Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510310031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE TIBBITS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
Checking out early? That will be another $25 - or more - at two hotel chains that are tacking on fees to discourage guests from leaving before the end of their reserved stays.
Hyatt and Westin hotels have experimented with the penalties in recent months and plan to extend them throughout their chains by the end of the year.
Executives at the chains, however, promise guests will be nicked as nicely as possible, and that the front desk will always honor a good excuse.
``The last thing we can afford to do is put ourselves in a confrontational position with our customers,'' said Don Welsh, Westin's vice president of sales and marketing.
The strong recovery in the travel and hotel industry makes the fees necessary, and possible, Welsh and others say.
Many hotels are at 90 percent capacity or better at midweek, with virtually all those guests booked days in advance. When rooms unexpectedly become vacant, Welsh said, they're difficult to fill. Upscale hotels like Westin and Hyatt normally have few ``walk-in'' guests. Not only is the room tab lost, but so is food, drink and other revenue that the full-service hotels rely on.
Seattle-based Westin has been testing a $50-per-stay early departure fee at eight hotels in the United States and Canada for nearly a year, and will expand it to all 40 company-managed hotels starting Jan. 1. Another eight Westin franchises and company hotels in Mexico may adopt it later.
Chicago-based Hyatt will impose a $25 fee at its 103 hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean by the end of the year, said spokeswoman Carrie Reckert. For the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., the penalty will be $50.
``Basically, it's an effort to better manage our inventory,'' she said.
At both chains, guests will be told of the policy when they make reservations and again when they check in.
Most hotels will charge a customer if a room is guaranteed by a credit card and the customer fails to show. Westin and Hyatt, however, appear to be alone in penalizing premature checkouts.
Spot checks at Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott and other large hotel chains showed no similar plans.
``This is an issue we feel [customers] would not be thrilled about,'' Hilton spokeswoman Kendra Walker said.
``It's an interesting concept and may be warranted in cases where there have been past abuses, but it probably will not be a prevalent practice,'' said Chuck Ross, vice president at Smith Travel Research. ``Anytime you're dealing with customers and customer loyalties, you need to be careful with those types of policies.''
by CNB