TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Resort Fee

Aloha,
Are there any resorts / hotels on island that charge resort fee's ? I know this is a common practice in Las Vegas and other destinations but I had never heard of them on SXM.

Thank you,
Todd

We had it happen to us at each hotel during our Hawaii trips and it really irritated me since we did NOT utilize any of the resort amenities and never even received the morning papers which were supposedly included as part of the resort fee. I have never experienced it on St. Martin but over the past many years we haven't stayed at properties that would be considered true 'resorts' and as such might be most open to charging this fee. I would consider Grand Case Beach Club to be a true resort and they did NOT charge it when we were last there.

Supposedly Royal Palm and Flamingo charge it if you are renting, as compared to exchanging on a timeshare. Some resorts also charge utility fees, like Divi, unless they have stopped it.

I think it is a very deceptive practice, and I think it is just based on finding a way to get a bit more money from you but make it look like you are paying less. It seems they started as basically facility use fee's and morphed regardless of if you use the on site facilities or not. At one point I figured it was possibly also motivated by business travelers where you can only spend so much on a room but this allows a way to hide a portion but I don't think that is the case. I think it is just deceptive greed, note that I am pretty sure in the US they have to be clearly listed or face deceptive practice issues with the law. Not an attorney and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so just opinion!

The Morgan (former Alegria / Caravanserai) is listing and charging resort fee's and stated to me in an email to answer my question on this that "Many if not all resorts on the island charges a resort fee". Just trying to be educated when I call BS.
Cheers,
Todd

Oh, I hate the practice, for sure! As I said, some places charge an electric fee, which is totally BS in my opinion. Also, unless something has changed, Mary's Boon used to charge 25% taxes and service charge. There are probably other places which charge that 25%, I am not sure. ....and then you have really reputable places, likes Beachside Villas, that charge ONLY 5% tax on top of their rates, and NO service charge, even though they provide daily maid service. I personally wouldn't want anything to do with the Morgan, regardless of their policies in that respect, one way or another.

Just took a look at a couple places, I may be wrong. Royal Palm and Flamingo charge a fee, and Marys Boon has a fee added as well, this if you are renting like a hotel and not timeshare. I never knew or saw this before, not a fan. It will be interesting to see who else does, but basically the person at The Morgan was not that far off on the statement. Still doubt I would ever stay there.

I don't like the new owner of The Morgan property, but I also would note the real problems was created by the person that owned it before him. He is the one that screwed everybody, hotel going down hill etc. The resort would not have been worth owning at if it continued much further, I know the studio that we had was garbage at the end. I did not have much invested, about zero, so that is easier for me to state and I do feel bad for all the people that got the shaft. I would bet that he was sold the idea that he could do what ever he wanted with the place if he bought it from the auction. It was a mess. I hope he doesn't get any sort of water use rights but I do wonder if he gets a fair shake. Can of worms open

Cheers,
Todd

I thought RP and Flamingo charged a resort fee. Mary's Boon used to be 25%, for tax and service charge, which could be significantly more than a $15 resort fee and I thought El Zafiro did also, but not sure. But does the Morgan ALSO charge tax and service charge?

We were charged $13 per day at the Divi for resort fees. I wasn't happy about that but I believe my timeshare/exchange notes stated that there are resort fees that I would have to pay.

Curious, did it say "resort fees" or electric charges? They used to have electric charges at Divi.

"I thought RP and Flamingo charged a resort fee"
That is stated in their web side but when I was there the people renting were not charged as far as they know. Could be due to the merger.

The Atrium charges a daily "energy fee"

We have stayed at hotels in Simpson Bay, Orient Village, and even Philipsburg over the past several years (and longer) and have never been charged any type of resort fee that I can recall. And, should any place ever try to sneak this fee in they'll promptly be removed from our list of places to stay on St. Martin. Never stayed at some of the places listed above, so by doing your home work in advance you can easily find a great place to stay on SXM with these additional price gouging measures being applied. Does anyone recall if Club O. ever charged a 'resort fee' in the past?

No, Club O did not charge a resort fee. ....which makes sense, as Club O was never what I would call a 'resort' under any stretch of the imagination.

As you have said, although there are a few examples, the vast majority of places on SXM do not charge any extra fees.

That's in the past. It's now a daily resort fee, and the amount depends on the size of the room. I have a studio, and the resort fee is $10.50 per day. They switched to this approach when they stopped charging for wi-fi, which people hated.

OK,thanks.

Carol, it said "resort fees".

"the amount depends on the size of the room". That makes sense Linda. As I recall the notes stating the fees were $10.50 - $18.00 per day.

OK

We have stayed up and down Simpson Bay Beach over the past 25 years and pretty much all of them charge a service fee. 25 years ago we paid it a Mullet Bay and even French side. For example Marys Boon is 15% service fee (which part goes to the staff plus internet and USA phone calls are free and I can pay with my mileage credit card) ) and also 5% gov room tax. Never paid more than that. Horny Toad charges at least the same and Zaffro too, its very common all over the Island and been going on for about forever. Being a part of the media for 40 years To say only "reputable places" don't charge these fees to me is bit hysterical coming from site that might not be known by most to be "pay to play" for its advertiser sponsors. Other SXM sites to the same thing, naturally you want to say nice things about the people that help feed you. Beachside Villas which we like also but just don't have or even offer the same full services and can't compare to a Hotel services and expenses and is why they don't need to collect it. To be fair it seems very self serving and benefits nobody, I have never paid a service fee at a Villa or Airbnb type of property. You don't stay in business for 50 plus year if you don't treat your guests right. A quick look, Maho, Belair is 21%, Belair and Princess Heights is 20%. I think some also try to recover some of the TOT expense and a very min amount really goes back to the hotel. Some even charge elec surchage , fuel clause , seat upgrade fee, extra baggage fee, overweight fee, etc etc. Its a nickel and dime world everywhere! ha! SXM is no different and these fees are ok with me and understandable and just part of the total rate.

Yes, Beachside is 5% tax charge only, Mary's Boon is 5% tax recovery plus 15% Service Fee. I know this to be current practice as I just booked each.

Other places I have stayed/rented are all over the map. My personal opinion is "charge whatever you want, but be honest about it". That way I'll decide if the place represents fair value or it doesn't.

Places that say that tax is 10% or 15%, or 20%, when it is 5%; or charge 15% or whatever as Service Fees, for staff, when it isn't!, get crossed off my list. I feel the same way about added cleaning fees, or electrical charges, or internet, or whatever. Where is this headed? "It costs $99/ night to stay here, plus taxes, service, cleaning, electrical, internet, security, maintenance, advertising and promo, staff wages, gratuities, uniforms, insurance, depreciation, political graft, and relatives' gifts fees. Additional one-time surcharges may also apply." No thanks!

Just my opinion.

No disagreement here. Looking at the bottom line is always important, and I am with you on all the added fees. I also wish people would post accurate information as I know what the Horny Toad charges and what was implied is incorrect.

A lot of people appear to book a place first and ask questions later. A better approach when booking a hotel, rental property, AirBnB, etc. is, if possible, talk to live person and have a short list of questions regarding additional fees and service charges. I've experienced some crazy add-on fees here in the states that I never would have thought possible. But, once I uncovered them I simply didn't book with them and found another place. So, a possible list of questions could be ... 1). do you charge any type of resort fee; 2). is there an added charge applied for using the pool or other facilities on the property; 3). what is the local tax rate and when applied what is the final daily charge; and 4). do you offer an AARP discount or senior discount (which should apply to most of us on the board). As J.D. mentions above it is important to get to the bottom line, so asking questions is often the best way to do that.

forever--You know it is pretty darn obvious who our sponsors are, if you take a look at the sponsors list, and our sponsors have NEVER EVER BEEN HIDDEN, so I really resent your implication. And what I stated was 100% true--Beachside does not charge anything in addition to the 5% tax. That is the absolute truth. As far as 'services', I personally don't need them. Others may feel differently.