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Hello, looking at a Wyndham hotel in the US and toying with the ‘Pay now’ option, which states it includes taxes and fees.
However, as the website said it additionally charged a $40 resort fee which was included in the room rate. Since I have been stung this way before, I just wanted to be sure, so I contacted the hotel directly.
Got through to reception, I posed my question, but was met with this response: she said it depends who the rate is being booked through, which will depend on whether or not the resort fees are charged. I indicated my confusion at her response, and stated that I am booking directly with Wyndham.
She then went on to say that she understood that I was booking directly on the Wyndham website, but that Expedia, Bookings.com etc also advertised their rates on the Wyndham site and so I may be charged the resort fee upon arrival.
I thanked her for her time and ended the call, more confused than when I called initially.
Is this really correct?
I’ve never heard of this before, but I am always open to learning! 🙂
TIA
How can they additionally charge a resort fee if it’s included in the room rate? What is the exact wording?
Also how would 3rd party booking platforms advertise direct on the Wyndham site? Is it not more likely to be the other way around?
It’s unusual for a resort fee to be included in the room rate, but any site advertising in this country has to make it clear if you’re going to incur any extra charges.
On the final page of any booking it should display all charges, so you can usually see if resort fees are going to be charged separately to anything you’ve already paid, or are expecting to pay.
How can they additionally charge a resort fee if it’s included in the room rate? What is the exact wording?
Thanks @Northernlass – wording below:
This hotel charges a Resort Fee of $40.16 per night, which will be collected at checkout. If searching by price, you’ll see this fee included in the room rate displayed below. If searching by Wyndham Rewards points, the following applies: For Free Nights, this fee is included in the rate displayed. For Discounted Nights with Points + Cash, this fee will be added at checkout and cannot be paid with points. Customers using certain corporate, leisure, or group rate plans may be charged a lower Resort Fee. Please see “Total for Stay” for details.
Also how would 3rd party booking platforms advertise direct on the Wyndham site? Is it not more likely to be the other way around?
Precisely @Northernlass – I found this element very, very confusing. This is what I was trying to convey to the receptionist, that I was going to be booking directly on Wyndham and therefore booking Wyndham rates, but she was having none of it. She confirmed and reconfirmed that the OTAs advertised directly on Wyndham (??)
It’s unusual for a resort fee to be included in the room rate, but any site advertising in this country has to make it clear if you’re going to incur any extra charges.
On the final page of any booking it should display all charges, so you can usually see if resort fees are going to be charged separately to anything you’ve already paid, or are expecting to pay.
As I said, I have been stung by this before so just wanted to double/triple/quadruple check. The wording above seems to suggest it’s in the room rate and the room rate states “includes taxes and fees”, and the final page appears to include these elements as well.
Maybe I’m just being too cautious, but we were stung rather badly in the US a few years ago, and once bitten – twice shy!
If it’s not made clear that it’s a separate charge at the time of booking (i.e. before payment), I would refuse to pay it if Wyndham subsequently added it to any checkout bill (or dispute it with the credit card company if they charged it regardless.) Some years ago a resort wouldn’t let us check in without paying an extra tax, but I had booked it through hotels .com, which hadn’t included the charge in the booking; they admitted it was their mistake and refunded it.
It’s a scourge and sadly it seems that all the noise Americans have been making about it has had zero effect. I try to avoid hotels with resort fees whenever possible, though I am having to swallow the $85 per night the Kimpton Seafire is going to sting me for coffee and valet parking next month!
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