Hotel Guest Charged ‘Mandatory Valet Parking Fee’ Every Day Of A 3-Night Stay Despite Not Having A Car
"My imaginary car got charged for valet parking!"
Fotos593 | Shutterstock When a man checked out of a hotel, he was shocked to see that he had been charged a parking fee despite not having a car.
Assuming this had to be a mistake, he called the front desk. To his surprise, he was told that this charge wasn't an error but a mandatory fee for all guests, regardless of whether or not they parked at the resort.
The hotel guest was charged a $75 ‘mandatory valet parking fee’ despite not having a car.
When convention organizer Robert Kraus checked into a recently opened Hyatt Place in Northern Florida for an "educational conference aimed at meeting planners," everything appeared as it should. He was handed his room key and information about the Wi-Fi and complimentary breakfast.
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While checking in, Kraus was also asked if he was parking at the hotel. “I said no, as I took an expensive van service from the airport to the property,” he explained on LinkedIn.
The man attended his conference as planned and checked out of the hotel three days later.
"[When] checking out — like many people — I simply dropped off the key while rushing to get my van back to the airport an hour away," he recalled. "Once at the gate, I checked my emails, which included [the] final invoice from the hotel."
That’s when he noticed that he had been charged $25 a day for valet parking despite not even having a car with him.
“Imagine my eyes literally popping out of my head!” he wrote. "Mind you, this added about 18% to the cost of my hotel room so it was not a small thing."
The man contacted the hotel's front desk in an attempt to resolve this issue.
After being put on hold for what seemed like an eternity, Kraus was told that during check-in, he was given a piece of paper outlining the hotel’s rules and regulations, at the bottom of which the charge was noted.
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"I admit, I did not read the entire list — which was a page long [by the way]," Kraus wrote of the aforementioned paper. "The front desk did not encourage me to read this either."
The paper explained that every guest would be charged a “mandatory valet parking fee” of $25 per day whether or not they parked on the property.
Upon learning this information, Kraus asked to speak to a manager, who — after putting him on hold several times — assured Kraus that they would make an "exemption" and credit him the $75. As of his LinkedIn post on September 18, he was still waiting for reimbursement.
This is not the first time these so-called “junk fees” have been sprung on Kraus by hotels. While staying at a hotel with his staff, he was charged $20 per night for a “daily destination fee” — for each of the 50 rooms he had booked.
Junk fees are hidden or unnecessary charges added by companies to the costs of goods or services, often without providing a valid explanation.
Junk fees can appear on your hotel bills for amenities like gyms, pools, or WiFi, even if the guest did not use them at all.
These fees make it difficult for customers to budget and comprehend the full cost since they are often not disclosed upfront.
In 2023, a nonprofit consumer protection organization called “Travelers United” filed a lawsuit against the Hyatt corporation, alleging that the chain had been cheating millions of dollars out of customers by falsely advertising hotel room rates.
"Rather than disclosing the full cost of its hotel rooms upfront, Hyatt instead adds on last-minute 'destination fees,' 'resort fees,' and other similar charges that are really part of the daily room rate," the filing document stated.
According to Travelers’ United’s chief legal officer, Lauren Wolfe, junk fees account for more than $2 billion per year in the hotel business.
"Junk fees are not just greedy and deceptive. They are illegal," Wolfe told The Street. "This lawsuit will show that hotels violate the law when they charge resort fees without including them in the advertised price.”
In October 2023, the Biden Administration cracked down on junk fees to protect American consumers.
No one should have to pay a fee for services they did not utilize. If you happen to notice any additional and unnecessary charges on your bill, don’t be afraid to challenge them!
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.