LETTER: Hotel ‘resort fees’ are, indeed, deceptive
In response to your Wednesday editorial on resort fees:
There was no reason for hotels to impose resort fees except to be deceptive. These fees, unlike airline baggage fees, are not optional. They are for services you may not even want to use. What’s next, linen fees and water usage fees? Deception is deception.
You claim the fees are clearly stated. Well, just drive our freeways and notice the billboards for hotel rates in huge print. Then, in text that you could not read sitting still, never mind driving by at 65 mph, they mention the resort fees. If you go on an internet booking site, they are buried in the fine print on the second or third page. Why not just state the total room rate?
Lastly, you comment about taxes. They are not imposed by the hotels. Neither Macy’s nor your favorite restaurant includes taxes in pricing. Should taxes and fees be included in everything, including concert tickets, where there is the second gotcha for Ticketron? A good idea, but one step at a time.
