Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt Hotels and many more may be involved in a scam designed to mislead and defraud their guests staying in New York Manhattan Hotels. In addition to hotels extorting illegal fees from their guests, they may also invade every day $24 million in taxes on these illegal fees.
Here is a list of hotels that will try to make it mandatory to charge erroneous fees without clearly disclosing them. Please know, you do not have to pay these fees, and this article will explain what hotels are involved and how you can avoid being ripped off when staying in a hotel in the Big Apple.
The following is a list of hotels in New York involved in this scam. This list may not be complete.
1 HOTEL BROOKLYN BRIDGE
They mislead and deceive by cutting $10 off the price of the room per night
1 HOTEL CENTRAL PARK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $10 off the advertised price of the room per night
THE ALGONQUIN HOTEL TIMES SQUARE – AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 off the advertised price of the room per night
AVALON HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $21.78 off the advertised price of the room per night
THE BELVEDERE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $22.96 off the advertised price of the room per night
THE BENJAMIN
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
CROWNE PLAZA TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $30 off the advertised price of the room per night
DISTRIKT HOTEL NEW YORK CITY
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 off the advertised price of the room per night
DOUBLETREE BY HILTON – TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 off the advertised price of the room per night
DREAM DOWNTOWN
They mislead and deceive by hiding $14.95 off the advertised price of the room per night
DREAM MIDTOWN
They mislead and deceive by hiding $14.95 off the advertised price of the room per night
DUMONT NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 off the advertised price of the room per night
EXECUTIVE HOTEL LE SOLEIL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $20 off the advertised price of the room per night
FLATIRON HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $19 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE FRANKLIN HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $12 from the advertised price of the room per night
FIFTY NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 off the advertised price of the room per night
GARDENS NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 off the advertised price of the room per night
THE GALLIVANT
They mislead and deceive by hiding $15 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE GREGORY
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.14 from the advertised price of the room per night
GRAND HYATT NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
GILD HALL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $20 off the advertised price of the room per night
THE HIGH LINE HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $19.72 off the advertised price of the room per night
HILTON MIDTOWN NEW YORK (The biggest hotel in New York City)
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL 32 32
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.05 off the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL 48LEX NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $60 off the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL EDISON
They mislead and deceive by hiding $21 off the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL HAYDEN
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.34 off the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL HENRI – WYNDHAM
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.29 off the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL HUGO
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.34 from the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL MELA TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA
They mislead and deceive by hiding $37.80 from the advertised price of the room per night
HUDSON
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.61 from the advertised price of the room per night
HYATT CENTRIC TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
INNSIDE THE MELIA NEW YORK NOMAD
They mislead and deceive by hiding $27.22 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE JAMES NEW YORK SOHO
They mislead and deceive by hiding $43.55 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE JAMES NEW YORK NOMAD
They mislead and deceive by hiding $27.22 from the advertised price of the room per night
JW MARRIOTT ESSEX HOUSE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE LEXINGTON NEW YORK CITY – AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE MANHATTAN AT TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE MARMARA PARK AVENUE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $19.60 from the advertised price of the room per night
MARRIOTT AT BROOKLYN BRIDGE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
MARRIOTT EAST SIDE NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
MARRIOTT MARQUIS NEW YORK (The largest Marriott property in the United States)
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE MAVE NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $20.14 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE MAYFAIR NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $4.60 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE MICHELANGELO HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $43.55 from the advertised price of the room per night
MILLENNIUM BROADWAY NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $10.89 from the advertised price of the room per night
MORGANS
They mislead and deceive by hiding $29.95 from the advertised price of the room per night
NOMO SOHO
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
NOVOTEL NEW YORK – TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.33 from the advertised price of the room per night
NYLO NEW YORK CITY
They mislead and deceive by hiding $35.57 from the advertised price of the room per night
NYMA THE NEW YORK MANHATTAN HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28 from the advertised price of the room per night
PARAMOUNT TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
PARK CENTRAL HOTEL NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $33.75 from the advertised price of the room per night
PARK LANE HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $35.93 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE PARKER NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.33 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE PREMIER TIMES SQUARE BY MILLENNIUM
They mislead and deceive by hiding $10.89 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE QUIN
They mislead and deceive by hiding $21.78 from the advertised price of the room per night
RADISSON MARTINIQUE ON BROADWAY
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.33 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE REDBURY NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
RENAISSANCE NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE RIDGE HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $10 from the advertised price of the room per night
RIU PLAZA NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $13.06 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE ROGER
They mislead and deceive by hiding $35.93 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
ROW NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.67 from the advertised price of the room per night
ROYALTON HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $34.42 from the advertised price of the room per night
ROYALTON PARK AVENUE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $43.55 from the advertised price of the room per night
SHELBURNE NYC
They mislead and deceive by hiding $32.66 from the advertised price of the room per night
SHERATON TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
STEWART HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $35 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE ST. REGIS NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $50 from the advertised price of the room per night
SOFITEL HOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $16.32 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE SURREY
They mislead and deceive by hiding $38.11 from the advertised price of the room per night
WARWICK NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $25 from the advertised price of the room per night
W NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE WESTIN NEW YORK AT TIMES SQUARE
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE WESTIN NEW YORK GRAND CENTRAL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $28.69 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE WESTHOUSE NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $48.99 from the advertised price of the room per night
THE WYNDHAM NEW YORKER
They mislead and deceive by hiding $29 from the advertised price of the room per night
VICEROY CENTRAL PARK NEW YORK
They mislead and deceive by hiding $31.57 from the advertised price of the room per night
YOTEL
They mislead and deceive by hiding $30 from the advertised price of the room per night
New York City has seen an explosion in hotels charging resort fees in 2018. In May 2016, fifteen hotels in the City charged resort fees. In 2017, a whopping 42 hotels in New York City charge scam hotel resort fees. Today in April 2018, 83 New York City hotels charge deceptive and misleading hotel resort fees. This increase has drastic implications for the fair collection of taxes from New York City hotels.
Why the concern? The hotels in New York City with resort fees (also known as “amenity fees,” “urban fees,” “facility fees,” or “destination fees”) advertise one low price, say $100. In reality, to get the key to his room, a hotel guest will be forced to pay an additional say $35 per day that the hotel considers a resort fee. This allows the hotel to lie about their advertised rate – they can say it is $100 instead of $135 dollars – and it also allows the hotel to cheat the City of New York out of essential taxes. The advertised room rate of $100 is subject to the hotel occupancy tax of 14.75%. Most hotels with resort fees in New York City argue the $35 second room rate / resort fee is only subject to the NYC sales tax of 8.875%.
How much money is the City of New York loosing per day on this hotel scam? $24,181.91 per day. That’s $169,273.37 per week. $677,093.48 per month. In total, New York City loses $8,826,397.21 in tax revenue per year because of the hotel resort fee scam (as of July 2017 – the math is quickly changing as more and more hotels add these deceptive fees). Without a total ban on hotel resort fees, New York will forever continue to see a massive loss of tax revenue due to hotel resort fees as hotels argue they should be taxed at the lower sales tax rate.
For more information in how New York City hotel resort fees are cheating millions of dollars of New York taxes and hurting essential city services, how they drive consumers from hotels to hotel alternatives like Airbnb, how they hurt the thousands of housekeepers in New York City and drive away international tourists (where these fees are banned and unheard of) and how they hurt Convention and Conference planning, a good source of information is this  blog on this issue.
Q: Do I need to legally pay the misleading and deceptive resort fee (amenity fee, urban fee, urban destination fee, destination amenity fee, facility fee, residence fee) at my hotel? NO. You do not legally have to pay any hotel resort fee. Resort fees are in violation of New York’s Unfair Trade Practices Law. Forty-seven Attorneys General (including New York Attorney General Schneiderman) are currently investigating hotel resort fees for being deceptive and misleading. It is unlawful in the United States to tax internet services at hotel occupancy tax (as many hotels allege they provide with a resort fee) due to the Internet Tax Freedom Act. New York State law is very clear on this. Hotels are currently getting sued over alleging their resort fee pays for internet services (hint: it does not). You legally can and should refuse to pay any hotel resort fee.
