CNN just named Orlando one of the world's top destinations. It is, too -- for those lucky enough to travel on a company credit card or rich enough to put Mickey and friends at the top of the family budget.
But you have to ask yourself, how did the CNN judges arrive at that conclusion? Affordability was a big factor in their selection. Didn't anybody tell them that O-Town hotels -- backbone of the tourism experience -- might offer $99-a-night rooms on the booking sheet, but on the final bill, a minefield of hidden surcharges, add-ons and mandatory tips can roll the tab into a $150-$180-a-night clipping?
According to Travel & Leisure Magazine, the lodging industry as a whole last year took in more than $1.75 billion in surcharges, which means extra fees are likely to be with us for years to come.
But Orlando should be above that.
There is something distinctly inappropriate and distasteful watching a city built on a worldwide reputation of family-friendliness and first-class entertainment allow its hotels to suddenly load up with charges that scream, "We hate our customers!"
In September during the Republicans' P5 weekend and straw poll at the Orange County Convention Center, and then in October during the Energy Summit at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, I heard conference participants complain mightily about hotel charges they didn't understand and hadn't experienced anywhere else.
By the way, these were folks staying at a variety of hotels -- not just one or two -- in the vicinity of International Drive. Most of them expected the 12.5 percent room tax in Orange County. That's 6 percent sales tax, 0.5 percent local option sales tax and 6 percent tourist development tax.
But here are six examples of unfriendly hotel-bill add-ons they didn't see coming:
Nightly Parking Charge
Guests who drove had a choice of paying $19.99 a night to let the valet service park their car or $9.99 a night to park in the hotel's sometimes far-flung parking lot. This charge is common throughout the hotels that serve the Convention Center.
At some hotels, visitors could enter and exit the lot only with their room keys. P5 Delegate Ellen Martin, 68, of The Villages, told me, "Twice my key wouldn't open the gate. I had to get out of my car, walk to the hotel lobby and get someone to cut me a new key card."
Nightly Charge for the Internet
Another common charge around International Drive -- usually $9.99 a night.
When I booked, I did so largely based on the fact that my hotel advertised WiFi in every room. What I never asked, silly me, is whether the service would be free. Frankly, I didn't think to. And it wasn't.
Furthermore, to "buy" it, the hotel desk clerk gave me a toll-free number to call a company halfway around the world. A technician there walked me through the hookup.
So, at P5, for the first time in probably more than 100 business-trip hotel stays, I paid for an Internet connection in my room. And I paid the same price again at another Orlando hotel a month later during the Energy Summit.
Early Check-in Fee
Hotels used to bend over backward to accommodate early-arriving guests. Now, at some Orlando establishments, you have to pay for the privilege if you want to go up to your room at, say 3 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. -- even if your room is clean and ready.
"Imagine our surprise," said Connie Easterly, who traveled from Fort Lauderdale to attend the Energy Summit. "Our hotel charged us $20 for checking in an hour and a half early. We could have left our bags at the desk but we wanted to get over to the Summit and we didn't know when we'd get back."
Fitness Center Usage Charge
"Did you ever hear of your own hotel charging you to use the fitness center?" asked P5 Delegate Dennis Alvarez of Tampa. I admitted I hadn't.
"Mine did," he said.
Furthermore, he said he was offered a bottle of water during his workout, and at the end of it he was presented with a bill for $3.
"They never mentioned a charge to me when they offered it to me," Alvarez said.
Package Delivery Fee
At some hotels, surcharges for packages or faxes delivered to your room are added to guests' bills, but they won't find that out until checkout, until after they've tipped the bellhop who brought it. I can attest myself to a $5 charge for this unwanted "service." Some Orlando hotels, I'm told -- though not mine -- also charge for accepting an express delivery package at their business center, even if a guest comes down to the lobby to collect it personally.
Resort Fee
I heard conference attendees at both events disparaging their hotels for this blanket monstrosity --a hefty fee of as much as $30 for everything from lounge-chair use at the pool to use of a room safe; from hotel towels at the pool to newspapers flopped in front of the door every morning.
"You can't complain about this fee, even if you argue you never went to the pool, never wanted or used your safe or read your newspaper," said Alvarez. "You have to pay. I argued at checkout, but it got me nowhere."
Ironically, the citys tourism motto is Orlando makes me smile. Maybe somebody should tell city fathers that not everybody is smiling.
A Visit Orlando employee who told me he could not act as VO spokesman, insists that groups and companies and industries arranging conferences and conventions in Orlando can make their own arrangements with hotels to kill surcharges.
"It's all up to them," he told me Tuesday. "Orlando hotels don't charge differently than other cities charge. Surcharges are not regulated in any city I know of."
What's the use of getting CNN's fancy honor, being named a top world travel destination, when your hotels are trying their level best to thwart your effort? No wonder Reuters reports that only one in five Americans has ever visited a Central Florida theme park. The other four can't afford it.
This is an opinion column. Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews or at (850) 727-0859.
