TIL booking a motel through a third party site can cost you triple in hidden fees

I was looking for a cheap place to crash in Austin last weekend and found a motel listed for $45 a night on one of those booking sites. Sounded perfect for my budget trip, so I went ahead and booked it. Turns out the $45 was just the base rate, and they tacked on a $20 resort fee, a $12 "administrative" charge, and $8 in taxes that weren't shown until the confirmation page. I spent 30 minutes on hold with customer service trying to get a refund, and they kept bouncing me around. Finally just canceled and booked directly with the motel for $55 flat with no extras. Next time I'm going straight to the source for all my stays. Has anyone else gotten hit with surprise fees like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey6821mo ago

That $20 "resort fee" on a motel is crazy, but what got me was the $12 administrative charge. I mean, what exactly are they administering? Clicking a button to process my payment? It's like they made up a fee just to see if anyone would question it, and since it's hidden until the last step, most people just pay it and move on. That motel in Austin probably has a deal with the third party site to split those phantom charges too, so both sides pocket extra cash while we get stuck with the bill. Booking direct is the only way to avoid that whole rigged system.

patricialee1mo ago

That "resort fee" on a motel is the most ridiculous part. They slap that name on it to make it sound like you're getting something special when really it's just a way to jack up the price without showing it upfront. I book direct with hotels every time now and never deal with that nonsense because they have to give you the real total on their own site.