36 cent coin money
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.

This Hotel Property Charges a Mandatory Room Fee. Of 36 Cents. Per Night.

Actually, the fee is 0.25 percent — so it can cost more.

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.

a screenshot of a hotel
Source: Best Western.

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.


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