If there’s one thing the hotel industry has learned from the airlines, it’s the obvious fact that hotel fees are important to the bottom line.
“If you think hotels will never stoop to the level of airlines — charging extra for anything that isn’t bolted down — maybe you’ve never heard of easyHotel,” suggests travel commentator Christopher Elliott.
Rooms at the cut-rate European hotel chain are typically about USD$35 a night but fresh towels will cost you. So will watching TV. And maid service? Only at a price.
“Add it all up and your stay costs closer to $50 a night, which is less of a bargain,” Elliott writes.
Charging fees for services that formerly were part of a hotel bill is a development hotels hope their customers will buy.
“What’s next, a fee for a bed?” Elliott asks, adding that this is not a laughable concept.
If someone had suggested two decades ago that airlines would charge for checked bags or soft-drinks, who would have believed it?
Some hotels are now even charging fees for use of their pool.
That kind of logic makes about as much sense as selling an airline seat that doesn’t include a piece of checked luggage. “Which is to say, none (sense) at all,” he says.
By David Wilkening
