Resort Fees RIP?

By Robert McGarvey

Are we finally at the end of resort fees?

Sometimes called amenity fees or – my favorite – urban amenity fees.

So some now think that is now happening and a flash point was when Joe Biden used his State of the Union speech to call for an end to junk fees and he specifically called out “resort fees,” noting they are often charged by joints that don’t even qualify as resorts.

Even when it in fact is a resort, do you use the pool, the gym, or property wi fi? I never use the first two – can’t recall the last time I did – and I use hotel wi fi only when I can’t create a hot spot on my phone, a vastly more secure connection anyway.

It is laughable that resort fee defenders say that resort fees deliver more value than the charge itself but they don’t acknowledge that many who pay the fee get no value at all from it. Literally zip.

Not laughable is that nowadays it has become very hard – perhaps impossible – to talk your way out of paying the fee. A decade ago, maybe. Not now.

Enter the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, introduced in the US Senate by Senators Moran (R-Kan) and Klobuchar (D-Minn).

Said Moran: “This commonsense legislation requires hotels and other short-term lodging providers to display and advertise the total price of their room, so Kansans can be certain that the listed price is what they will pay at check out.”

Said Klobuchar: “Too often, Americans making reservations online are being met with hidden fees that make it difficult to compare prices and understand the true cost of an overnight stay. This bipartisan legislation would help improve transparency so that travelers can make informed decisions.”

The American Hotels and Lodgings Association (AHLA) supports the legislation: ““The Hotel Fees Transparency Act is an important bill that will create a single standard for mandatory fee display across the entire lodging ecosystem – from hotels to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and short-term rental platforms,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers. “We know consumers shop for travel across multiple sites, and this bill is a pivotal step toward creating a more transparent booking process for guests.” 

AHLA says, by the way, that 6% of hotels charge resort fees. Google takes a stab at a number and estimates 10+ percent.

So what’s the catch? Why is AHLA backing the bill?  Partly it’s because there are more efforts in state houses (California for instance) to ban resort fees. The California law bans “offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction.” That language provides no wiggle room.

Similar legislation is percolating in Pennsylvania. Rep. Nick Pisciottano, the bill’s author, said: “You get to see the price, the whole price, and nothing but the price at the very beginning so you can make your decision on whether the real cost is worth it.” 

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way this wind is blowing.

Then there’s the mounting push against such fees at the federal level, from the White House to the Senate. With the House in a dysfunctional condition it’s unlikely to see meaningful legislation on this emerging, but the Biden White House and the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau which has targeted “junk fees” – everywhere from banks to hotels – seem intent on wiping out resort fees via executive actions.

All that is why AHLA backs the Moran – Klobuchar bill. It looks to the industry trade group to be a lesser evil than, say, the California law or what CFPB might cook up.

But will that bill in fact mean the end of resort fees?

Very probably the moniker “resort fee” will vanish.  But we may start seeing more creative naming that is intended to skirt around the language of legislation. The Los Angeles Times has reported that some Las Vegas strip restaurants and bar have imposed fees nearing a 5% surcharge that’s labeled a “concession fee,” whatever that means.  

Hotel industry watchers of a cynical mind believe we will see ever more creative labeling that’s intended to pick a few more dollars out of our pockets. Put me in that cynical camp.

The only way that won’t happen is if we scream – loudly and often – that these fees by any other name are just as repugnant.