Vacation Rentals Can Distinguish Themselves by not "Nickel and Diming" Their Guests
July, 5th 2006. An article titled “Room-service-fee freedom!� by Kitty Bean Yancey in USA TODAY addresses one of our pet peeves. Ms. Yancey says, “Following my previous rant on room service fees and automatic gratuities, and just in time for Independence Day, I heard from the Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills.�
The article quotes general manager Jack Naderkhani as saying that the luxury hotel hasn’t added a gratutity or service charge since it opened in 1998. We are glad that there is at least one luxury hotel that can say this. The guest in a typical luxury hotel is likely to be hit with all manner of fees, such as a “resort fee�.
Our Vacation Rentals Newsletters ( available to VacationRental.org members only) have often commented on the need for vacation rentals not to nickel and dime their guests as do hotels. In our own vacation rental development we make a practice of charging a flat rate for everything, with the only additional charge being the sales and occupancy taxes required by law.
We strongly recommend to our members that they not charge a separate cleaning fee that is common in our industry, or any other fee except for unusual wear and tear on the vacation home. That is an excellent way to distinguish your vacation rental from the competition, whether it is hotels, vacation cabins and cottages, beach houses, or vacation villas.
