# 4 Star Hotels are out to fuck you! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726 "2003-04-28T17:41:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/21 "2003-04-28T23:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > \*\*Apart from the business connection, I figured the fancy hotels had the philosophy that if someone was dumb enough to pay $200 or more per night for a room, they were chickens ripe for the plucking on any sort of charge whatsoever. > > I’ve always avoided these places except on a rare occasion when there was a meeting I needed to attend in one, there were no cheaper alternatives within walking distance, _and_ I could pay out of job-related benefits. \*\* You have my pity. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/22 "2003-04-29T00:26:07Z")
> [@](#): > > No one questions the airlines charging $750.00 for a ticket on the departure date that they could have gotten two weeks earlier for $150.00. Personally I think the airlines screw themselves with this policy. Yes, there are business travelers that will pay any rate, but there are undoubtedly a great number of personal travelers and prudent business travelers who simply won’t fly within 3 weeks of the departure date. And corporations are tightening their belts more and more. I work for a Fortune 100 company and we have a 21-day booking policy or you’ll have to answer to the grumpy old lady who monitors our t&e budget. I think airlines should _encourage_ people to fly at the last minute by tiering DOWN the costs down (a “clearance” rate if you will). The business travelers would not want to risk being squeezed out by the last minute bargain hunters so they’d still book 2 weeks in advance and the planes would probably end up flying more passengers. As far as the 4 star hotels, yeah their pricing stinks. What I can’t stand is that the local government sees my presence in their fair city as a license to steal. The “rate” is $85, which sounds reasonable until you add in the pillow tax and the bed tax and the parking fee, and then the freaking oxygen recovery tax because you’re breathing in their precious air. By the time all’s said and done, what seems like a reasonable rate isn’t so reasonable any more. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/23 "2003-04-29T00:36:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\* Most businesses, presumably including hotels, pay for local calls on a variable basis – they don’t get the “all you can call” plans that we individuals do. \*\* You may very well know something I do not, but for the business I run and others I know, qw do pay a flat rate per month for local calls similar to residences, albeit a higher rate. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/24 "2003-04-29T01:42:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*There was a valet charge of $7 (which was not in argument) but the hotel charged him $13 **EACH TIME** as a “parking fee”. \*\* The rate of $13 is about what it costs for parking for the day in Calgary at a parking lot. If you leave within a couple of hours you may be able to get a couple of bucks back. There are no in and out privilages. You pay every time you park. The hotel probably doesn’t own the lot and has to pay those charges and passes them back onto you. Which is the main reason I don’t park downtown. I just take the train in when I go there. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/25 "2003-04-29T02:39:36Z")
> [@](#): > > there are undoubtedly a great number of personal travelers and prudent business travelers who simply won’t fly within 3 weeks of the departure date. I don’t know about you, but I _insist_ on flying within three weeks of the departure date. I _hate_ waiting in the airline terminal for a month. (Though that Iranian guy in Charles de Gaulle was good company.) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/26 "2003-04-29T03:35:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*As for the “why phones and not electricity” argument, it’s probably only because individual electric meters for each room are too expensive, whereas local call detail comes with the switch. 😉 \*\* Out in California last year during the (Enron-influenced) “energy crisis,” many hotels were charging an additional fee of about $1.50-$2 a day to cover “the higher cost of electricity.” I found that charge on my bill on a trip to San Diego. I think what **bernse** ’s more burnt up about is the nickel-and-dime nature of the whole thing. I mean, in the case I cited, it seemed _extremely_ ticky-tack to put a separate charge of $2 for electricity charges on the bill. I didn’t pay that much in per diem electricity for my whole apartment, replete with fridge, fan and other power-hungry appliances. On the bill, that $2 charge just looked…desperate, I guess. I almost would have preferred that they’d just added $2 to the room rates. ---
**Author:** ![Aceospades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Aceospades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aceospades)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/27 "2003-04-29T03:37:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > \*\*You need to wash down that grievance with a nice $2.50 Coke. 😃 > > \*\* That’s nothin. We charge 2.75 for a coke and it’s a 10-oz bottle. But then in my bar we have complementary orderves (sp) that are top quality and items from the bar menu are prepared by top chiefs from the CIA and Johnson & Whales. I think that there are people who want top quality, and are willing to shell out for it. (Weather its there money or not). An example: You go into a bar across town (I won’t name names) and you get a drink (at least that’s what they call it) made by an untrained, uncivilized, unprofessional using liquor that comes out of plastic bottles. You come into my bar, and you get a drink made like it should (or even better) and a bartender that knows how to be a bartender. You will truly be my guest in my bar. Of course you’re also paying $10 for a premium martini $5.25 for a beer. But you ask anyone who knows and they’ll tell you that $95 for 1 1/2-oz shot of Louis XIII is a good deal. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/28 "2003-04-29T04:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TaxGuy \* > **Although I generally think that one who uses something should be the person that pays for it, I’ve always thought that those who drink would have a much better time if drinks were free for everyone and everyone’s ticket prices were a little higher.** I ain’t paying for other people to get drunk on my dollar. No sir. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/29 "2003-04-29T05:01:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\* we’ll stay at a 2-3 star hotel. Nothing fancy, usually about $50-80 per/night place. \*\* $50-$80? For a 3 star _hotel_? The Super 8 _motel_ charges $65 for their crappy rooms. Where are you getting a hotel for that? I need to talk to you the next time I travel. But, yeah. I’ve stayed in about a gazillion hotels, both for business and pleasure, and a lot of them gouge you like that. One that really pissed me off lately was the Hilton. They advertised having an “indoor water park”. Now, if you’ve been to some of the [Indoor Waterparks](http://www.kalahariresort.com/waterparks/) I’ve been to, you know what a blast they are. So over Valentines Day weekend my wife and I rented a room. Only to find out that their stupid indoor waterpark would bore an 8 year old!:mad: This on top of the $4.00 Diet Pepsi and $12 hamburger! Grrrrr! I wouldn’t be so mad if one of my clients were paying for it!😉 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/30 "2003-04-29T05:11:06Z")
**bernse** - you _HAVE_ to tell me where you were staying - the Palisar? The Marriott? Dish man, dish - I’m dying here! 🙂 P.S. - Sorry I missed you for lunch - I was sick as a dog. It was gross - trust me - you wouldn’t have appreciated the germs. Next time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/31 "2003-04-29T11:26:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know about you, but I insist on flying within three weeks of the departure date. > > I hate waiting in the airline terminal for a month. Well, yes, but real bargain hunters know that after a week they’ll offer _any_ rate just to get you to leave. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/32 "2003-04-29T12:07:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stypticus \* > **Not if by “someone else’s expense” you mean “your expense”. You pad your expense account for a dime, the company makes a dime’s less profits. You and all the other ETs do that often enough and you’ve just eaten my Christmas bonus. Seems to me that excluding yourself from the company, telling yourself that the company’s expenditures don’t equate to your paycheck, is pretty shortsighted.** Erm, as I’m one of the owners of the company, I fear you’re confused. That key phrase again “As I tend to travel for client business, and recharge my travel expenses”. For some reason I find it very difficult to feel that concerned about charging an overpriced laundry charge to a hideously rich oil company. As they keep hiring us, they don’t seem that concerned either. But I am sorry that my participating in this cycle means other people paying their own way get stiffed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/33 "2003-04-29T13:44:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > \*\*Ah, yes, the fine art of the expense report. I’ve had execs drink eighty bucks worth of alcohol and then ask me if I can give them an equivalent receipt in _food._ That way “Bill in accounting” will reimburse them for their buzz. > > I don’t really care, as long as they’re decent tippers; it isn’t my job to police their corporate expenditure. \*\* That’s true, although some might argue that it’s also not your place to knowingly help them commit fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/34 "2003-04-29T14:02:14Z")
_"…items from the bar menu are prepared by **top chiefs from the CIA** and Johnson & Whales._" I’m really hoping this is a reference to something like the Culinary Institute of America. Otherwise I’d feel better if accompanied by a drink taster. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*You have my pity. \*\* Not if it’s going to cost me $5. 😃 We’ll leave the light on fer ye. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/35 "2003-04-29T14:18:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\ ***bernse** - you _HAVE_ to tell me where you were staying - the Palisar? The Marriott? > > Dish man, dish - I’m dying here! > > P.S. - Sorry I missed you for lunch - I was sick as a dog. It was gross - trust me - you wouldn’t have appreciated the germs. > \*\* Right the first time! “Nice” place, although there were water stains on the wall and ceiling and paint was peeling in the washrooms (we stayed in 2 rooms, both washrooms were in similar conidition). The rooms themselves were nice and clean albeit on the small side. I just thought since it was a 100 year old hotel that it was somewhat to be expected. Actually, since we were stuck over Saturday (we _were_ to fly back Sat PM except the weather disagreed) I bought take out for both of us at that Thai place on Stevenson across from The Bay. Very, very good stuff. I was pretty impressed. > [@](#): > > $50-$80? For a 3 star hotel? The Super 8 motel charges $65 for their crappy rooms. Where are you getting a hotel for that? I need to talk to you the next time I travel. You’re probably right as the more I think of it they’re almost certainly closer to 2 star than 3. But! You can still talk to me before you travel if you like. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/36 "2003-04-29T14:22:35Z")
In my case, for 6 years (1993-99) my “business travel” expenses were on the Commonwealth’s dime. Were I to pad that account with anything more than lodging (at government rate) and food, I’d be _prosecuted_. These days I write off expenses as a “consultant” – but it’s my own money up front and I’d hate to have something disallowed at an audit. I guess I’m just uptight about socking it to someone else just because it was socked to me. So it’s a mid-level chain for me, as long as it’s within easy transportation to the meeting site. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/37 "2003-04-29T14:27:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\*I ain’t paying for other people to get drunk on my dollar. No sir. \*\* So I guess you don’t do any of the following: (1) Go to an all-inclusive resort where the drinks are included (the price of others’ drinks is included in your ticket price); (2) Work for a company that hosts employee events that serve free alcohol to employees and guests (you pay for others’ drinks through lower wages or salary); or (3) Fly on airlines that offer free drinks to passengers (although this is relatively rare these days) (higher ticket prices again). And these are just the most obvious examples. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/38 "2003-04-29T15:53:31Z")
I’m confused. I have stayed in hotels from LA to Alaska to Washington DC to Vegas to various towns in Europe. Some were two and three star others were four. I have NEVER seen a hotel that doesn’t charge for phone calls. Is there really such an animal? ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/39 "2003-04-29T16:04:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I have NEVER seen a hotel that doesn’t charge for phone calls. Well, I probably stay in a hotel, oh, 8 or 10 times per year. Usually “Holiday Inn” category/class hotels. The odd time (such as last weekend) I’ll stay in an _upscale, fashionable_ hotel or resort. Virtually, _almost_ without exception, in every mid-range hotel the local and 800 calls are free in addition to other “complimentory” services. While the upscale, costlier ones seem to nickle and dime you every chance they get. I live in Western Canada and most of my travel is in the Country, but sometimes extends to the US. Maybe it is a more of a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726/40 "2003-04-29T16:24:33Z")
When I travel on business, I am generally put up at good hotels --the Marriot, Sheraton, etc., and am generally happy with my stay. The rooms are usually booked in a block by the conference organizers, and are thus available at a considerable discount. The facilites, etc., are usually well-kept and the service is good. However, one time one of our directors canceled and I got his room at the Four Seasons (in Philadelphia). The room and facilities were good, although not really any fancier than at my more usual hotels. But, the level of personal service is a whole different experience! - Whenever you interacted with almost any member of the staff, they greeted you _by name_. - I scraped my leg on a protruding nail in the sauna. They had a repairman in to fix it in under five minutes. - The local newpaper’s weekly TV listings booklet was put in each room – in a leather cover. Each day, the elastic that held the booklet in place was moved to the current day’s listings. - I went out in-line skating one afternoon, and upon returning to the hotel (skating right up to the front entrance), the doorman looked me over, opened a small cupboard, and tossed me a towel and a bottle of Evian. Maybe one day I’ll be a director and be able to stay in four-star hotels regularly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-star-hotels-are-out-to-fuck-you/171726.md?page=3)