{"id":13251,"date":"2023-08-20T23:56:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T23:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/news\/what-is-a-destination-fee-and-why-are-more-hotels-charging-them\/"},"modified":"2023-08-20T23:56:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T23:56:09","slug":"what-is-a-destination-fee-and-why-are-more-hotels-charging-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=13251","title":{"rendered":"What is a destination fee, and why are more hotels charging them"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My hotel bill from a three-night trip to New York City included 21 charges.<\/p>\n

Nine were for “destination fees.” \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were three daily fees of nearly $35 each \u2014 notwithstanding that my third night was supposed to be “free”\u2014 plus separate sales and occupancy taxes on each fee.<\/p>\n

And that was just for one of our rooms \u2014 we booked two. All in, the fees were $240.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Junk fees’ in the hotel industry<\/h2>\n
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I’d read about “junk fees” in the hotel industry \u2014 how they’re often couched in such terms as “resort,” \u00a0“destination” or even “hospitality service” fees, that they’re on the rise (especially in North America) and that they even got a mention in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address this year. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I’d also read that hotel staff will waive them, when pressed. I, however, had no such luck at the end of my stay at Thompson Central Park New York, a Hyatt hotel. The front desk staff insisted the fees be paid. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In a written response to CNBC, Munir Salem, the manager of Thompson Central Park said: “Like many hotels in the area, Thompson Central Park\u00a0includes a\u00a0daily destination fee to provide guests with amenities, activities, and other benefits that we believe guests will enjoy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What I got for the fee<\/h2>\n
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The hotel’s website says its “destination fees” provide amenities like: \u00a0<\/p>\n