While the hotel industry makes billions every year from resort fees, we’re asking guests:
What do you get for yours?
Take Action
Have you been charged an unfair resort fee at Seattle hotels operated by Marriott, Hilton, or Hyatt? You can join hotel workers who are fighting the Resort Fee Ripoff and file a complaint with the Seattle consumer protection unit.
Hotels in Seattle aren’t just raising room rates and cutting staff at their hotels.
They’re also loading your bill with resort fees that inflate the price of your stay by an average of $38 a night, based on one industrywide survey.
Hotel companies say resort fees are a good deal. But as hotel workers, we’ve heard from our guests directly.
They’re sick of paying resort fees for basic hotel services like WiFi, water, and gym access. And they don’t like being forced to pay for hotel amenities they aren’t going to use.
That’s why we’re fighting the Resort Fee Ripoff in Seattle.
What’s Included In Your Resort Fee?
Hotels are charging resort fees for services you might not even want—or basics you didn’t think you’d pay extra for. Here are just a few examples of what’s included in resort fees at Seattle hotels.
Hilton
- Hot apple cider (Motif)
- Fruit (Motif)
- Access to digital news sites (Motif)
- Internet access (The Charter Hotel)
- Sauna access (The Charter Hotel)
Marriott
- Internet access (Westin)
- $10 Uber credit (Westin)
- Yoga class (Sheraton Grand)
- Tickets to Ferris wheel (W Hotel)
- Tickets to flight simulator (Marriott Waterfront)
Hyatt
- Bottled water (Grand Hyatt)
- Postcard postage (Grand Hyatt)
- 10% discount on yoga class (Grand Hyatt)
- In-room coffee & tea (Hyatt at Olive 8)
- Local and 800 phone calls (Hyatt at Olive 8)
- Streaming services (Hyatt Regency)
- 10% coffee discount (Hyatt Regency)
- Coffee and tea in lobby (Thompson Hotel)
- Bang trim at salon (Thompson Hotel)
Other Hotels
- Postcard postage (Fairmont Olympic Hotel)
- Record player (Edgewater Hotel)
- “Complimentary” breakfast buffet (Arctic Hotel)
- “Complimentary” jewelry cleaning (Kimpton Palladian)
- “Complimentary” bottled water (Hotel Sorrento)
- EV charging (Kimpton Monaco)
- Printing and faxing (Kimpton Vintage)
- Virtual concierge (Hotel Max)
- Hotel’s art collection (Hotel Theodore)
- Local and long distance calls (Alexis Royal Sonesta)
- Local newspaper (Lotte Hotel)
- Daily snack cart in the lobby (The State Hotel)
- In-room personal safe (Warwick Hotel)
- “Prefilled” refillable water bottle (Hotel Five)
- Streaming services (The Maxwell Hotel)
- Fitness center (Denny Park Hotel)
- Co-working space (Level Seattle)
What’s NOT Included in Your Resort Fee
At 30 Seattle hotels we surveyed, you may still end up paying extra for services that aren’t covered by your resort fee, including:
Are Resort Fees Truly Mandatory?
Elite and corporate travelers are often exempted from resort fees…and if you complain about an unfair resort fee, the hotel may have discretion to waive yours.
So, can companies really make you pay a fee for services you don’t want to buy? Here’s what the Federal Trade Commission has said:
Hotel Industry Pushes Federal Resort Fee Legislation: What it could mean for Seattle
Several states have sued hotels over deceptive resort fees, and others have passed laws to ban hidden resort fees. Meanwhile, the hotel industry wants federal resort fee legislation that would pre-empt more robust state laws.
How the hotel industry-sponsored “Hotel Fees Transparency Act,” (S.2498) would affect guests in Seattle:
- Establish more lenient regulations on pricing transparency
- Pre-empt stronger state laws that target hotel resort fees
- Restrict enforcement actions by state AGs if FTC is already taking action
- Fail to provide the FTC with additional enforcement powers
- Allow hotel industry to escape litigation brought directly by consumers
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