Resort Fees!

[Planogirl]

I was just pricing one of the Downtown Disney hotels and the price looked good until I saw that they charge a $16.95 per day resort fee. It's not clear if they also charge for parking but it wouldn't surprise me.

I think that these fees are insane and I wonder if there is some handy tool to find hotels that don't charge them or at least don't charge so much. I know that our favorite budget hotel (La Quinta) doesn't charge them or at least didn't used to. They definitely don't charge for parking.

Does anyone here have any info?

 

[jtopicz1]

There is a thread on betterbidding.com on what hotels charge for resort fees / parking and how much in the Orlando area. It's not perfect, but it will at least give you an idea.

Most, if not ALL, of the nicer hotels that are near the parks charge these fees. Some hotels, such as Gaylord Palms and The Peabody, which both charge both fees, can total up to over $30/nt+ taxes! Even some of the lower end hotels are charging the fees - I believe one of the Holiday Inns near Disney charges $8.95??

I'm not a big fan of the fees, mainly because they make shopping hard, but it's something that seems like it will stick around.

There has always been a problem in Orlando with people parking at some of the nearby hotels, for free, and then taking the hotels shuttle to the parks to avoid the parking fee at the park. Can't help but wonder if that practice didn't fuel some of these fees?

Jim

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks for the website. I'll check it out.

You might be right about the parking issues and that causing some of the fees. I imagine that people will still be parking there though.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I hate the resort fees. To me it is a case of bait and switch - they advertise a certain nightly rate, but then what you pay is actually more because of a mandatory "resort fee". I avoid hotels that charge them as much as I can, and will argue at the front desk when they tell me it's for services I don't want (newspaper, free local calling, shuttle, etc.)

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I can do better than that. I'm digging around trying to find a place on a beach not far from my sisters place.

I came across one promising hotel but after digging around further I discovered they charge 40.00 a day in resort fees and you have to pay for your internet.

Now I don't mind paying for internet - I've encountered that at plenty of places - but no way will I pay that ridiculous resort fee on top of it.

Needless to say that place is no longer on my list.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hotels are starting to act more like airlines now in that they're following the trend of displaying a seemingly low price to bait you and then charging you extra fees such as "airport improvement fees", baggage fees, or in the case of hotels, parking and "resort fees".

Unfortunately, it's one of the ways the hotel business can even survive in this economy nowadays.

 

[Planogirl]

I can do better than that. I'm digging around trying to find a place on a beach not far from my sisters place.

I came across one promising hotel but after digging around further I discovered they charge 40.00 a day in resort fees and you have to pay for your internet.

Now I don't mind paying for internet - I've encountered that at plenty of places - but no way will I pay that ridiculous resort fee on top of it.

Needless to say that place is no longer on my list.

That is insane! I've been trying to find places that charge $8.00 or less but now the $16.95 that I was originally fussing about doesn't seem so bad. Who pays $40 extra a day?

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Unfortunately, it's one of the ways the hotel business can even survive in this economy nowadays.

I think they could survive by being honest with their rates.

I will never use Priceline again due to a related matter. Many years ago I bid a certain amount for a flight. I won my bid, but the airline was charging a $50 fuel surcharge. So the price I was charged was $50 more than my bid. Bye bye Priceline.

I understand it's the same way with resort fees. If you bid, your bid may be accepted based on the stated rate, but you will be charged the resort fee on top of that.

 

[DarraK]

I HATE resort fees and mandatory parking fees. The worst is when you book a second room for the kids and are charged parking for both rooms eventhough you only have one car!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

That is insane! I've been trying to find places that charge $8.00 or less but now the $16.95 that I was originally fussing about doesn't seem so bad. Who pays $40 extra a day?

I couldn't believe it. It was a huge resort with tons of stuff to do plus there was a big conference center so I'm thinking all the folks who go there on business and bring their families would pay it.

Not me though.

Now I'm actually looking at condo rentals except I only need 5 nights in July so it's tough to find condos to rent for less than 1 week at that time.

 

[avic77]

I am renting one night at Clarion Hotel Maingate and their resort fee is only $2.50. I can deal with that. More then $5.00 and I pass

 

[mom2brooke76]

We just stayed at the Orlando Vista Hotel, which is literally behind the Downtown Disney hotels, 1 mile from the Marketplace. I paid $40 a night plus tax. No resort fees, free parking and free Disney shuttle. Also free wireless Internet and continental breakfast (even if it was extremely simple). Definitely a no frills hotel, but worked great for a cheap (and super close) place to stay.

 

[Mariep26]

I booked the newly renovated Holiday Inn at DTD and my understanding is the there is a $10 self park fee per night and no additional resort fee. I am ok with paying for the parking but not some blanket fee. The only place that gets away with that is Vegas

 

[Danibelle]

FYI: The Marriott Village (across I-4 from DTD) has a Fairfield, Courtyard, and Spring Hill Suites. There is no parking fee and the Fairfield and Spring Hill provide a free buffet breakfast. They also have NO resort fees.

 

[resortfees]

Hi everyone, I came across this post (and forum) via Google Alerts.

My website recently updated to include Florida resort fees. Everything is sorted out by Town. Later in the week I'll post specific inclusions. For now here are 100+ Florida Resort Fee charges on one page. Hope this helps (PS, I'm not trying to spam the board, so please take this down if anyone sees fit. Just trying to help out)

Addy =

resortfees.com/florida/

 

[Planogirl]

Assuming that your website is for real, I certainly like that since no one else seems to be keeping track of resort fees.

 

[james.burnes]

Can I just say, on the record, that resort fees suck. Please, just include it in the rate and stop pretending the rates are lower than they really are!

 

[Brian Noble]

I think that these fees are insane and I wonder if there is some handy tool to find hotels that don't charge them or at least don't charge so much.

I don't so much care how it's broken down. I only care about the bottom-line price. You do have to read the fine print of hotels you are considering to know that price, but it is doable.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't so much care how it's broken down. I only care about the bottom-line price. You do have to read the fine print of hotels you are considering to know that price, but it is doable.

I can normally find the resort fee easy enough. What isn't so apparent sometimes is the parking fee.

I think that price quotes should include these fees. It would certainly make it a lot easier.

 

[Brian Noble]

Quotes should include them. But, knowing that they don't is half the battle.

A quick call to the property will probably be the fastest way to confirm.