I remember staying in the Hyatt in New Jersey once (great Priceline rate, natch). There was a ‘welcome pack’ on the desk which included – among other things – two handy bottles of mineral water* arranged in a very ‘complimentary gift’ fashion. Closer inspection revealed a small note indicating that the water was for my ‘comfort and convenience’, or some such guff, and that $6.50 would be conveniently added to my bill if I touched it.

Needless to say, the water stayed where it was and I didn’t leave the hotel with a particularly warm, fuzzy feeling.

_
* Actually not mineral water, but a daft ‘bottled water’ by the name of Poland Spring.

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Internet service, as you pointed out, is annoyingly expensive at some hotels. In one recent situation, the hotel informed me at check-out that the WIFI rate was PER COMPUTER not per room, meaning, when both by husband and I were logged in at once in our room we were essentially paying $40 a day for the pleasure of working while we were on vacation.

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Darren

What I find more worrying is the increase of airport charges. We may be paying £1 to use the loo in the airport as well as on the aircraft at this rate.

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Hello. I think I know what Nick means but the truth is that toilets in the plane may stay free of charge. Atleast I hope so. But to the point. I visited the hotel in Finland and stayed as a “business reason”. My hotel bill was charged 45€ just to get sure that the minibar is empty. I didn’t touched that (but do I look like one who will, I don’t know) and raised a true hell in reception and after few minutes of arguing, they took that away from my bill. I was a bit upset and didn’t looked the bill there. When I got home, looked at it and there was a 10€ for WIFI. I didn’t have a computer with me at all!!!

Called back and gently told them that me or my company newer uses that hotel in my living time

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Discretionary charges are being sneaked in at ever increasing rate. Travelodge in the UK, stripped out a lot of the frills, but reduced their rates for advance bookings to ridiculously low rates. I stayed at the Days Inn Hotel on the M62 near Bradford last night and found that they charge £10 per day for WiFi, £10 to check out at 12 noon instead of 11am and £4.50 to £7 for breakfast.

On the plus side the room was spacious and well equipped with tea, coffee and chocolate and they offered a free copy of my favourite newspaper.

In France most of the Super Budget hotels offer free Wifi. You have always had to pay for breakfast but it is usually unlimited. It is probably a trend that will continue. So I guess we will need to compare WifI access prices and T&C’s after reading Amie’s comment.

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I have worked in many a hotel in my 20+ Years of ‘Service’ to the travelling public and find that the current trend of additional charges to be quite justifyed. ( Supprisingly NOT I hear you say!! ) but, as these charges are clearly stated to everyone who can be bothered to read them, then you choose to have this service and you should be charged for it.

When was the last time that you honestly, tipped someone within a hotel, was it the receptionist who checked you in, the porter who carried your bag or the maid who cleaned your room. Why do these people get over looked they are also on the recieveing end of VERY VERY Low Pay, but bar the porter who you probably avoided so you didn’t have to tip, who would you consider deserved a tip.

Would it be for the chef who cooked your food at the end of an 14-18 hour shift or the young student waiter who delivered it to your room ? Come on folks who needs it more….

Do you honestly think that the chef wants to work such long hours ( probably only getting paid for 8 ? but doing the hours as required for the business ? ( Some hotels still have such loose morels in their contracts !!! ) just because the hotel wants to save overheads, no I honestly don’t think that you think about that, Do you ? Just that the burger you ordered via room service arrives ontime and is cooked just right. But tip the waiter with a than you and a smile and quickly close the door.

No! you’ve already had a greatly reduced room rate( Sometimes upto 75% OFF and a FREE Upgrade of your room) to get you into your room, yes thank you very much….. but if you want 5* Service but only want to a pay 2* price. Please please please don’t scrimp on the payment of services that, yes if you had paid top doller you would get for FREE.

If you see a price on a menu for Room Service ie a Burger at £12.50 with a tray charge of £3.00 you have a choice either go to the restaurant and don’t pay it or have it served in the comfort of your room and for the service you have recieved please pay.

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The issue here isn’t money, it’s transparency. As a consumer, I want the ability to make educated decisions about what I am paying for goods and services, and if I order a steak from a room service menu that cites the price as $35, I don’t want to find myself signing off on a $50 room service bill 30 minutes later. This doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to pay $50 for the steak–maybe I am–but the lack of transparency causes me avoidable annoyance that diminishes the happiness of my stay.

For this reason, I tend to lean toward hotel properties that include a lot of extras (and, yes, free internet and complimentary water are favorites). I’m not price sensitive to the extra $20 per day that I might have spent on those–rather, the gesture persuades me that I am dealing with a company that isn’t hiding too many charges, and that what I see is what I get.

Final rant: I HATE, HATE, HATE it when one of the hidden charges is automatically added gratuity. Companies and employees shouldn’t rely on consumers to pay the employees’ salaries. Legally (in the USA), employers are required to make sure that employees relying on tips make an agreed-upon minimum wage. For example, when I waited tables, I was paid a base salary of $2.35 per hour, and I had to report my tips to supplement that. Theoretically, if I had ever made so few tips that I was not clearing at least some minimum wage, my employer would have been on the hook for making sure I walked away with more than what he was paying me.

Gratuities should always be at the discretion of the customer. Sure, some customers are cheapskates; and others may not be aware of tipping etiquette; but, as someone who spent years waiting tables and tending bar, for every cheapskate, there are at least three great tippers that will be very generous for good service. I disagree with the previous poster.

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