How can they justify having to pay for parking?

[connab]

We have stayed at either Hard Rock or Royal Pacific and it really irks me that they charge for parking. Anyone know why they do that, other then because they can. We are gonna go in Sept. and got a really good rate, but it just kills me to pay for parking.

 

[Day-Day]

Guests who don't use the parking lot should not be expected to subsidize its use through their hotel fees.

I'm guessing that the hotel makes money off of these charges instead of just covering the expense of maintaining the lot.

Most people are either going to have a car for their stay or they aren't without any regard to a parking fee. Maybe a few people will decide to give up a car to avoid the parking expense which would free up some parking space; that could be a motivation from the hotel side...

 

[Metro West]

We have stayed at either Hard Rock or Royal Pacific and it really irks me that they charge for parking. Anyone know why they do that, other then because they can. We are gonna go in Sept. and got a really good rate, but it just kills me to pay for parking.

It's my understanding "that other" resort down the road charges for parking too...you just don't see it. It's built into their daily rate.

 

[patster734]

I'm not a fan of the parking fees either. To avoid paying the fee, we now use a towncar service for roundtrip service between the airport and the hotel. The roundtrip cost is around $100, give or take $10 or so, depending upon which company is used. Many companies will also provide a grocery stop, which we also take advantage of. We'll get soda, water and snack food. We'll also get a styrofoam cooler.

 

[damo]

It's my understanding "that other" resort down the road charges for parking too...you just don't see it. It's built into their daily rate.

Yup and at that "other resort", they don't lower your rate if you don't park a car. It is the same rate for everyone. Notice how much higher their hotel rates are for deluxe hotels? Their parking rate is actually really, really high.

 

[Bluer101]

The hotels are within walking distance to the parks if not closer than the parking garages. So if they did not charge for the parking then I think many would take advantage of it instead of using parking garages. I thing I don't like about the fee is I can park in the garages for fee with my AP pass but not at the hotel. If I could get away with parking in the garage durring the stay I would. I live here in FL so not taking the car is out of the question.

 

[ky07]

Also other area hotels such as the doubletree are charging to park and I can understand the Universal hotels but the doubletree come on and just like patster thats the reason I use a towncar service

 

[gschmerl]

They are not alone. Many hotels and resorts charge for parking. I live outside of Philadelphia and many of the hotels in center city charge $20 a night or more to park.

 

[donaldduck352]

Stayed at RPR this past weekend and of coarse got charged for parking.
But the one thing I did notice is security.They have cameras and bicycle security 24/7.To think of the peace of mind of that alone is worth $15 a night..We got alot of stereo and other equpment in our car.Knowing its parked safe to me is worth it!!

 

[Carlnne]

I understand the parking fee but what gets me is that I should be guaranteed a space if I am paying. A few years ago I had to drive around the lot and wait for someone to leave before I could find a space. Granted it was peak season but still. Not sure if this has improved or not since then.

 

[Little Monkey]

I understand the parking fee but what gets me is that I should be guaranteed a space if I am paying. A few years ago I had to drive around the lot and wait for someone to leave before I could find a space. Granted it was peak season but still. Not sure if this has improved or not since then.

This is the reason why we valet. Every time we would stay at the Portofino and/or the Hard Rock and self park it was always a nightmare trying to find a parking spot after returning to the hotel after dinner on a weekend night. I am not sure how much more it is - I think just $5.00 more a night to valet - it is definately worth it for us.

 

[macraven]

They are not alone. Many hotels and resorts charge for parking. I live outside of Philadelphia and many of the hotels in center city charge $20 a night or more to park.

to me that's cheap.
stay downtown in chicago........between $40-45 a night.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Can I just ask why is there an extra charge for valet parking?? - As much as I love HRH (and don't normally have a probably giving good tips I must add!), last year we paid extra for valet parking and then ended up spending a fortunate on tips on top!!


If you pay extra for the service of someone parking your car for you, then what is the tip for??? (I must say I only had a problem with it because we ended up tipping 3 or 4 people on one occasion!! - at one point we tipped the man who drove the car round, a man who went to the trunk to help with bags, a man who I asked for directions to Walmart and then the last one really got to me - the driver handed the keys to someone else who simply passed them to my husband so we tipped him too!! - they were just all hovering around and we weren't sure what to do - bet they had a right laugh at us after we had gone!!)

I am therefore looking for ways next trip to do without a car!!!

 

[TifffanyD]

Hi All,

We are planning on staying one night, 2 days in the parks. So would we pay for 1 "night" of hotel parking or would it be 2 charges? Thanks for any help - just trying to budget

Also I heard a rumor that you can park free after 6pm to go to citywalk, is that true? We are going to a concert in a week there and would plan to arrive after 6 if that is the case

 

[keishashadow]

to me that's cheap.
stay downtown in chicago........between $40-45 a night.

found it the same in Seattle, some hotels even tout it as a special package (parking included). Can see the point, land is expensive/premium to park normally in large cities. Yet the hotels in Orlando must have been built under zoning codes wherein they had to have X amount of parking spaces per room...they can't use the excuse that it's to keep the # of cars down as many city hotels do (ie they tore down an old bldg for new construction & were truly limited as to # of parking spots available)

so many of the deluxe hotels are adding on ridiculous resort fees & manadatory gratuties-need to check your bill carefully to avoid double tipping

i wish they'd just roll it into their rack rate & be done with it so you can compare apples to apples when shopping for a rate

i will say one perc i do appreciate @ Disney- DVC is the free valet parking, which we've been able to use @ the resorts too; still tip a couple bucks both ways though-more if they run lol; yet it's an example of making the customer feel as though he did get a value/something special..kwim?

 

[patster734]

Hi All,

We are planning on staying one night, 2 days in the parks. So would we pay for 1 "night" of hotel parking or would it be 2 charges? Thanks for any help - just trying to budget

Also I heard a rumor that you can park free after 6pm to go to citywalk, is that true? We are going to a concert in a week there and would plan to arrive after 6 if that is the case

For the hotel stay, you would pay for 1 day of parking. You would not be charged for your checkout day.

For the citywalk parking, earlier this year, Universal started charging a $3 fee to park after 6pm.

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009
Parking from 6pm - 10pm will be $3.00.

http://www.universalorlando.com/citywalk/additional-information.html

 

[TifffanyD]

For the hotel stay, you would pay for 1 day of parking. You would not be charged for your checkout day.

For the citywalk parking, earlier this year, Universal started charging a $3 fee to park after 6pm.

http://www.universalorlando.com/citywalk/additional-information.html

Thank you! $3 still beats the full day charge and I'd feel like an idiot if I got there at 5:45 and paid full parking. We'll just plan to stop at Disney and check in and waste a few minutes if need be before we head the rest of the way to Universal.

 

[patster734]

Thank you! $3 still beats the full day charge and I'd feel like an idiot if I got there at 5:45 and paid full parking. We'll just plan to stop at Disney and check in and waste a few minutes if need be before we head the rest of the way to Universal.

You're welcome!

 

[jewell]

While I tend to agree that paying for parking for people who stay in the resort is a little hard to swallow (would't be so bad if it were say, $5 or $6 a day, but $12 is a bit expensive!), I just think of how much I'm paying for the whole vacation and figure what's another $60 (five nights) on top of that. Of course, now that I think of it that could find my family for dinner one night, oh well, vacation's aren't cheap that's for sure, but they are still worth it!

 

[HayGan]

For the hotel stay, you would pay for 1 day of parking. You would not be charged for your checkout day.

Thanks for that info! I was wondering the same thing. I had put $30 in our budget for our one night stay at HRH for parking but now I know that is another $15 we can spend on something else