Vacation is all fun and exciting until you have to pay extra at the hotel you are staying at. Nothing is more frustrating than to pay a higher price than your expectations for a hotel. It just ruins the mood and makes you want to go home.
Imagine the amount of time you spend on choosing that perfect hotel and design your vacation budget accordingly. And then you reach there; you are asked to pay the “resort fee.” Can you imagine anything worse than your entire vacation budget planning going in vain just because of the annoying resort fee of a hotel?
What are Resort Fees?
A resort fee is an extra amount the hotel charges its guests for its resort services. These services include swimming pool, tennis courts, beach clubs, and in some hotels, even internet access. It is highly unpopular among travelers because they are expected to pay for facilities even before using, and many guests do not even use the facilities.
Finding the resort fee very annoying? Well, you cannot just cancel the entire vacation for an unreasonable resort fee. Instead, you need to look for ways you can avoid paying the resort fee altogether. Thinking of how you can do that? Here are the most effective tips that will help you stay clear of the super-annoying resort fee at a hotel on your vacation!
Plan Your Vacation after Carrying Out a Thorough Research
The most common mistake travelers make after which they end up paying hefty amounts of the resort fee is planning a stay at the hotel without doing their homework. If you are looking for ways to save during your vacation and avoid the resort fee, you need to carry out thorough research.
Look for hotels that are not charging the resort fee. If you do not find any such information in the hotel’s description, you can go through the hotel’s fine print. The fine-print of every hotel contains all information about the hidden or surprise charges.
Well, there are several other terms the hotels may use to cover up their resort fee. The terms that you need to look for in the fine print includes amenity fee and destination fee. You can even contact the hotel management and ask about their packages. You can confirm whether they charge a resort fee or not.
Negotiation is a Great Help
Really like the services of a hotel and cannot find a better hotel but do not want to pay the resort fee? Negotiation might help you in such situation. Negotiation is much more helpful than you usually think.
Sometimes, the hotels are open to negotiation if you approach them on the right footing. If you are staying for one night, you can justify not paying the resort fee saying that you will not need any of the resort facilities.
Negotiation can help you waive off the resort fee. Make it clear that you will be using any of the services or facilities offering under the resort fee. W-Fi, in many hotels, come under the resort fee. If you really want not to pay the resort fee, you will have to survive without the Wi-Fi.
Reward Points can be of Significant Help
Reward points are a great way to avoid paying the resort fee altogether. If you are redeeming your reward points at any Hyatt or Hilton properties, you will not have to pay any resort fee. If the reward points are allowing you a free stay, then the stay is free, especially at the Hyatt and Hilton properties.
If the points are covering your entire stay, none of the notable hotel chains will ask for an extra fee. Many of these major hotel chains do not ask for the resort fee. When you do your research properly; you will get a chance to catch when a hotel asks you to pay the resort fee.
Even if the points are not covering your entire stay, many hotels will just waive off the hotel fee when using the reward point for the stay.
Loyalty Program Elite Status
The hotels go a long way to cater to the needs of the elites. They go above and beyond to satisfy the guests holding an elite status. Not only do waive off the resort fee but even offer compensation if anything goes wrong during the stay.
If you are a frequent traveler, getting an elite status is not challenging. However, things are not the same for people who do not frequently stay in hotels. In such a case, you can look for a credit card company that offers elite status as a perk for carrying their card.
Choose a Vacation Rental
A smart way to ditch the unreasonable resort fee of the hotel? Give up on the idea of staying in a hotel and opt for a vacation rental. You can get amazing apartments and homes at a much reasonable rate through platforms such as Airbnb and VRB.
These are fully furnished apartments and boast several other benefits. It is an excellent option if you are traveling with a family. It is the smartest way to avoid paying resort fee at the hotels.
Enjoy your vacations to the fullest by incorporating these smart tips to stay clear of the annoying resort fee. You can save a good amount of money and spend it on some cheap shopping and other activities that will add to your overall vacation.