Priceline Hotel: Resort Lake Tahoe (Incline Village) Hyatt Regency

[gafiltafish]

I used the PRICELINE link and made a bid of $82 a night for 2 nights from 6/19-6/21 and got the Hyatt Regency Incline Village Resort. I did this last night. I made that bid due to that being the lowest price that I have seen other people on here get for that property.

I should have read more about the resort on here though. I just realized AFTER my purchase that the Hyatt charges $21 a night extra for a "resort fee" (for parking, the lake, a gym, and the internet). Priceline should have listed that being a fee before others purchased it. I emailed Priceline and they stated that it is listed in the contract page..... I am the kind of person that reads the fine print and I didn't see it mentioned. I emailed them back saying to copy and paste where it mentioned the resort fee and that since they won't refund, I would appreciate a $42 Priceline credit that I could use towards other purchases. Worth a try right?

I found what Priceline did to be very sneaky. I now have to spend an extra 25% a night that I didn't intend to spend. I would have rather have stayed in a non resort with no fee like this. I don't intend on using the gym, using the lake (probably too cold), or using the internet during my stay. I doubt if I contact the hotel that they would give me vouchers or something to make up for the $42 since it really isn't the hotel's fault. I paid with my America PRICELINE EXPRESS and I am considering contacting America PRICELINE EXPRESS to not charge me for this. This experience has really upset me.

[thereuare]

Sorry to see you're disappointed with the additional resort charge, but this is listed a few places on PRICELINE's website

Currently this is listed in a fees and taxes link:

Depending on the property you stay at you may also be charged (i) certain mandatory hotel specific service fees, for example, resort fees (which typically apply to resort type destinations and, if applicable, may range from $10 to $40 per day), energy surcharges, newspaper delivery fees, in-room safe fees, tourism fees, or housekeeping fees and/or (ii) certain optional incidental fees, for example, parking charges, minibar charges, phone calls, room service and movie rentals, etc. These charges, if applicable, will be payable by you to the hotel directly at checkout.

as well as:

credit card is required for any additional hotel specific service fees or incidental charges or fees that may be charged by the hotel to the customer at checkout. These charges may be mandatory (e.g., resort fees) or optional (parking, phone calls or minibar charges) and are not included in your offer price.

The bigger picture is whether mandatory fees should be included in the room rate regardless of how you book, but until hotels are required to do so, i think we'll see this issue come up again. Fortunately for most of us the savings obtained thru PRICELINE are enough to compensate for the risk of any additional charges.

Also, for the future, note that resort fees can be charged at all star levels... not just Resorts. We have even 2* and 2.5* properties charging mandatory resort fees (even if there are no resort-like features)

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.