A class-action lawsuit has been brought forth regarding additional nightly room fees.
The Atlantis Mega Resort (located in Bahamas) is heading to a Florida court, facing a lawsuit that questions the legality of charging add on fees. The case, which has been brought forth by Jennifer Costa on June 30th, 2011 , claims that the resort has purposely mislead guests regarding a $6 – 13 per day, per person room fee titled the ‘mandatory housekeeping gratuity and utility service fee’. The language used in the lawsuit claims that Atlantis is engaging in “unfair and deceptive practices”
From a recent USA Today article:
… Costa claims the “mandatory fee” is deceptive because Kerzner International doesn’t give all of it to either housekeeping staff or to cover utility fees. The suit says:
“By labeling the gratuity and utility charge something that it is not, Kerzner is deceiving consumers into paying more for their hotel room than they bargained.”
While not technically a resort fee, this lawsuit could be the beginning of a larger consumer backlash against unexpected (and some would say unwarranted) add on hotel fees. How will the courts handle this case? The scheduled court battle begins in December 2011.
My pet peeve is the same, only in Las Vegas, all you get for your resort fee is the newspaper which we don’t read anyway. We now try to find hotels that do not charge a resort fee. We donate lots of money gambling anyway and they are driving us elsewhere.