rude. The TIP IS ALREADY INCLUDED. So basically what you are saying is make the tip mandatory. How exactly does that help travelers.

    2. All-Inclusive mini-bars. Yes, because the hotel will give away those items. Of course not. Obviously what the hotel will do is make its best guess as to how much the average guest will consume and just add that to the room rate. The Hyatt Andaz in West Hollywood does that excluding alcohol). No surprise, the base room rate is $280/night..

    So under this silly plan, my room rate will increase to subsidize some over indulgent gluttonous drunks. No. Pay for your own damn booze.

    Fair pricing is painfully simple that even a child could figure it out. All mandatory hotel charges must be included in the base rate. (no resort fees). Any charges not included in the base rate must be reasonably avoidable (parking, mini-bar). Government taxes should be displayde according to local customs for consistency in comparison. Total mandatory fees and taxes must be prominently displayed before confirmation whether by interenet or telephone.

  • Josh

    I agree with this wholeheartedly — it’s too easy for both the hotel and local governments to add on junk fees and taxes, because the people who pay them are generally from out of town and won’t know what they’re paying until it’s too late.

    I don’t have a problem with local taxes or with the hotel charging for what they provide, but it should all be included in the main rate quoted in ads, websites, etc. That puts some honesty into it — if town A charges a 20% tax, and town B charges 10%, town B’s hotels *should* flourish and get more business.

    I am also more likely to book with websites (either the company’s or a third party) that show the “total expected charge” early in the process (Hertz’s, for example, breaks down taxes and fees, including all the weird airport taxes and “convention center surcharge”s before you have to submit the reservation).

  • http://www.alaskatravelgram.com Scott mcmurren

    I’m altering my travel patterns to accommodate more all-inclusive rates. Specifically, I RUN from any property that seeks to impose resort fee. I’m a little more lenient re: taxes. That’s a shakedown I’ve grown accustomed to.

    BTW, Heather, the airlines LOVE to pile on extras. Think “fuel surcharge”. Total garbage.

    I just rec’d a copy of correspondence from an airline that said they were “forced” to present fares without fees because of “competitive pressures” from other airlines and search engines, etc. etc. Again–garbage.

    That said, I loathe the idea of legislating good behavior. It only inspires the devious tricksters to come up with another angle. But if that is what it takes: so be it. The problem is this: the legislators (whether federal or state) are the biggest shakedown artists of all. That’s why the tax burden on your car rental in PHX or SEA exceeds 40pc. Yikes.

  • Eddie

    Now that you mention it, I had the same thing when I was Venice and Lisbon late last year. It didn’t really register.

    And I far prefer the european breakfast included. Maybe it was just because of the difference, but I could get used to it.

  • Mike

    @ Carver, I completely agree with what you are saying. Things that you have no choice but to pay should be included in the advertised room rate. Safe fees, resort fees, or any other fee to which you know you will have to pay regardless of wether or not you use the service should be included. Items of indulgence such as PPV movies and mini bar items should be purchased seperately by the individual. The exception might be some high end rooms that the popular destinations such as Las Vegas. (they already charge an arm and a leg anyway, so $5 isn’t going to break anyone)

    Fees like these are the reason that I recently selected one hotel over another. One offered wireless internet access as part of the room rate and another wanted to charge me. No thanks.

  • Chicky

    One reason I almost always book through the hotel’s web site is because, before I confirm the reservation, I can usually get the total price, including taxes, and can see if there is a resort fee or not. Then I can decide whether to hit the “confirm” button. However, I would love to see all taxes included in the room rate, as well as broken down on the rate quote. And I agree that all the add-ons, like the minibar, etc., should be on a “guest choice” basis, not hotel choice.

    I also always look at fees and taxes when I book a flight (also, generally through the airline web site), before I confirm. You can usually choose your entire itinerary and look at the price breakdown before you hit “book.” Print it out to compare with other airlines.

    Pricing transparency should be a priority, especially in this economy.

  • David Z

    I just rec’d a copy of correspondence from an airline that said they were “forced” to present fares without fees because of “competitive pressures” from other airlines and search engines, etc. etc.

    That’s a part of the problem. I’ve dealt with some customers who told me they booked with us because we (supposedly) don’t have those charges that competitors stated either online or over the phone.

    Only catch is some of them also called to complain later on because the flight or hotel imposed fees we didn’t tell them, but even we</b weren’t made aware of by those vendors. We compensate in whatever way we can, though obviously we can’t give the moon.

    One perversely funny part I found in that is some vendors who charge low with extra fees after turn out to be pretty much similarly, same, or slightliy higher priced to those who charge higher rates without the extras. Unfortunately that partly implies higher-priced vendors stand to lose potential customers to competitors who charge lower (and get dinged with the fees later on and be dealt with) prices for similar or same services, and that’s something they wish to avoid if it can be helped.

    Garbage, sure. But…sounds like both the vendors and the customers are creating all that to begin with.

    Hopefully something can be worked out…without having to create a law for it. Quite unfortunate if it has to come to that.

    Pricing transparency should be a priority, especially in this economy.

    That practically says it all, Chicky. :)

  • Brian A.

    There was probably a place on the invoice of that hotel in Vienna that explicitly stated the VAT charges. Why? In some European countries, companies are allowed to claim some (or all) of the VAT money back.

    I agree it is refreshing to see that the base rate includes all taxes and governmental fees. But that would never fly over here… you almost get the sense that the hotels want to show you how much the tourists are being screwed over by the local government (my favorite is the hotel tax in Toronto creatively called a “Destination Marketing Fee” – like I really want to pay the city of Toronto to market their city to others).

    In general, I think the European hotel breakfasts blow away their American counterparts. Stay at a Hilton in the US and one in continental Europe and you will know what I mean. The European Hilton breakfast is a smorgasboard of many different meats, cheese, fruit, vegetables, breads, cereals, juices, etc. You’d be lucky to find 1/2 of the variety at an American Hilton.

  • William Rowell

    You want to try it out? Go to Korea or Japan. The rate quoted is the bill you pay. Personal add ons like the in-room movies and mini-bar are extra, But tipping is considered an insult, and the SERVICE IS OUTSTANDING!!!

  • David Z

    But tipping is considered an insult

    I heard about that once about a Japan hotel, but never realized it’s actually true until you posted that. Thanks for sharing.

  • HI Innkeeper

    If the room rate is all-inclusive, then the hotel tax applies to the entire rate. Would a guest prefer to pay the hotel tax on items not bundled in the room rate just for the convenience of knowing the price up front?

  • Philip T

    All those ambush extra charges hotels are springing on their victims, er guests, reminded me of this
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdavdTKfCo4
    Plus ca change…

  • Ronda

    I think that there should definatly be a law that makes the entire price taxes and fees included in the advertised price. This summer we got a discount brochure of a bunch of trips from a travel agency. And my boyfriend was getting really excited becuase it was like 99 dollers for a trip to mexico and stuff… then i pointed to the little writing below and teh trip was actually 699.00 dollers. Very annoying (also, wtf?! why the hell would the taxes and fees be so much more than the ticket?!?!)