Within a week or two, Marriott hotels will start to post hotel rates as inclusive of mandatory hotel-imposed fees on its own website. This move represents the end of a minor skirmish in the struggle against deceptive hotel pricing—the end result of an agreement between Marriott and the state of Pennsylvania requiring Marriott to post all-up fee-inclusive rates most prominently on its own search pages.
It’s a win for consumers, but not a big win. Although Marriott must provide full fee information to third-party online travel agencies and metasearch systems, it cannot force those third parties to display rates honestly. And, unfortunately, those are the places many of you go to find good hotel deals….