Resort Fees: Make Sure You Use What You Pay For

Ah resort fees, the charges you see on you hotel invoice that seem nebulous at best. Depending on where you stay, resort fees could be anything: pool towel service, bottled water, turn down service, daily newspaper - virtually anything.

Three star or higher hotels are more likely to have resort fees than road side motels. Hotels are required to disclose what your resort fee covers. When booking your hotel stay over the phone, ask your representative if there is a resort fee and what it covers.

Last year, I stayed at an Embassy Suites in Puerto Rico that had horrible service. It had a $10 a day resort fee that covered the "free bottled water" at the pool that was advertised as an amenity. The caveat was that water was not all you could drink and you were allotted two bottles a day from the hours of 9 am to 3pm. This really was not the most convenient perk since I was out siteseeing during that time.

Some hotels may remove the resort fee if you say you didn't take advantage of the perks it covers. But don't count on them removing it.

The best thing to do is to find out what you are paying for and make sure you use whatever it is.

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