I was charged ‘junk fees’ by a New York City hotel. Here’s what happened next

My edifice measure from a three-night travel to New York City included 21 charges.

Nine were for "destination fees."      

There were 3 regular fees of astir $35 each — notwithstanding that my 3rd nighttime was expected to beryllium "free"— positive abstracted income and occupancy taxes connected each fee.

And that was conscionable for 1 of our rooms — we booked two. All in, the fees were $240.

I'd work astir "junk fees" successful the edifice manufacture — however they're often couched successful specified presumption arsenic "resort,"  "destination" oregon adjacent "hospitality service" fees, that they're connected the emergence (especially successful North America) and that they adjacent got a notation successful President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address this year.   

But I'd besides work that edifice unit volition waive them, erstwhile pressed. I, however, had nary specified luck astatine the extremity of my enactment astatine Thompson Central Park New York, a Hyatt hotel. The beforehand table unit insisted the fees beryllium paid.  

In a written effect to CNBC, Munir Salem, the manager of Thompson Central Park said: "Like galore hotels successful the area, Thompson Central Park includes a daily destination interest to supply guests with amenities, activities, and different benefits that we judge guests volition enjoy."

The hotel's website says its "destination fees" supply amenities like:  

Those are each things I presumed would travel with my booking, particularly since entry-level rates regularly transcend $500 per night.

There's more. The fees besides supply discounts: a escaped hr connected a motorcycle rental (with 1 paid hour), 6% disconnected The New York Pass for sightseeing, 8% disconnected a hop-on hop-off autobus tour, and "exclusive entree to 20% off" zoo tickets — each good things, but thing I wanted oregon would use.

In the competitory luxury hospitality manufacture — wherever operators strive for flawless stays and glowing online reviews — hotels with fees tally the hazard of leaving guests feeling hoodwinked close earlier they locomotion retired the door.

But the crushed isn't surprising.

"It's precise lucrative," Rafat Ali, the CEO and laminitis of the question media company, Skift, told CNBC. Federal Trade Commission estimates amusement consumers paid astir $2 cardinal successful edifice fees earlier the pandemic, and mandatory fees person grown since then.

Ali said hotels are hoping mandatory fees volition yet beryllium normalized, akin to however baggage fees are present an accepted outgo erstwhile flying. But it's ne'er going to happen, helium said.

"This was the statement that they made each along, which is: If I'm not checking baggage, wherefore should I beryllium paying that arsenic portion of the bundle?" helium said. "In hotels, that doesn't enactment due to the fact that … you're not unbundling anything, you're conscionable adding this connected — and there's nary mode to opt out."

On Aug. 1 connected Skift's website, Ali wrote an open missive to the question industry with 1 message: "You won't triumph this 'junk fee' fight."

The reason, helium said, is that adjacent successful a partisan world, everyone dislikes these fees.  

Last March, the Junk Fee Prevention Act was introduced successful the U.S. Senate to destruct "excessive, hidden and unnecessary fees" and necessitate full costs beryllium intelligibly displayed "when a terms is archetypal shown to a consumer."

In July, a bipartisan measure introduced successful the U.S. Senate specifically targeted fees successful the edifice industry. The bill, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, prohibits hotels from advertizing rates without mandatory fees.

Ali said, whether the bills walk oregon not, helium believes they enactment nationalist unit connected companies to enactment — similar, helium added, to however the Biden Administration targeted airlines that complaint families to beryllium together. United, American and Frontier soon changed their policies.  

On Aug. 10, the Attorney General of Texas sued Booking Holdings — which operates fashionable booking sites similar Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda and Kayak — for deceptive commercialized practices, taking purpose astatine companies that advertise 1 complaint and tack connected mandatory fees aboriginal successful the buying process.

The suit addresses this practice, known arsenic drip pricing, calling it an amerciable "bait and power tactic" that leads much consumers to marque purchases either due to the fact that they don't announcement the caller fees oregon due to the fact that they begrudgingly judge the fees astatine the last booking leafage — out of a reluctance to commencement the process each implicit again.

Pennsylvania lodged a akin ailment against Marriott International Inc. In April 2023, the edifice concatenation agreed to wage $225,000 to Pennsylvania for failing to comply with agreed settlement terms, which required that Marriott intelligibly station country rates and mandatory fees.

Thompson Central Park's Salem told CNBC that its "direct booking channels afloat disclose country rates and immoderate fees to guests passim the booking process."

I checked that, and so the hotel's website does see the $35 interest successful the full cost. Searches connected Booking.com and Expedia showed the same. Perhaps I should person expected the fees aft all?

But the occupation is I didn't publication online; I booked implicit the telephone (my household needs connecting rooms which is an contented unto itself). Additionally, erstwhile we checked in, the edifice couldn't find our booking, which resulted successful our having to negociate a caller booking connected the spot. During these discussions, we talked astir rates a lot, but destination fees ne'er came up.

In a connection successful enactment of the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, the American Hotel & Lodging Association's President and CEO Chip Rogers said the measure "will make a azygous modular for mandatory interest display." But adjacent with transparent pricing, cases similar excavation could gaffe though.

I'm near wondering wherefore hotels don't simply wrapper these fees into the country rate. After all, the aforesaid impermanent who is good with a $300 nightly complaint whitethorn balk astatine paying $250 for a country and $50 for a "hospitality work fee."

Several days aft our stay, my hubby and I — hell-bent connected rule astatine this constituent — called the edifice to quality the fees. The typical said helium would region the charges if we were Hyatt loyalty programme members. We aren't.

But due to the fact that of our check-in fiasco, we were told we were bully candidates to get the fees waived.

We hung up and waited — that was astir 2 months ago.    

After weeks of silence, I yet called my recognition paper institution to quality the charges, arsenic recommended by articles like this one, written by user advocator Christopher Elliott (who received the aforesaid puzzling email that I did, touting destination fees of "just $30" astatine a California edifice that "guests volition genuinely love").  

Within minutes, my recognition paper institution removed the charges. An email rapidly confirmed this, stating: "Your quality has been resolved."

But triumph wasn't the emotion I felt. Don't get maine incorrect — I was gladsome to debar the fees. But this was ne'er astir the money. It's astir the inherent unfairness of being handed a edifice measure composed of aggregate charges you didn't spot coming.