SAN FRANCISCO A “utilities surcharge” of $2.85 per room per night now appears as a line item fee on guest bills at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square. The fee does not apply to pre-negotiated rates for convention-goers.
The surcharge is an early sign of how much hotels will use new fees and rate hikes to help shoulder skyrocketing electricity costs resulting from California s energy crisis. Starwood Hotels & Resorts has applied the fee to all of its West Coast properties. (2/19/01)
SOURCE:San Francisco Gate Business & Finance