STR - Best Method to Process Resort Fee/Amenity Fee

[Jay Blumhorst]

Hoping for input from experienced STR operators... Running our cabin as a STR. The POA has elected to institute a $5.00 per vehicle per, per night resort fee charged to nightly rental guests. We have 2 options for processing this fee: Option 1) The resort will charge the guest directly upon check in. We would only need to advise clearly in our listing that this fee will be applicable. Option 2) We can charge the fee to our guests through our booking platforms and then the POA will bill us as owners after the fact. Neither option is ideal and we're disappointed in this new protocol. Trying to find the solution that will be the least detrimental to our occupancy potential and least disruptive to guests. What option would you recommend?

[Nathan Grabau]

Quote from @Jay Blumhorst:

@Nathan Grabau Thanks for the response and suggestion. It's a 2 bedroom that sleeps up to 6 through 2 to 4 will likely be our most common guest count. I like the recommendation to eat the fee if it's just one vehicle and charge for a second or more. That could help us from a competition standpoint as well as most owners in the resort will likely let the guests pay directly upon check in. 

 The other thing you are doing too is decreasing the chance of bad reviews. The we pay for one car(offering a service) but you have to pay for additional cars(making the charge very clear) should help you. This probably also helps you get bad reviews of people who are upset they had to pay for a second or third car taken down, as it will be incredibly clear in your description.