Another thing is that many of the hotels rent out their ballrooms/conference rooms. Not everybody that attends those meetings/conferences, stay at the hotel but they do park there when attending. So they have to pay the parking fee. (But this also is something that bugs me because at places I have stayed at these conferences take the parking spaces & it is difficult to find spots for those actually staying at the hotel.

jlm_mi

You're not reading my posts carefully. I stated I fully understand the need for parking costs. You add you don't want to pay for my parking a car. Now if you take an hour hot shower every morning and I don't bathe, should I have to pay for your portion of the water bill? That argument is silly when taken to its logical end. I have been researching hotels via tripadvisor recently and tons of reviewers of many hotels (that is where my "data" comes from) kept mentioning their aggrevation at the separate phantom "parking fee." Many comment they won't go back to that hotel because of it. No, I have not conducted a scientific study on the matter, but one should not underestimate anecdotal evidence nor should one assume that corporate "marketing experts" don't make foolish decisions.

I would never pay for parking at a hotel, unless it was the only hotel available, and I had to be there. I don't pay for checking, sent back an unasked-for ATM card when I asked if they charged for it (yes, buried in fine print), and will never ever call from a hotel room phone unless it's to the desk--I'm sick of being nickled and dimed to death, from little surcharges you have to have a magnifying glass to read, to BS 9/11 security crap for an airline ticket, to tipping surly incompetant waitstaff (why should they get extra if my dinner and wine costs more than the spouse's beer and sandwich at the same meal?). Now I'm being guilted into reusing my towels and linens at hotels to save energy and water--fine, but I'm saving the hotel energy and water, maybe they should give a little back in the bill?!
thank you very much.

knute...how many of those showers result in (justifiable!) liability claims? LOL It's an expensive operation, no matter how it is run, even in the best of operations!
Talking water for showers (or electricity for those who want it colder, or those who watch more TV) is hardly apples to apples.

Another reason to leave your car outside the city and park n ride or "lot it" legally, if you are on a drive vacation.

I'm with sylvia 3, I don't use hotels that will charge me a parking fee on drive vacations.

They do it because they can. In Chicago, if you come back- have something missing or broken- you aren't going to get any satisfaction or reimbursement anyway. That's a fact. You are up against proving it, and you won't.

Okay I gotta throw my two cents in here. Someone (sarcastically, I presume) mentioned liability for water and showers. I have never heard of someone needing to sue a hotel over parking their car or an accident in the parking lot, but I have heard of numerous slips in the shower and burns because the water was too hot.

I don't think liability even comes into play when we talking about hotels charging extra for parking. It's clearly someone's idea of getting the price they want by hoping most people won't read the fine print or notice the extra $20 a day tacked on to the end of the bill.

knute, all hotels I've paid for parking in do add the charge to the bill.

Beachboi, thank you!

Hotels charge extra for parking for (1) marketing reasons - the room rates are lower, (2) as a profit center or to recoup their costs - in some cities outside companies do the parking, (3) it doesn't make much sense, or could actually create worse problems if they tried to charge customers who don't require parking. It also doesn't reduce the chance of people returning since generally all the same quality hotels in a given area or city charge for parking. While it is certainly become a lot more expensive, it is at least a charge I understand and only have to pay for when I avail myself of the service.

The fee I can't understand is the resort fee. If everyone staying at the resort has to pay it, why isn't it in the hotel rate. Its always seemed to me that it is almost false advertising to quote a hotel rate that doesn't include a mandatory fee being paid to the hotel.

I think some hotels charge guests for parking because during the day their parking facility is available to the public at an hourly rate. And if you have a preferred guest status with the chain, parking may be waived.

Knute - your comparison is really just silly. Almost every one (I hope) takes a shower - and uses towels - and sleeps in the bed - rather than on the flor or in the chair. In big city hotels - at which parkig charges are most common and highest - probably not mmore than 10 or 15% of guests bring cars.

So what you really want - is just for other people to pay for your special services. What that;'s equivalent to is asking everyone in the hotel to pay a room service fee - if they order anything or not - because 10 or 15% of people do.

Coming from a hotel background, we never used parking for marketing reasons (??) and never as a profit center. If someone was charging us $10 a day for a space, we just tried to recoup that fee and not LOSE money on the endeavor. Never heard of hotels making money off this.

Even where NYC Midtown hotels have $40 rates, they are probably not making money off this. Margins are too low.

Boy, I tell you... shortly after 9/11 the occupancy levels plummeted in Dallas. It did not take long for the Anatole, a large convention hotel, to slap up make shift toll booths on their extensive lots. It was ALL about revenue... or maybe simple survival.

nytraveller:

I never use the bellman. Souldn't my rate be reduced $5? I never use the hotel soap or shampoo. That should knock off $2. I never watch t.v. either. How about 75 cents? I never get ice, so no need for the machine or bucket for me. That's another $1. I promise that my family of 4 won't eat the continental breakfast. Hmmm, that's a big one. Knock off $25 for the 3 days. In fact, I only come back to the hotel to sleep, so wear and tear on carpets is nil. Another $1. You see how silly it gets when one attempts to separate costs like this. To summarize my view: Everyone pays for the parking lot just like everybody pays for the shampoo, whether we use it or not. IMO hotels would be better off marketing-wise by building the parking fee into the bill and then boasting FREE PARKING!

I own a business so the idea of trying to make a profit is not foreign to me but I have to tell you, I talked to my girlfriend after she and her husband stayed a week at the Grand Wialea on Maui and they were charged, on top of the room, 8.50 opon arrival for baggage handling, a 3.50 per day room cleaning fee, and the daily resort fee. I do believe that the self park was still free but not sure. I'm sorry, but I think that some of this stuff is just getting totally out of hand. Then I read about renting chairs by the pool, paying for towels and on and on. I'm personally rethinking about staying in hotels when I can get an apartment or a condo. Some of this stuff is just outrageous.

crefloors: We just returned from Maui/Oahu. Stayed at 2 condo's (free parking) and a resort, HHV ($18.00 parking).

While HHV was wonderful, so were the condo's! I will strongly consider condo's in the future! Belle.

knute -

I'm afraid you're still missing the point. Most people aren;t bringing cars so saying "free parking" is useless. 90% of the guests aren;t interested - because they don;t have cars with them.

It's would be like offering "free" hula dancing lessons and upping the price $10. Nobody wants them - so who would pay extra for a hotel that has them "free".

And given a choice of a hotel with free parking and one $30/$40 less with pay parking I would take the latter every time - as would about 90% of other people. We don;t bring cars to the hotel. We don;t care about the parking charge.

The other things you mention are all standard items that every guest could use - they may choose not to - but they could use them - and most guests do you at lest some of them. If you don;t have a car - you have no use for the parking space.

Why can;t you understand that?

I agree with Travelermebe and Crefloors. I understand the separate charge for parking - it only applies to those who use it, but I don't understand separately charging for things like resort fees that are charged to everyone and should simply be part of the room rate. Its really a way resorts hide the real cost of staying at a place. They should have to include all mandatory fees in their room rates.

I just want to hear more about "crefloors" married girlfriend. Love Triangle, anyone?

Tara - girlfriend is used a lot when referring to a woman friend. I say it all the time. Not a love triangle!! I assume you were being funny when you posted your comment.

NYTraveler, you make a very good point. IF, and only IF, you're travelling to a city where most visitors don't have or rent cars. But when we're talking podunk USA where everyone has a car and they charge $20 a night, it's ridiculous.

Even Vegas, where the majority of people do not have a car, does not charge for parking. They don't need to. They recoup their money in numerous other ways. That's all we're saying. Quit charging us for something that they use to give us for free. If you need to raise the price, raise the price. Don't be sneaky about it.