Before I get into anything else here, I'm going to start off with admission that what I'm about to describe simply isn't fair to the hotel industry. But, as all of our parents reminded us at least once, the same can be said about life.
Earlier this week, Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky admitted that predatory fees are a problem on his company's platform, with guests often paying more than double the advertised rates thanks to things like "cleaning fees." That admission came with a promise: Airbnb is going to work hard to clean up their act and clearly and transparently present to guests the price they'll actually pay for a stay upfront.
It's obviously no coincidence that this comes down almost in perfect tandem with the White House announcing they're going to be targeting these types of predatory fees across industries, so it's easy to get skeptical about just how altruistic the motives on this actually are, but in the end, that probably doesn't matter.
Also, the hotel industry hasn't been perfect with being upfront about fees and taxes, particularly the oft-discussed resort fees. Hotels haven't been nearly as bad with it as Airbnb, but once again, that likely won't matter.
It boils down to this:
- The government wants to crack down on what they consider "junk fees."
- Resort fees probably fall under that umbrella.
- Airbnb has announced plans to clean up its fees-related practices.
- The Silicon Valley firm is likely to put its marketing heft and reach behind the fact that they're now the platform with transparent pricing.
What this means for you, the hotelier, is that if you're not completely on the up and up when it comes to being upfront and truthful about what guests will pay, Airbnb will quickly become known as the accommodations choice that is honest about pricing, as opposed to those no-good, deceptive hotels. Beyond that, it's not at all unreasonable to assume that even if hotels and Airbnb are equally transparent about pricing going forward, the side that talks about their transparency is more likely to be recognized for it.
This clearly doesn't bode well for the hotel industry. If historical patterns hold true, what is most likely to happen now is an increase in calls for the end of resort fees, while those who deploy them most liberally will continue to defend them, noting guests get access to some amenity or another for paying them. It's not a junk fee! Guests get an extra towel at the pool and can borrow a bike to ride around town!
Those self-rationalizations will keep the practice going on in the short term, until some government entity moves on from Ticketmaster and credit card companies and decides to focus on lodging. Then Airbnb will wave the banner of being the company fighting on the side of the downtrodden consumer — despite hosts abusing consumers as much as they possibly could while they could — and hotels will be the ones fighting to keep what have been labeled as anti-consumer practices.
The moral of the story is clear: The winners in the hotel industry going forward are most likely to be those that embrace transparency now before they're forced to. For all the hotel brands and operators out there who have the power to do something about this, get ahead of this issue as much as you can, because the longer you wait to address it, the worse off you will be in the mind of the consumer.
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