While planning a trip, it’s easy to get lost in the excitement and the fun parts. But there is something very important you need to know about that is extra hotel fees. These extra charges will add up to your bills and elevate your trip budget. In this guide, we will talk about 5 lesser-known hotel fees you need to know about and their importance.

A resort fee, also known as a destination fee or amenity fee, is an additional charge that some hotels and resorts add to the base room rate.

This fee covers the cost of various amenities and services provided by the hotel, which are not included in the base room rate. 

Many guests are not in favor of the resort fees as their trip budget often gets increased as these charges are not advertised initially.

Some common amenities and services that are included in the Resort fees are:

1. Pool Access: Access to the hotel’s swimming pool. This includes loungers, towels, and sometimes poolside service.
2. Fitness Center Use: Access to the hotel’s fitness center, gym, or wellness facilities.
3. Wi-Fi: Generally hotels provide Wi-Fi services, but as many people are working remotely they require high-speed internet access in the room and common areas for which hotels can charge extra.
4. Shuttle Services: Shuttle transportation to and from the airport or nearby attractions.
5. Concierge Services: Assistance with arranging activities, tours, and reservations.
6. Bottled Water: Complimentary bottled water in the room.

In some cases, hotels can waive or reduce resort fees, but it often depends on the hotel’s policies and guests’ circumstances. This is greatly dependent on the guest’s approach in requesting to waive the resort fees. They can politely negotiate at check-in and check-out times or speak to the manager regarding their stay experience.

An early check-in fee is applied when guests want to check in to their hotel room before their standard check-in time. And a late checkout fee is when guests wish to stay in their hotel room beyond the standard checkout time. Both of these fees are dependent upon the hotel’s policy. 

Hotels may have limited availability for early check-ins, especially if they need time to prepare rooms after the previous night’s guests have checked out.

Generally, the hotels have limited early check-ins. So they need to make preparations for the guests’ arrival. Similarly, during late checkouts, the hotel staff needs to cater to the guest’s wishes and also needs to prepare the room for the incoming guests.

The hotels have set their base room price according to the occupancy. They can set the number of adults and children can for a particular room type. However, if you wish to arrive with more number of guests you may be welcomed with additional fees. To avoid such fees, you need to be aware of it before booking. 

Having more people in a room will result in more usage of the hotel’s resources. It often includes extra bedding, towels, toiletries, and using more utilities such as water and electricity. Additionally, more people in a room could lead to increased wear and tear on the room and its amenities. The extra fee helps cover these additional expenses and maintain a quality experience for all guests.

Parking fees are the charges that are applied to guests who wish to park their vehicles on the hotel premises. These charges cover the maintenance of parking areas, vehicle safety and offering valet services.

The Hotels that have limited parking areas, this fee helps them to manage the availability of parking spots. 

The hotel has to build the infrastructure over an area which will increase the overall parking costs. Additionally, they have to deploy the workforce to manage daily operations such as maintenance and valet parking operations. 

For security measures, the hotel needs more security personnel to manage surveillance and monitoring. They need to install the CCTV camera and Monitors which will add up the cost. 

Apart from the stay, Some hotels provide additional facilities to their guests. The hotel staff helps guests by arranging tours and activities, transportation and many more. To cover those expenses, the hotels can apply the concierge fees. 

Some common concierge and services that are provided by the hotels are: 

• Tours Arrangements
• Restaurant Reservations 
• Ticket Purchases 
• Transportation Services
• Event and Activity Planning
• Personal Shopping Services
• Special Requests or Deliveries
• Translation Services

To provide this many facilities, it’s important for the hotels to charge service fees. These charges are highly dependent upon the hotel’s location and star rating. It is advisable for guests to enquire about these charges prior to their arrival.

So we have seen the importance of these services and their needs. Charging for these services is important for hoteliers as it will help in their revenue generation. 

As a guest make sure to know all about these 5 lesser-known hotel fees So that you can make the most of your travel.

I trust you enjoyed reading my piece about Hotel Regulations in India.

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