Starwood Taken To Task And Court Over Resort Fees

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is the target of a class action lawsuit that claims the chain failed to disclose resort fees or misrepresented the fee as a tax through its Web site and its telephone reservation system.

The lawsuit was filed last month by New York City firm Bragar Wexler Eagel & Morgenstern LLP on behalf of all guests charged a resort fee while staying in a Starwood property, including its Sheraton, Westin, W and Four Points by Sheraton brands, between March 1, 1999, and Feb. 28, 2002. The law firm seeks to recover all resort fees during that timeframe and punitive damages, and estimated those to total at least $100 million.

"The complaint alleges that, during the class period, Starwood hotels fraudulently charged travelers an undisclosed or improperly classified resort fee or similar fee in addition to the room rate quoted at the time a traveler's reservation was made," the law firm said in a press release. "Starwood, the complaint alleges, either failed to disclose the additional resort fee or misrepresented the resort fee or other fee as a 'tax' through its Web site and its telephone reservation system. The complaint further alleges that the resort fees or other fees, although sometimes represented by Starwood to be a tax, were really not a tax remitted by Starwood to any governmental authority at all, but rather an additional charge that was improperly retained by Starwood."

Resort fees, a per-day, per-guest charge that some properties charge often cover amenities ranging from the use of health club and spa facilities to local telephone usage, and have grown into a controversial topic in the corporate meeting community. Some buyers prefer the resort fee pricing structure as a means to avoid extensive billing for each attendee's use of services, while others dislike being charged beforehand for amenities they may or may not use. Starwood does not comment on pending litigation.

Hotel chains have been the targets of other class action lawsuits of late, mostly centering around the spate of daily energy fees many hotels temporarily charged during California's energy crisis last spring.