Hotels Come Clean on Bills—Something that Vacation Rentals Should Do
The Wall Street Journal (subscription only) reports that in a move to help travelers anticipate charges and taxes added onto hotel bills, Marriott International Inc. plans to announce that the price it quotes travelers for its hotel rooms will be the total price -- including all taxes and fees. (The rates don't, however, include room service or minibar bills racked up during the stay.)
The article indicates that the new policy is intended to strike at the online travel giants like Expedia Inc.'s Expedia.com, which have increased their hotel inventories in recent years. Online agencies disclose the rate for each hotel; once a hotel is selected, the room cost and the taxes and fees are broken out and then added together to give the total cost before the traveler clicks to buy. Other hotels, such as Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, plan to launch a total-pricing plan soon.
At VacationRental.org we have always advocated giving the guest a total price and avoiding “nickel and diming� the guests. One thing that irritates guests about hotels is all the extra little charges that are tacked on to the bill, such as resort fees. Many hotels have begun to take out the minibars, a major source of these charges.
At our own vacation rentals, we make it clear that the only extra charges are sales taxes we are required to charge by law, and that charge is added in to the quoted rate when a unit is booked. We don’t charge a cleaning fee as many rentals do, because every guest has the right to expect a clean property upon arrival, and they shouldn’t have to leave the property clean enough for the next guest. The better way to charge the guest is to set a fair rate that includes all the things that you might wish to charge separately for. You will have happier guests.
