Move over, mandatory resort fees, mandatory destination fees, mandatory facilities fees, mandatory amenities fees, and mandatory damage waiver fees, as another mandatory fee which guests must pay at a hotel or resort property has surfaced: the mandatory room fee.
This Hotel Property Charges a Mandatory Room Fee. Of 36 Cents. Per Night.
A hotel property in Oregon charges guests a room fee of 0.25 percent per night in addition to the county tax and state tax — which means that a room whose base rate is $143.65 will incur a room fee of 36 cents — but what is unclear is whether that is actually a tax imposed by a government entity.
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 is a date which was randomly chosen to check in to the Best Western Mount Hood Inn in Government Camp, and two dates to check out were chosen after that: one for Wednesday, September 14, 2022; and one for Thursday, September 15, 2022.
Sure enough, the mandatory room fee is 36 cents per night — and at a rate of 0.25 percent, will be more expensive if the base room rate itself is more expensive.
When I called the hotel property, an employee answered with the identification of the hotel property.
“Could you please tell me what the room fee of a quarter of one percent is for?” I asked, after explaining that I was in the process of booking a reservation.
“A room fee?!?” he asked, puzzled.
“Yes. A room fee of 0.25 percent, which on a base room rate of $143.65 in September comes to 36 cents per night.”
“Are you using our web site to book the reservation?” he asked.
“Yes,” I responded. “Best Western.”
He was unaware of the what exactly the room fee — which he possibly erroneously called a tax — covered; and the person who possibly could answer the question was not available at that moment. I thanked him before disconnecting the call.
The word tax is typically used when a government entity imposes a mandatory charge; but the word fee is usually used when a property used for the purpose of lodging — or many companies, for that matter — imposes a voluntary charge.
Final Boarding Call
Have we come to see the day where we must pay a room fee to stay in…
…a room?
Thinking that the room fee might possibly indeed be a tax and not imposed voluntarily by the hotel property, I looked at several other lodging options within the city limits of Government Camp — including Huckleberry Inn — and I could not find any indication that a mandatory room fee was being charged. If I find out any more information about this ridiculous fee, I intend to report on it in a future article here at The Gate.
I do not believe in intervention by the government to interfere with the free market; but these mandatory fees — creative as they may be — are out of control.
A mandatory room fee is no different than a mandatory destination fee, mandatory resort fee, mandatory amenities fee, mandatory facilities fee, or a mandatory damage waiver fee, of which links to past articles which have been posted here at The Gate are found here in this article…
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
