Wait a Minute…A Hostel Which Charges a Resort Fee?!?
“Even hostels are charging it. Freehand Hostel in Miami charges $25/day resort fee” is the comment which Waylo — who is a reader of The Gate — posted in response to this article pertaining to a resort fee which was tacked on to a room whose rate was $36.00 per night…
I had to investigate this claim for myself. As Waylo did not provide a link to the property in question, I search for it via the Internet and found Freehand Miami, which actually appears to be a hybrid of hotel property and hostel.
The first “perk” which is extolled at the very top of its Internet web site home is the claim of “Discounted Rates (you can’t find anywhere else”, as shown in…
$60 Visitor Fee Because She Might Be a Prostitute?
Depending on where you are staying, being charged an extra fee for inviting a visitor to your hotel room may be standard practice — despite how often you may have stayed at the hotel or resort property and regardless of whether or not you have earned elite level status in a frequent travel loyalty program.
The front desk clerk at…
Brazil to Allow Entry With No Visa to Citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan
“Brazil has taken a step in the right direction, in my opinion, as I have long asserted that if a country wants to increase tourism, it needs to relax its reciprocity fees or visa requirements. Two examples of countries which did just that are Chile and Argentina.”
What you just read was an opinion which I wrote in this article on Monday, January 29, 2018 — and my suggestion is coming true: effective as of Monday, June 17, 2019, the government of Brazil will permit citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan to…
Is This Flat Sales Tax Really a Mandatory Resort Fee in Disguise?
As I was compiling this database of hotel and resort properties which charge a mandatory resort fee, I could not help but look back on this article pertaining to a Rodeway Inn which charged a resort fee in addition to a room rate of $36.00 which I wrote on Sunday, August 15, 2010.
The resort fee for this hotel property was purportedly as high as $5.50 and as low as $3.39 back then, which was rather confusing…
…but as I looked at whether or not this particular Rodeway Inn still charges a resort fee — which is ludicrous as it already was — this is what appeared…
Resort Fees: The Database of Lodging Options Which Charge Them
You should not be surprised with a mandatory resort fee lurking during the booking process when finding a room rate for a hotel or resort property; so I have decided to improve on compiling a comprehensive list of hotel and resort properties which charge mandatory resort fees because I have been adamant about what I believe is a legal but potentially deceptive practice.
Because this is a potentially massive project, I intend to revise and update this list on an ongoing basis — but I need your assistance. Please help…
Are Cruise Lines The Next Frontier for Lucrative Ancillary Fees?
Ordering room service aboard a cruise ship used to be included with the cost of a cruise — but now some cruise lines have been charging as much as $7.95 for room service; and other cruise lines are considering implementing a charge.
Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean both already charge $7.95 for room service — other than for orders for continental breakfast — as of 2015 and March 2017 respectively.
According to an announcement from Carnival Cruise Line — which…
Collection of Jet Fuel Sales Tax Suspended After All by Governor of Georgia
When Nathan Deal — who is the current governor of the state of Georgia — signed a $5 billion tax relief bill on Friday, March 2, 2018, it included the removal of the portion of the bill which would have eliminated the four percent sales and use taxes levied on jet fuel for all airlines which purchase fuel in the state of Georgia…
…but Deal announced that he signed an executive order citing that effective as of Wednesday, August 1, 2018, the sales and use taxes levied on jet fuel for all airlines which purchase fuel in the state of Georgia will be suspended indefinitely anyway — or at least until…
Leaving Japan to Become More Expensive in 2019
Saying sayonara to Japan will become more expensive.
If you leave Japan via airplane or ship — whether or not you are a citizen — you will be required to pay a departure tax of ¥1,000 effective as of Monday, January 7, 2019 as a result of a bill which is designed to increase investment in tourism infrastructure and promote travel destinations in rural Japan, as well as fund campaigns for global tourism.
“The nation attracted a record…
Airport Tax to NOT Almost Double After All
Members of the House of Representatives of the United States rejected the proposed doubling of the Passenger Facility Charge, which is a tax charged by airports that currently costs passengers up to $4.50 per flight segment to help finance infrastructure projects — including…
Mandatory Fees to Park at Disney World Resorts as of March 21, 2018
If you want to stay as a registered guest at a resort property at Walt Disney World in Florida without having to pay as much as $24.00 in parking fees per night, you need to book your reservations prior to Wednesday, March 21, 2018, which is the day when the fees for standard overnight self-parking will be in effect to guests with every reservation booked on that day and thereafter.
According to this announcement at…
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