When I checked in, the staff initially tried to charge me an additional “resort fee.” Staff claimed that was not possible and said she had never heard of it before. Even after taking a photo of my booking details—which clearly listed the resort fee and taxes. After some discussion and explanation, they agreed that I only needed to pay CAD $20+tax for parking(which is ok and I know that), since my room, taxes, and extra charges had already been covered via Trip.com.
However, at check-out the next morning, a different staff member insisted I had to pay an additional 4.8% DMF charge. When I explained again that my Trip.com booking already included all taxes and fees, they asked me to accept the charge. I asked them to resolve and refund immediately, but ultimately gave up disputing the DMF(digital marketing fee) charge.
When I asked further about the DMF, the staff explained it was “a fee to see their hotel’s ads on Trip.com so customers can book.” This reasoning is absurd—it essentially means the hotel is charging customers to cover its own marketing costs.
The way the hotel handled charges left us feeling like we were being treated as adversaries rather than guests. Instead of building goodwill, their approach ensures customer dissatisfaction.
If the hotel management believes additional fees are necessary, they should include them upfront in the room rate. Charging hidden fees such as “marketing costs” only creates unnecessary conflict between guests and staff. This practice is unfair, misleading, and reflects poorly on how the hotel conducts business.
