OT staange hotel doings, surprising hotel offer

[micky]

Made reservations a week ago,

Did I mention that I didn't have the code for the wedding I'm going to, so I started to make the reservations anyhow. $89/night, $84 if I checked Senior or AARP (or some other things that didn't apply.) But I called the hotel and learned the code for the wedding and she offered to make the reservation, and half-way through, I asked how much it was. $99, $10 more than for a stranger!!! She said, "Maybe it includes other benefits, but I don't see any listed here." The people arranging the wedding thought they were getting a deal. I emailed the hostess and told her. Her other guests, those staying longer than I will, or with more people, would be losing more than $20 or 28.

Got strange email today.

Offers estandby upgrades. It must be the Latino influence in Texas., as in estudio, estados unidos, espacio. Otherwise it would just be standby.

Get this:

Select each eStandby® opportunity below that interests you, then click the "Continue" button.

Find out at check-in if you are awarded an eStandby Upgrade® or any combination of Add-on Offers.

(They call it an award, even though you have to pay! And they call it an opportunity!)

IF YES You agree to pay the additional amounts stated below for your award(s).

IF NO You will stay in the room you originally booked and pay nothing extra.

No change and no extra charge. Thank goodness for small favors

When I made the reservation, she asked, Do you have any special requests. I said, What special requests could I make that would not cost me money? She said, A room on a higher floor, so I said, Yeah, that would be nice. But the email wanted 15/night for a higher floor, marked down they claimed from $20. We'll see what floor they put me on and what they try to charge.

Oh, the Business Plan upgrade, for 25 dollars a night, marked down they say from 33, includes One person per night Business Plan will include: Complimentary In-Room wireless Internet access Complimentary breakfast buffet for one in Crockett's Restaurant Valued at $33.00+ Note: This offer can be awarded in conjunction with any of the premium rooms on this page, if selected.

So what makes it complimentary, if they are charging $25. And does this mean there is no wifi in the room if I don't pay extra?

I drove to Texas and back and to Tennesse and back in the last few years and no matter how cheap the motel was, they had wifi. $20/ night one of them. Are they saying for $85, I have to upgrade and pay more to get wifi? Come to think of it, about 7 years ago the Hilton at Gatwick (or maybe the other one) only had wired internet**, but i had a wire. I had stopped carrying a wire, but I'll put one in my bag again after I talk to them.

**In London, I think there was a jack in the room. (No bathtub, though. Only a shower.) If I wanted wifi, I had to go to the lobby or the area between the restaurants, or maybe the restaurants. Because the plane in Philly had a flat tire, I missed my connection in London and they gave me a free room until the next plane left at 6PM. I had to let my friends know I wasn't going to be there when they expected me. IIRC, I ended up using a telephone. But the cheapest motel in the US has wifi, Surely this hotel does.

Looking some more, I see this email shows a lot of things I could get, that I suppose I don't have, but nothing I got by email or elsewhere shows what features the room has. Does it have a bathtub, internet, safe in the room, etc. No word.

[micky]

Parking charges: Self parking - $16.00, Parking Lot. Valet parking - $25.00, Valet Parking In-Room Wireless Internet: $12.95, Complimentary for HHonors Gold & Diamond In-Room Wired Internet: $12.95, Complimentary for HHonors Gold & Diamond Public Wireless Internet: Complimentary Pets allowed

I find this incredible, that the cheapest motel on the highway all had wifi, but the Hilton nickels and dimes people.

Remind me to tell you about the phone call scheme they used to have.

On this page, the branch home page, it mentions the parking charges and the pet policies, but nothing about internet.

[micky]

Another stupid thing that was on the invoice:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Tax: ? 6.00% per room per night ? 7.00% per room per night ? 2.26% per room per night

Clearly, the taxes are neither per room nor per night. If it were, someone staying 3 nights with 2 rooms would have to pay over 90% tax.

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip]

Perhaps, though not necessarily, even dumber is the comment I once saw in the letters to the editor about the "outrageous" practice of McDonald's Corporation who, she alleged, was charging a tax if you take out your food. This woman was complaining that Micky D's (no relation I presume) was charging 7.5% if you ordered food through the drive-up window or at the counter and ordered it "to go"

Her evidence? Right on the receipt, the ONLY mention of tax had the words "Take Out" next to it. Poor placement on the receipt? Perhaps. One would think that in a state where everything is taxed she would realize her mistaken assumption, especially where there was no separate sales tax listed. Did she think purchases at Micky D's were exempt if she ate in? Idiot.

And now you tell us Hilton has screwed up with their taxes?

Every hotel I've ever stayed in quotes taxes in addition to whatever room rate is charged and they break it down - as did Hilton here - to State, County, City and/or whatever special taxing district (Exposition Commission?) is reaching into your wallet.

To keep it simple for you, Micky given the above, if you take two rooms at $100/night and stay three nights you will be billed a total of $691.56 ($600 for the room and $91.56 in taxes). What brand of new math shows that you're paying over 90% tax?

Clearly they are charging tax per room, per night but no, they are not charging over 90%

[Ed Pawlowski]

Some hotels still charge for wifi. The cheaper places started offering it free as a draw and it forced some of the premium places to do so. I was looking at a hotel in Boston not long ago and they charge $10 a day.

When I was in Savannah not only was it free at the hotel, it was widely available out on the street.

[taxed and spent]

From who? You have to be careful out there.

[Ed Pawlowski]

That is true in some states. Tax laws are crazy, convoluted and there are 50 states and many local taxes. Same goes with prepared food in grocery stores. That roll may or may not be taxed.

How about pizza? The most extreme example in Pennsylvania is pizza. If you get a frozen pizza at the supermarket, it isn't taxed. Get a prepared pizza for takeout from a pizzeria, it is taxed as a prepared food. Now the kicker, get a prepared pizza for takeout from an Italian bakery, and it isn't taxed as it's considered a bakery item.

How about California? food is taxed if it is: (a) served heated (except hot baked items or hot beverages like coffee) for a separate price (b) served as a meal, (c) consumed on premises or near the parking lot, or (d) at a venue charging admission. So I guess the theory is that a fast food restaurant is serving you food that is heated and as a meal (hence, a luxury), but a store that serves pre-prepared food for you to take home and eat is more of a convenience. That's why grocery stores often ask if you intend to eat your salad bar there or to go: there, it is taxed; to go it is not.

No, the are charging "each" night. Per room, per night implies something else.

[trader_4]

Micky doesn't get around much. Like you say, it's not unusual to see charges for wifi, particularly at more expensive hotels, those in cities, etc. And I noticed the same thing, the less expensive, motels and the like, started offering free wifi as an incentive, while the bigger, more expensive hotels still were charging. It's less common to see it charged for today, but it's still not unusual either.

The bottom line is that hotels play a variety of games to get revenue. And seeing things like Micky is seeing aren't exactly typical, but then they aren't totally unheard of either.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The city does it.

At a place we stayed in Italy, the entire town was covered by a tower someplace. Not sure who pays, but the villa owner gave me the password for it.

[micky]

And that they put parking and pet policies on the branch home page, but not the internet policies, which make them look cheap IMO.

This happened in the early 70's, I think. but maybe I heard of it then and it was earlier.. Someone stayed at the Chicaog Hilton and when he checked out, he saw they were charging him for 2 phone calls. Now most people probably made at least 2 phone calls, but he and I probably had the same mother, who reminded us that at a pay phone, calls were 10 cents, but at a hotel, they were, I forget, 25 or 50 cents? Or maybe he had no one to call. Whatever the reason, he knew he had not made a single phone call from his room.

Most people would have said something and just had the dollar (worth almost $10 now) taken off his bill, but it dawned on him that the Chicago Hilton had 1000 rooms, and they might be taking in an extra

365,000 dolllars a year with this scheme. Oh, yeah, I think he was a lawyer and he started a class acttion, and was able to show the practice went back years (and they knew what they were doing) and he recovered several million dollars iirc. In class actions where most plaintiffs don't bother asking for their share, the court finds a charity to give the money to, but the lawyers still get their 30%

I'm thinking I may not bring the netbook at all. In NYC 2 weeks ago, I needed it to look at the city map, to find the restaurants my brother wanted me to meet him at, to find the detailed route to Yankee stadium, to find the best route across Brooklyn, to find a liquor store, and since I had a car, I could have needed it for lots of things.

I'm not going to have a car in Dallas and won't need the computer for any of those things.

Complaints about the Hilton. Despite the second complaint, no one I talked to had an accent and my complaints are not about the people on the phone but about the content of the email and the webpage.

" I was charged $417 for twelve phone calls to a number less than 10 miles away from the hotel. . This was from area code (516) to (718). The average price I was billed was $1 a minute"

[micky]

I've been trying to look at as if the room was 102 dollars, 89 plus the

13 for wifi, and I was saving 13 by not getting wifi. (Sort of like the 40 dollar room on the highway would give me 2 dollars off if I didn't want wi-fi).

But the problem is that I think it only costs the motels on the road less than 2 dollars per (rented) room per night for wifi, and I don't believe the cost to the Hilton is anywhere near $13. or even $9 plu $4 profit. Of course this is my imagination I don't know what ISPs charge for commericial accounts, let alone those with 100 or more rooms.