What Hotels Don't Tell You About Hidden Fees

<div class="block">Hotel fees can often increase the price of your stay by $90 per night, often catching prospective guests by surprise. Cheddar News reporter Ashley Mastronardi spoke to Clint Henderson, managing editor for the Points Guy, about what some of these hidden fees entail.</div>

Wake Up With Cheddar

This morning. Our needs to know vacation series continues with a look at those pesky resort fees as Ashley Sardi reveals what hotels they they don't want to tell you we're going to ban surprise resort fees that hotels charge on your bill. Those fees can cost up to $90 a night at hotels that aren't even resorts. Biden got laughs for his stance on resort fees in his 2023 state of the union address. But experts say these fees are no joke also known as facility fees, destination fees, amenity fees and even urban fees. These hidden charges are hurting consumers. Bottom line. Clint Henderson, managing editor for the points guy says they have infected the travel industry. They started out as an extra little addendum that resorts in resort destinations like Hawaii or Florida were putting on hotels in order to pay for beach towels and Wi Fi and water and things like that. And since then, they've spread like a cancer all over the world. Henderson says a good trick if you want to find out what's included in a hotel, resort fee is to Google the name of the hotel and resort fee here is the standard in New York City. The almost $35 a night rate covers things that are well, pretty standard like fitness center access and a room safe. It's just another way for hotels to jack up the price of hotel rooms without publishing that price so that it fools consumers. In my opinion, we reached out to five hotels in New York City for an interview but they got camera shy when they heard the topic was resort fees. But the American Hotel and Lodging Association tells Cheddar news in a statement, these fees directly support hotel operations including wages and benefits for hotel staff. And when they are applied hotel websites clearly and prominently display them for guests during the booking process. Henderson says as a consumer, you can protect yourself by challenging the fee at check out ask every single time you check out to have the resort fee taken off. That's the only way these hotels are going to change their minds. Henderson says you can also write to your local congress person, Ashley Mastronardi Chatter news.