The Peabody Orlando--hidden fees--Beware

[flyingcat2003]

We just arrive back home from a 7 night stay at WDW. The first night we arrived we stayed off property at The Peabody. I had heard this was a nice hotel so I went to priceline and bid on a room. Priceline, Travelocity and Expedia had this hotel as a 4 star resort. I won the bid at $69.00 for 1 night. I was very excited to get such a great deal. Well.......you know the old saying "you get what you pay for"...? The hotel was clean. The room was older and could use some updating but still clean. My issue came with all of the hidden fees that they don't tell you about. When we checked in we were charged $12.95 to self park our car (in a parking deck that was not even attached to the hotel and was at least 200 yards from the lobby. You had to walk through a construction zone). Valet was $23.00 a day. We were also charged a service charge of $2.95 per person per day for cleaning, newspaper and "free" coffee in the lobby. They had a mini bar in the room and none of us dared to take anything. I'm glad we were there only one night. After it was all said and done, that one night stay cost us $100.00. I could have gotten a room at the Rosen Shingle for $109.00 with no hidden fees, a new hotel that really is 4 star (we had stayed there before). Just be warned of the hidden fees with this hotel.

We were glad to leave the next morning for AKL.
I've included some pics....

room

Mini Bar of doom

lobby

 

[taliategan]

Unforntunately these hidden fees are becoming more common - especially for the higher star hotels or resorts. I won the Westin Imagine on Priceline for later this month and there is a $ 18.00, plus tax, mandatory valet parking fee. Hopefully Priceline and Hotwire will develop a way to notify you of these extra fees before you make the purchase.

 

[Purseval]

Priceline and Hotwire already warn you that resorts may have fees that aren't included in the bid price. That's why you use sites like betterbidding and biddingfortravel so you can get a better idea of which hotels are charging extra, then you can factor that into your bid. The tripAdvisor reviews are another good source for finding out about extra charges.

The star system is also based on other things besides how much "neat stuff" a hotel has. They base it on location, quality of service, access to major highways or public transportation and other factors that aren't readily apparent when you walk into the lobby. The Peabody, which you agree didn't have any issues besides the hidden fees, gets its 4-star rating for its proximity to the Orlando Convention Center and its attraction to business travelers.

We recently stayed in a hotel in Atlanta for a fabulous price but the parking fee of $22 self-park or $25 valet added almost 50% to the price. We would have been pretty ticked off if we hadn't have known in advance but we did and it was still a great deal. A bit of research saved us from a big shock.

 

[deej696]

I used to work for the Grand Bohemian downtown, and this was an issue for us in the beginning, as our hotel was valet only and the third party websites often did not list this as the case. We worked hard to disclose this, but on sites like priceline, where you dont know what you're getting till its too late, this can be a problem.

 

[pk1959]

We are getting ready to do a two week trip to Orlando, then a two week trip to California and during both of those trips we plan on using either Priceline or Hotwire for just a couple of our hotels on certain nights. We are wondering how often we are going to run into this same situation with the fees.

I did call Hotwire and ask them if there is any way to tell if a hotel that comes up has extra fees such as for parking or whatever and they said that if the hotel tells them in advance then they try to include it in their description (usually it is 'free parking' that is advertised), otherwise they have no way of knowing who charges and who doesn't. Being as how we are going to be on the road while we are bidding, we won't have a ton of time to research ahead of time, we will just have to take what we can get. I expect to sometimes be happy, sometimes not.

 

[Purseval]

Being as how we are going to be on the road while we are bidding, we won't have a ton of time to research ahead of time, we will just have to take what we can get. I expect to sometimes be happy, sometimes not.

One thing you can do with Priceline is to only bid on 1 night then, when you win, they will ask you if you want to extend your stay at the same rate. Once you know the name of your winning hotel you can do some quick research or call the hotel directly then decide if you want to add days or not. They will charge you an extra booking fee for this (a couple of dollars) but you can consider it like paying for insurance.

 

[taliategan]

When I bid a 4* on Priceline in the SeaWorld zone, I was factoring in a $10 to $20 resort or parking fee as it seemed that most 4* hotels in that zone had these charges from the list of probable hotels I saw on betterbidding zone. I think you just have to do some research before you make the bid. I got a good hotel at a very good price, even with the parking fee. The only thing I was unhappy with is that valet parking is mandatory - I would much prefer to self-park, even with the same charge. I am still very happy with the hotel and price I obtained.

 

[pk1959]

One thing you can do with Priceline is to only bid on 1 night then, when you win, they will ask you if you want to extend your stay at the same rate. Once you know the name of your winning hotel you can do some quick research or call the hotel directly then decide if you want to add days or not. They will charge you an extra booking fee for this (a couple of dollars) but you can consider it like paying for insurance.

Wow, I didn't know this. Good information....Thanks Purseval