Will your hotel stay cost you any extra?

Arranging accommodation is definitely of top priority for those travellers who are planning a business trip or going on holiday. Generally the trend is for travellers to book their acommodation first, and then search for the best rates for their flights . For both hotel accommodation and flights, rates are almost always the leading criteria for travellers to bear in mind when considering their options. Second option for accommodation searching, after rates is the location of the hotel, amenities and general facilities on offer. In the past, all you had to be concerned about was paying for your accommodation, with no additional extras unless of course you had used the mini bar, room service, car parking etc....But these days, how sure are you about the total amount that you will be paying for the accommodation? Nowadays, an increasing number of hotels are implementing ways in which they can apply or increase fees, for example, certain services such as air conditioning which were previously included in the room rates are now being charged for separately by the hotel. At this point its worth pointing out that the travel agency that you have booked through are not responsible for any supplementary charges that a hotel may decide to pass on. This growing trend among hotels is actually having the knockback effect of leading to disgruntled guests. Some additional charges that the hotels are passing on are even implemented and made witbout the guests knowledge and even regular customers who visit the same hotel every season can be quite astounded - at the time of checking out - to see how many new fees are added to their hotel bill. Additional hotel charges come in a multitude of disguises such as “mandatory resort fees”, “automatic gratuity” and fees for baggage handling, valet parking, laundry service, access to the gym, use of resort facilities, in-room safe and mini-bar even if you never use them. Quite a number of hotels charge their guests for valet parking - up to $45 per day - despite not bringing cars to the hotel at all; $7 per hour for holding bags behind the reception desk; $10 for Wi-Fi per day or $2 per item for mini-bar restocking. Additionally, there might be some costs covering the general maintenance at the hotels. These hotels know very well which fees will receive complaints and which ones will be paid with little fuss. Not surprisingly, the fees that are hardly brought to guests’ attention are only clarified in the room handbooks or on the website of the hotel and not to the guest at the time of check in nor to the travel agency. Furthermore, these extra charges generally change according to each hotel's needs even if the properties are under the very same brand. At the end of the day, the important point is to keep in mind that the travel agency or the websites that you made your booking through are not responsible for any of these supplementary charges the hotels may be charging. The official agreements made between the hotels and the intermediary companies are essentially based on particular rates for a certain number of people to stay at the hotel. At this point, it is - without doubt – that guests that need to be fully aware of any possible charges and fees that the hotel are implementing. Before making a reservation, it would certainly be a good idea to directly contact the hotel to ask about all the surcharges and take down the name of the person that they spoke to. Moreover, at your hotel, you need to make sure to get a statement of your bill the night before your check-out date, which will give you the favourable chance to examine the hotel bill carefully. If necessary, be unreserved to protest because recent surveys have shown that most hotels are willing to reverse the charges in question to avoid dissatisfied and angry customers.