Author Topic: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters  (Read 5535 times)

DCJrMustachian

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Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« on: August 02, 2014, 03:21:59 PM »
$127 for three waters on the terrace in London.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2014/7/29/4460/99020/hotels/Welcome_To_The_Wellesley_London%2C_Where_Three_Bottles_of_Water_Cost_%24127

I don't get how hotels have so perfected the art of ripping people off that people don't boycott them all together.  We've all seen the sleazy "extras".  The mini-bar with tempting snacks at $4 per bag of chips, the bottle of water "for your convenience and enjoyment" but of course a $6 charge will be added to your room.  Room service prices (plus in small print a 25% service fee will be added to your bill)

How do people not see how these big corporations are grabbing their money at every chance?

Albert

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2014, 04:34:30 PM »
Anyone who has any brain cells left doesn't take anything from hotel minibars and doesn't use hotel phone except to call reception.

Travis

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2014, 05:01:38 AM »
There was a Chevy Chase "vacation" skit a few years ago during the Super Bowl. I can't find the clip (there's a 15 minute version on youtube) where during checkout they get a massive bill.  Included in the bill is $20 for the bottle water.

Chevy: $20 for water?! It said complimentary!
Attendant (in snooty accent): Read it again sir. Complementary is spelled with an E not an I. The water complements the room.  It is not free.

vivophoenix

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2014, 08:12:32 AM »
$127 for three waters on the terrace in London.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2014/7/29/4460/99020/hotels/Welcome_To_The_Wellesley_London%2C_Where_Three_Bottles_of_Water_Cost_%24127

I don't get how hotels have so perfected the art of ripping people off that people don't boycott them all together.  We've all seen the sleazy "extras".  The mini-bar with tempting snacks at $4 per bag of chips, the bottle of water "for your convenience and enjoyment" but of course a $6 charge will be added to your room.  Room service prices (plus in small print a 25% service fee will be added to your bill)

How do people not see how these big corporations are grabbing their money at every chance?


most people do know this. i remember as a child, whenever I went out of town, and stayed in a hotel , the death look my mother would give us if we got anywhere near the room's bottle of water.  and we never even stayed in a room with a mini bar.

i dont believe this has always existed. i think these are marketing ploys that have developed over many years . they have slowly sunk into our minds and because an 'essential' part of the vacation experience. how many romantic movies show a couple staying in a hotel wearing a bathrobes and eating room service? its usually post coital surf and turf, including a chilled bucket of champagne.

hotels have created the ideal vacation in which we sit in a rented room, and pay for food to be delivered to us as we lie about like roman emperors.

AlanStache

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2014, 08:29:57 AM »
Half that was the 'cover' or minimum spend ie to sit on the patio you must spend X£/person.  Server should have mentioned that but still I can see a waiter at a nice place not saying anything when it is clearly a business meeting, for fear of causing embarrassment in front of clients.  And they probably would have hit the 'cover' with an appetizer or two, I assume those would not be cheap.  All that said no way am I going to spend that unless it is 100% expensable.  Looks like this was not the sort of place you could expect to spend little at either.  Sorry but buyer beware.

The 127$ had nothing to do with the mini-bar.

steadierfooting

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2014, 09:38:21 AM »
On our honeymoon in costa rica we splurged for 3 nights and stayed at a nice resort (the rest of the trip in cheapo hotels).  The minifridge was free (soda, water, beer, candybars, snacks), refilled each night.  I think I asked 3 different employees to verify before partaking, and even then checked the bill at checkout, and the cc after we arrived home.  Mainly out of fears of other hotels that have "$20 a beer, $90 for the 1/5 bottle of liquor". 

Jouer

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2014, 12:30:14 PM »
I don't see hotel room snacks as a rip-off at all. They are convenience items - much like prepackaged food at the supermarket - and are priced as such. I would expect no one from these parts would need these items as they would have planned ahead and packed their own snacks.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2014, 01:31:29 PM »
Pro-tip for hotel water:  Get a bucket of ice cubes before you go to bed and let them melt over night.  I don't know if it's universal, but at the average Marriot/Hilton hotel, this water is much less chlorinated than the bathroom tap.  Fill up a reusable bottle with melt-water and repeat.

I can't imagine that kind of bill at a restaurant.  Although, I have had to be careful to specify that I want a glass of water (free) and not a bottle of water ($) at some restaurants.

Prairie Stash

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2014, 09:39:07 AM »
I've seen minimum spend at lots of restaurants. Usually it's $5-10 per person, I go to places without humidors or cognac bars though.  It's to keep cheapskates from sitting around and occupying the seats.

Be frugal, not cheap.

AH013

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2014, 12:37:26 PM »
Pro-tip for hotel water:  Get a bucket of ice cubes before you go to bed and let them melt over night.  I don't know if it's universal, but at the average Marriot/Hilton hotel, this water is much less chlorinated than the bathroom tap.  Fill up a reusable bottle with melt-water and repeat.

I can't imagine that kind of bill at a restaurant.  Although, I have had to be careful to specify that I want a glass of water (free) and not a bottle of water ($) at some restaurants.

That's always the best
Waiter: "To drink, sir?"
Me: "Water, please."
Waiter: "Sparkling or still?"
Me: "...tap in a glass"
Waiter: (Damn...at 18% gratuity that absence of a $4 bottle of water just cost me $0.72!)

eil

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2014, 02:22:15 PM »
IIRC, you can usually ask to be put in a room without a minibar. Or, if minibar rooms are all that's available, you can ask to have the minibar removed for the length of your stay. Handy if you have meddling kids or guests that you don't completely trust.

AH013

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Re: Hotel Rip-offs - $127 for 3 waters
« Reply #11 on: August 06, 2014, 03:28:01 PM »
From past work experience, if you refute the charge saying you didn't take those items (maid must have), most low-tech hotels will eat the charge as they can't technically prove it WAS you.

That plays into why the prices are so high -- some ass bags will clear out the whole mini-bar, watch tons of pay-per-view, blame it all on the maid, and get all the charges reversed. Which means the hotel has to make up for $30 of lost concessions by pricing it at $120 for the honest guy.