Do you think of a hotel resort as a beautiful hotel sitting on a beach or golf course with a lot of amenities?

Have you noticed lately when you book a hotel room that there are additional “resort fees” at a rate of $25-$50/day tacked on to your room rate? What are these resort fees for? I did a little investigating….

These “resort fees” are charged for usage of the hotel pool, exercise facilities, yoga, parking, water/coffee in your room, valet parking or self parking, WiFi etc… and apparently some hotels make their own determination if they are a resort, because these are being charged at hotels not considered a “resort” by most people’s standards.

Two questions immediately come to mind:

1. What if you are not using these additional facilities or services?
2. Why would there be an extra charge to use the facilities that the hotel markets as the reason you should stay at their hotel? It just doesn’t make since that the pool is no longer part of your room rate. Facilities that are not “resorts” include this in their price.

I can understand it when my room is on the beach or golf course or if there are activities, tennis courts,  pools with swim up bars, multiple restaurants etc…. But it seems like seems that hotels now just charge these fees and you don’t have a choice if you want to pay them or not! You are paying for usage of things you may never even use. If you are with your family you might use some of these amenities however if you are on business, probably not. What about the bottle water in your room that is sitting out on the table? Most think they are free, then are charged on their bill at the end when it’s too late. Why not offer those bottles of water (that can be purchased in bulk for probably 20 cents per bottle) free to your guests as that little extra added touch or put them in the minibar if you must charge?

Wouldn’t you rather these costs be built into your room rate or at least just offer an a la carte option so that you only pay for what you want to use? It would be much better to tell a guest all amenities are included in their higher rate and not lead people to question whether this is a scam or if they are being nickle and dimed? Customers need to feel they are getting value for their hard earned money and that they are being WOW’d so that they enjoy their stay, give a positive reviews, return again and refer their friends.

If “resorts” gave that little extra special touch, this would add to their bottom line with more business.

Businesses need to get back to giving their customer a WOW experience every time. If they don’t, customers will go down the street to their competitors. When I work with clients on improving their customer experiences I always recommend giving customers the best service and products possible, so they return again and again. If you need to add additional fees for an amenity make sure it’s something all your guests will use or just build into your pricing.

Always remember a referring customer is a happy customer!!

I would love feedback on how you as a customer feel about these added on fees at hotels. 

If you want a Fresh Perspective on your customer experiences contact Debbie Hart at The Hart Experience 602.717.3271, Debbie@thehartexperience.com You may also go to www.thehartexperience.com and fill out the information to Become A Client.