The nickel-and-diming can be small (such as $5 for the hotel to accept a package for you) to rather large (think: mandatory valet parking for $50 a night, a notorious fee charged in San Francisco). Other charges include resort, business center, and groundskeeping fees, charges for having a safe in your room even if you don't use it, and charges from minibars with sensors that bill you if you just move something and then add a "restocking fee" for the hotel employee who must replace your $5 bag of M&Ms.
Not all hotels charge such fees, and Boston hotels are not considered excessively bad in this add-on game, according to analysts. (Las Vegas is notorious, say hotel analysts.)
Still, Lucy Slosser, the director of public relations for Boston area Marriott and Renais sance Hotels who said those hotels don't charge any hidden or mandatory add-on fees, was surprised to learn recently that the USA Today left outside guests' rooms is actually billed to the customers, though it's included in the room rate. Slosser said you can decline it and have the fee credited to your account later.
At a time when many are pinching pennies, customers are noticing the new charges. Last week, TripAdvisor, a Newton-based online travel community, posted a poll in which 34 percent of more than 5,000 respondents reported uncovering more hidden fees in the past year. And they're complaining: TripAdvisor features more than 850 user-generated reviews that call out specific hotels for their hidden fees.
"People are more and more conscious of every nickel and dime they spend, and they're finding these fees surprising because they're taking a closer look," said TripAdvisor spokesman Brooke Ferencsik, who attributes it to travelers becoming more vigilant in the tight economy.
