Upon checking out of a recent stay at a hotel property where I expected the total of the bill to be $99.41 — including all taxes and fees — I asked for a paper copy of the folio for my stay and noticed that the total which I was to pay was actually $103.15 because of something called a Parking Recapture Fee.
Parking Recapture Fee…What?!
I stopped in my tracks as I exited the hotel and wondered what is a Parking Recapture Fee — as well as why it was an extra $3.87.
I walked right back into the hotel property and asked the person behind the front desk about this fee. He could not explain exactly what this fee specifically covered.
“So you charge for parking?”, I asked.
“Um…yes…” he said with a lack of confidence about his answer.
“I do not recall seeing this fee when I booked the reservation”, I replied.
“I will speak to the manager about this”, he said as he walked towards the office behind the front desk.
When he returned, he told me that the manager told him that the fee is clearly on the official Internet web site; but that they will credit $3.87 to the credit card which I used to pay for the reservation. I found that a little suspect, as I did not understand why they did not simply remove the charge from my folio.
“This hotel property is part of Marriott”, I replied. “I clicked on the button to show rates with taxes and all fees; and this Parking Recapture Fee was not included.”
His response was that he knows nothing about the web site, as he did not work on it. He was clearly annoyed with me.
“I am not upset with you. It’s not your fault. But this fee was a surprise to me.”
I started the process of booking a reservation for one night at this particular hotel property with the Show rates with taxes and all fees button selected…
…and the rate showed approximately $99.00.
I then clicked on the black Select button to select this rate…
…and the total rate for the stay displayed as $99.41 — exactly what I expected to pay.
Just below that — under the heading of Additional Charges and in smaller type — are the words “On-site parking, fee: 3.87 USD daily”.
Taking a screen shot of the hotel property in Google Maps reveals that at least 103 parking spots — not including those for disabled people — are available.
Is the Parking Recapture Fee of this hotel property causing Marriott International, Incorporated to continue to fail to comply with disclosing mandatory fees despite agreeing to a settlement from November of 2021? As a result of failing to meet a deadline in February of 2023 to bring its disclosures into compliance by the agreed upon date and subsequent multiple extensions, the lodging company agreed to send a payment totaling $225,000.00 to the office of the attorney general of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Final Boarding Call
This hotel property — which currently will remain anonymous — is conveniently located off of an exit of a major interstate highway in a suburb of a major city in the United States, where one does not expect to pay for parking. I expect to pay for parking where parking is scarce — such as in the center of a major city.
Furthermore, I stayed at a different hotel property in the same location — but I was not charged for parking.
The purpose of a Parking Recapture Fee was never actually explained to me. What are they trying to recapture — the parking spot, or the cost of creating and maintaining a standard parking lot? Why is the amount so odd at $3.87?
$3.87 might not sound like much; but if 50 guests paid it every day for a year, the hotel property rakes in an extra $70,627.50 annually.
This is just one more useless and unjustifiable junk fee for which you should watch out when booking a reservation at a mid-range hotel property in the future, as its purpose seems to be nothing more than to have the rates appear to be less expensive than competitors in an attempt to simply grab more of your money…
Photograph ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
