Bad hotel fees that must die

I like Chris Elliott. He's the ombudsperson for National Geographic Traveler Magazine and is frequently on MSNBC TV.

In November, he mentioned that nudist resort vacations can be great bargains. He recommended our resort as one of the 2 particularly good bargain nudist resorts. To read his story CLICK HERE

Now he wrote about hotel fees that must die. Here's his story:

"Hotel fees that must die — and how to kill them

February 7, 2010

Resort fees. Mandatory tips. Concierge surcharges.

If you’ve stayed at a hotel in the last few years, you’ve become accustomed — if not anesthetized — to these annoying extras. You expect them. You’re indifferent to them when they appear on your bill...

Here are five hotel fees that must die.

Resort fees
These add-ons to your room bill started innocently enough. Resort guests complained that they were being nickel-and-dimed by extras for beach towels, umbrellas and the use of exercise facilities, among other things. So the properties rolled them all into a “resort fee” and made those amenities “free.” But along the way, the fee got horribly twisted by greed. First it became mandatory, so you no longer had a choice about using the amenities, or, more specifically, being charged for them. And then larger, urban hotels that didn’t have resort-like amenities, decided to copy it... Guests were being hit with the fees everywhere, causing their room charges to mushroom by $15, $20 or even $30 a night. Unacceptable. It’s time to give resort fees the heave-ho!...

Fees for furniture
The most common flavor of this fee is a surcharge for your safe. (Ironically, the hotel often doesn’t vouch for the safety of the items you store in one.) But that’s not the only item hotels ask you to pay extra for. Corinne McDermott, who runs a Web site about family travel, asked to be put in a room with a refrigerator on a recent visit to Quebec City. The hotel asked for an additional $10-a-day-fee...

Concierge, bellhop and housecleaning fees
Believe it or not, some hotels tack on a fee for their bellhops and concierges — two optional services that guests usually pay for with tips. At one hotel, motivational speaker Barry Maher was hit with a mandatory fee for bellhop service. “Never mind the fact that I rolled my own rollerbag to the room and never even saw a bellman,” he says. He also found a fee for housecleaning on his final bill...
How to kill them: Common sense is your most effective weapon against these unreasonable fees. Not only are they often improperly disclosed, but they also fly in the face of reason. The cost of your room should include housekeeping...

Way-out-there fees
Never underestimate a hotel revenue manager’s creativity. Seriously, these employees sit around all day wondering how to make more money from us...

Fees that ought to be illegal
Leslie Dykeman stayed at a Comfort Inn in Scottsdale, Ariz., and an Econo Lodge in Tempe, Ariz., recently. Both charged a $3 per day “energy fee.” “Mind you, I am from the northeast,” Dykeman added, “and in Scottsdale, I didn’t turn on the air conditioner once.”... If these fees are allowed to stand, it can’t be long before we’re charged for pillows, blankets and toilet paper. Enough already...

Point is, at a time like this, you shouldn’t have to put up with any of these fees. A property charging mandatory resort fees, valet fees, safe fees or energy fees doesn’t just hate its customers — it probably also has a death wish.

For the full story click here

Some hotels in the nudist industry has come up with the day fee on top of your room rate. I've seen some day fees at more than $50/day.

Some Florida nudist resorts are tacking on these daily membership fees. Although here in Palm Springs one nude place also has day fees on top of their room rates.

These resorts should be ashamed of themselves. Roll your day fees into your room rates so that people know exactly how much you are charging. Having artificially low room rates to falsely entice people to your place and then hitting them with expensive daily membership fees does not create customer good will.

Sadly many places are only looking at the short term, getting a head into a bed and don't care that once that person leaves they hated feeling ripped off and tell everyone at other nudist places never to go to those places that have resort fees.
And I hear guests say it ALL the time.

Here at Terra Cotta Inn clothing optional resort and spa, in Palm Springs we have always been one of the best values of ALL resorts in Palm Springs. We have NO hidden fees or expenses. Even our soda machine is only 50 cents a can. We WANT our guests to come back and we succeed as we average over an 80% repeat guest rate one of the highest in the whole travel industry.


Now is the perfect time for a fun, romantic, unique vacation experience.

Never been to a clothing optional resort before? No problem. We are the most mainstream nudist resort in the US and are perfect for couples trying topless or nude sunbathing for the first time!

Give us a call at 800-786-6938 (toll free US and Canada) for more information or to make reservations.

Visit our site at http://sunnyfun.com

Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/nudist_resorts

We hope to see you soon in sunny Palm Springs, California!