Come here.
Just when you think the trickle price can legitimacy must dissipateSome Marriott properties in Southern California are offering an additional fee for the nightly rate.
On one hand, fees are limited to a few hotels near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). But this latest move could be a sign of things to come for many hotels within the city limits of Los Angeles. After all, resort fees start small before scaling up to more hotels across the country.
Both the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel and the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel currently charge a “Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance Cost Surcharge” daily on top of the nightly rate. Fees ranged from $8.70 at Renaissance to $10.72 at Marriott, according to an initial report from One Mile at a Time and later verified by TPG.
Charges are supposed to satisfy an ordinance Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed it into law Last summer, hoteliers were required to provide employees with personal alarm buttons as a work-safety precaution. The city law also requires hotels to pay workers the highest wages for “heavy workloads” (manage day limits related to cleaning square footage) in hotels with more than 45 rooms.
One could take this as a warning sign of what could eventually show up on your hotel bill in response to increasing labor regulations across various markets. Unite Here, one of the largest hospitality labor unions in the US and Canada, is a major supporter of the new law and is active in many major North American cities.
It was not immediately clear whether Marriott International would encourage hoteliers to charge new fees under the ordinance or if any guidance came from the California Hotel & Lodging Association, the industry’s leading lobbying group. hotels in this state or not.
CHLA – which has worked with groups like the Los Angeles Hotel Association and the American Lodging & Hotel Association to campaign against the passing of the ordinance this summer – declined to comment and forwarded any requests. comment back to Marriott. “
“While this new law will only apply to hotels in the City of Los Angeles, it could set a precedent and pave the way for similar laws in other cities,” the Los Angeles Hotel Association said. know in an announcement about the new hotel labor ordinance this summer. before it passed.
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Marriott did not respond to TPG’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Small scale surcharge (currently)
TPG does not see any other LAX hotels operating under different Marriott brands for an additional charge. Popular hotels in the Los Angeles area, like the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles, JW Marriott Los Angeles LA Live, and West Hollywood Edition hotels, don’t charge new fees, but those hotels are charging a daily destination fee – Another thing is the deadline for resort fees that are usually charged by hotels in big cities.
The worker surcharge is the latest industry trend during the pandemic to pass on different costs to hotel guests.
New Marriott last week reported daily rates in the US and Canada that are 15% higher than 2019 levels and property-level margins for managed hotels 2% higher than pre-pandemic levels. “even though wages are meaningful and inflation is beneficial,” said Leeny Oberg, Marriott’s Chief Financial Adviser.
“At the hotel level, we remain focused on saving operating costs for our owners and franchisees while providing superior service to our guests,” she added in corporate investor call.
It seems a bit annoying that Marriott will give hoteliers a more in-depth approach to “trickle pricing”, where the listed room rate will be higher at the time the guest actually makes the reservation after taking into account the fees. Service charges vary. After all, Marriott only settled with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office late last year about resort fees.
But settling down doesn’t mean giving up on training. Instead, the company agreed to place the fees prominently on the front page of a booking website.
Similar to how the company now displays resort fees in a blue box on the booking page, the two LAX hotels noted worker protection surcharges in the same way.
Key point
Transparency was the buzzword in the accommodation sector this month, when Airbnb last weekend announced it would be similar include all fees associated with the booking on the initial search and listing page instead of waiting and providing the total amount at the time of booking.
“I think the highlight for us in this regard is transparency,” said Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.
In the case of Marriott properties near LAX, guests can accept the new rate or – for now – just stay at any other Marriott-affiliated hotel in the area and avoid adding another daily fee on the bill. their last application.
