Hyatt Now Discloses Resort Fee Up-Front, but Hotel 'Junk Fee' Issues Remain

29.08.2023 - 21:29 / skift.com / Sean Oneill

Hyatt, Marriott, and MGM Resorts have been hit with lawsuits since 2019 over how they disclose mandatory resort fees. The companies have since changed how they disclose resort fees on their websites and apps.

Hyatt in July began displaying nightly rates plus resort fees upfront on a traveler’s first search of its site and app, a spokesperson confirmed to Skift on Tuesday. The decision followed Marriott’s similar move in May and MGM Resort’s similar (and unpublicized) move earlier.

Yet these moves won’t end the debate over junk fees. Lingering issues include how hotel rates and fees are displayed on online travel agencies; the fact that resort fees are mandatory; and how these fees are taxed in cities with hotel occupancy taxes.

“After careful consideration, we made the decision to move to what we call an all-in rate display for hotels in the Americas,” a Hyatt spokesperson said. “As of July, the most prominent rate shown throughout the booking process on Hyatt channels for properties in the Americas now includes both the room rate and any resort or destination fees. This rate does not include taxes.”

In May, Texas’ attorney general sued Hyatt over its hidden resort fees.

MGM Resorts made a similar change without a public statement in 2021. The casino and hotel operator now discloses the mandatory resort fee for its 17 properties at the first stage of the search process on its site and app.

Marriott began in May to display resort fees upfront for its 30-plus brands on its site and app. The move came in the wake of a 2021 legal settlement with Pennsylvania — which required the hotel operator to immediately disclose any extra fees for services and amenities offered during a guest’s stay.

This October, Marriott International will start displaying 17 MGM Resorts properties on its site and mobile app as part of a licensing partnership. Marriott’s site and app will include the mandatory resort fees MGM Resorts in the first rates shown, a spokesperson said.

In other words, the first rates that guests comparing MGM Resorts properties on Marriott will first will be prices inclusive of the resort fees. Travelers booking directly on MGM Resorts’ own site and app will see the rate and fee broken out on the first result instead.

Disclosing fees is important. they are disclosed is important as well. Do it at the end of the process, and the buyer may be surprised by the true cost. A delay prevents a traveler from easy comparison shopping. That’s one reason why talk about so-called junk fees has grown louder this year.

A case in point: Until 2021, whenever a consumer clicked on one of MGM Resorts’ properties in its search interface, they saw a rate advertised in a large font in a colored box. Meanwhile, news that a