Beware Hotels are nickeling and diming

Here is a small piece of an article on this...

"...2007 was the peak year for the introduction of add-on hotel fees and surcharges. Last year, US hotels raked in record revenue, taking in $1.75 billion, up from $550 million in 2002.

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."

I know end of last year, we were planning a trip and found one hotel I was interested in -- the price seemed reasonable for what it had to offer until I noticed a "resort fee" for each days stay - now you are charged this no matter what - even if you just stay and don't use any facilities. We ended up staying elsewhere. This is the first I saw for the minibar trick though - as we will often use the minibar to simply keep things cool and not take anything.