Federal Trade Commission gives hotels Resort Fees warning

Posted by Ric Garrido

Making the travel industry news this week is a warning letter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to 22 hotel operators

that their online reservation sites may violate the law by providing a deceptively low estimate of what consumers can expect to pay for their hotel rooms.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/11/hotelresort.shtm

Resort fees are an additional service charge covering a variety of property specific amenities and benefits for items like pool access, pool towels, wired in-room internet and property wifi, parking, bottled water, newspaper, fitness room access and more. Read More…

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Tags: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, hotel warning, InterContinental Alliance Resorts, Priority Club Rewards, resort fees, St. Regis Bahia Beach, The Palazzo, The Venetian

29

Nov

Starwood Resorts CyberMonday Sale for Jan-April 2011

Posted by Ric Garrido

Are you in the vacation market for a $700 per night suite at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico with a $60 daily resort fee additional? The AAA rate is $1,040 for the same dates, so this sale is like a 3-for-2 nights deal.

W Retreat & Spa Vieques Island, Puerto Rico for $269 per night + $65.40 daily resort fee (9% tax on top of the resort fee) instead of the $399 AAA rate (although AAA rate includes a $100 resort credit per stay).

Starwood Resorts Cyber-Monday Sale

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Cyber-Monday sale is available for online bookings at discount rates for just 27 resorts in the U.S., Canada and Caribbean until 11:59pmEST Monday, November 29 for hotel stays from January 1, 2011 through April 30, 2011. You can also call 866-716-8147 and ask for rate DOORLTO.

The St. Regis Aspen during ski season at $400 per night Deluxe room is available on a few select dates for a minimum 3-night stay (15 nights in all are currently showing during early January and late March) when the AAA rate for this room category is $688. This sale may be a real bargain for you. Although, you can just buy 20,000 points for $580 and redeem for one free night and save over $200 on the AAA rate currently showing. After the 10% tax the Cyber-Monday sale rate is $140 less than buying points for a free night, but of course you get stay credit and points with a CyberMonday paid rate.

If your tastes run more to the Walt Disney Dolphin or Westin Bayshore Vancouver, then I’d suggest holding out and taking your chances for Cash & Points nights or another discount sale that does not require a far in advance prepaid, nonrefundable rate. The savings did not seem overly impressive at these locations. I stayed at the Walt Disney Dolphin (Loyalty Traveler hotel review) during March 2010 on Cash & Points over a weekend for $60 and 4,000 points per night.

I spent about an hour looking at hotel rates in a variety of places and while there are some lower rates for Starwood hotels than what show up on AAA or other promotions, the overall discounts are rather underwhelming for most properties I checked. The best deals are for the highest priced resorts like St. Regis and W Hotels.

Have you found a great cyber-Monday hotel deal from Starwood or anyone else?

Please share your find.

Bahamas

Nassau

Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort

Canada

British Columbia

Vancouver

The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver

Victoria

The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa, Victoria

Ontario