Can we talk about the hidden hotel booking fees that sneak up on you?

I booked a room in Atlanta last month for what I thought was $89 a night. When I checked out, my total was $142 after they added a 'resort fee', parking, and some bogus WiFi charge. That $53 difference caught me totally off guard and ate into my food budget for the trip. Now I always call the hotel directly to ask about extra fees before hitting 'book'. Does anyone have a good site or trick for finding the true total cost up front?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.lisa17d ago

Has anyone else noticed how everything's got these hidden fees now? It's like hotels, airlines, even concert tickets all hide the real cost until you're already committed. I swear, that $89 room trick is everywhere. My friend booked a flight to Chicago and the "free" seat selection ended up costing her $40 extra. I just start adding 30% to any price I see now, that way I'm not shocked when the total shows up. It's exhausting having to do detective work just to know what something actually costs.

jade317d ago

Oh man your friend's seat selection story reminds me of what happened to my buddy Mark last month. He booked a "cheap" hotel room through one of those third party sites for what he thought was $65 a night but when he got there the resort fee was $45 a day plus $15 for parking which they didn't mention anywhere. The front desk lady was super nice about it though she even gave him a coupon for the overpriced breakfast buffet.