Excuse me, good sir, what's this "resort fee?"... You were enjoying that early summer trip until an ambiguous fee at checkout rips a $100 hole in your soul. Now the Attorney General of Washington, DC has sued Marriott over it, accusing the chain of deceiving consumers on prices. The AG is demanding two forms of justice:
- Transparency: Marriott must add "resort fees," "destination fees," or "amenity fees" to the nightly price of the room like an honest multi-national corporation should.
- Restitution: Marriott should refund all the customers whose trips got buzzkilled by the surprise fee.
These are pure profit puppies for hotels... At first, resort fees were only at resorts, paying for things like your afternoon at the rock climbing wall. But the fees spiked 400% last year as hotels realized they could sneak them into almost any bill. Here's how:
- Hidden costs: Marriott highlights the $219/night, but obscures the "$30 daily destination fee added to room rate."
- Ambiguous labels: Bundling the resort fee into the "Taxes & Fees" line gives the impression it's a government tax (it's not — it's for the hotel).
- Make it mandatory: The CEO of Marriott defended the resort fee, comparing it to an airline baggage fee. But baggage fees can be avoided — resort fees cannot.
This could hurt sales or profits... Resort fees are being used to cover should-be essentials like a bottle of water and access to wifi. If Marriott loses this case it will have to fess up about the actual price of a room by including the fee, or just erase it. Either outcome is bad for the big hotel business.