In times of crisis, hotels, restaurants, and other providers of leisure services in almost all countries increasingly find themselves on the slippery slope of nearly fraud, trying their best to “climb into the wallet” of the tourist. For this, the most non-trivial methods are often used.
Experts of Yahoo Finance told about surprising options of levies. Authors of travel blogs and projects presented the “most ridiculous hidden costs” they had to incur while traveling. Pay attention to them – perhaps it will save you from such expenses.
Charges for the refrigerator: the huge prices in the minibars of hotel rooms will not surprise any tourist, but some hotels have gone further, helped by new technologies. Tourists began to be charged for their products, which were put to cool in the refrigerator. According to Raj Mahal, the founder of the travel booking site Plan More Trips, the hotel in Las Vegas surprised him. “I was at the MGM Aria Resort, which has advanced minibars that use sensors that can detect when an item is moved or changes in size or weight. We brought our alcohol and used the mini-fridge to cool it, and when we left, MGM charged us $25 to use the fridge.’
Table service: gratuity and extra charge for “coffee at the table” included in the bill? – Some restaurants have moved on. In Italy, Leni van der Horst, founder of the family travel blog Make More Adventures, complained, they had to pay to sit at a clean table. “The waiter told us to wait a few minutes so they could set our table. When the bill was brought, it turned out that several fees were charged for setting the table, particularly for using two tablecloths.
Iron is now a luxury. Another interviewee encountered this during a business trip. Moreover, it was not about ordering ironing services – the tourist found out if he could use iron in the hotel. He was told that using an iron is a luxury. And there is an additional fee for this. By the way, the service was valued at 20 pounds – that is, 900 hryvnias.