Plaza to charge RESORT FEE

When I pay $6 for a $56 shirt at Ross, I'm spending $6, not saving $50. And if Ross charged $6 to get in and then gave everyone a $6 shirt, I wouldn't suddenly save $50. And some people would choose to shop elsewhere.

If you were intent on buying a $56 shirt at Macys and I gave you a coupon that let you get it for $7.50, how much did I save you?

Perhaps I'll add my two cents.

We've always liked the Plaza; we're not staying there on our next trip (7/25-8/1), but only because I got a really good deal at the Four Queens (and the Plaza has pretty limited VP now, although there's still some fun stuff over at the LV Club). We normally get comped, and nobody has said yet whether the resort fee is waived on comp rooms (I think it usually is, although I've heard that Stations tries not to).

It's not a lot of money, but for me resort fees are a major annoyance just on principle. One way to look at it is to just factor it into the posted rate and see if it's still a good deal. But the other way to look at it is as a new and annoying trend in marketing, a shameless way to give the appearance of a cheaper room (and probably hoping that a few suckers won't notice). The same thing is happening with Spirit Air, their fares are dirt-cheap, but they charge you for bags (thank you, Southwest, for being the only major holdout in the industry), also for carry-ons, I think also for drinks. Yeah, you can work with that and get a cheap fare, but it annoys me to know that I'm doing business with a company that acts like that. Kind of like flying with Mr. Haney from Green Acres.

One time, we were going to one of the Out Islands in the Bahamas and we needed to stay overnight in Nassau to make the connection. Much less government regulation down there. I found a room at Cable Beach for $59/night but was smart enough to look further. They had the usual tax, also an energy surcharge. No resort fee, but they had a pool fee, with a pool service fee. Also a valet fee and a valet service fee. Also a laundry surcharge and a laundry service fee. All of these were mandatory. Final cost with all mandatory charges: $370. True story. Just a major annoyance to deal with that sort of thing. It's business, not personal, but it bothers me to do business with people whose goal is to scam you.

So I guess my bottom line is that I'd like to avoid such businesses on principle, although on rare occasions the deal will be too good to pass up, even with all the fees. Although last time I flew Spirit because the deal was too good to pass up, I regretted it; everyone on the plane was pissed for various reasons.

jstewa22 has the same position as pretty much everyone. We don't like resort fees, but we can factor them into our planning decisions and stay at hotels that impose them if the overall deal's good enough. You, however, will not stay at a resort fee hotel ever, under any circumstances.

Weird that you still don't understand this discussion, let alone your own expressed position in it.

I'm not even sure the problem is with the hotels. It may just be that the travel websites, Expedia, etc. are willing to include the room rates in their databases without including the resort fee.

If searches on those sites would pull up the total price instead of the base price, the whole problem might go away, because that might eliminate most of the incentive for doing it.

I stand corrected. I agree with everything jstewa22 writes except that I won't stay at any Vegas hotel/casino that charges a resort fee. He may, you may, others may. It is your money, your choice. I won't. Everything else he wrote alludes to the issues I have with resort fees. I have many choices as to where I stay in Vegas and any casino/ hotel that charges a mandatory resort fee will not be considered by me for lodging. As jstewa22 writes, "resort fees are a major annoyance just on principle". He also states" it is a new and annoying trend in marketing, a shameless way to give the appearance of a cheaper room (and probably hoping that a few suckers will not notice)." He also states "my bottom line is that I like to avoid such businesses on principle" Those are the major points about what he has written that I agree with 100%. As to your comment that "jstewa22 has the same position as pretty much everyone" goes- I have had several LVA members message me agreeing with my sentiments. As I have stated before, I will not tell anyone how to spend their money. If you feel that mandatory resort fees are of value to you, then by all means ,pay them.

Sigh. After all this dialogue?

That is no one's position.

But, I'll call you an idiot if you don't agree with me.

Just curious, Doc,... do you also not rent cars or use a cell phone because of all those mandatory fees that are added on to the base rate?

agnes- I have a pre paid cell phone, therefore I don't pay all of the "mandatory additional fees and taxes" that are found with the majority of cell phone providers. I just pay one small tax per month. Since all rental car agencies are under the same tax umbrella (in Vegas), I do rent cars knowing that if I want to use a rental car I have no other option but pay the taxes and fees associated with a car rental. I do reserve a rental car well in advance of when I will need one and I seem to always get a great rate. Resort fees are another story. Not all casino/hotels charge these fees. I have a choice of all of the other casino/hotels to stay in when I visit Vegas. Also, the "mandatory fees" you speak of are taxes. Resort fees are not a government mandated tax. Resort fees are a bottom line enhancer for casino/hotel properties. I consider them a rip off. I hope I have answered your question to your satisfaction.