‘I tried to book a hotel stay without paying for hidden extras – the results’

Whether it’s paying for hand luggage on a flight or WIFI in a hotel room, holiday hidden extras are becoming more and more common.

It can be a shock after booking a hotel room to find out that WIFI or breakfast aren’t included.

After the Government announced plans to review the practice, I wanted to see how hard it was to book a hotel without extras.

Rishi Sunak recently told reporters that companies weren’t offering “the kind of price transparency that you’d expect”.

In this experiment, I looked at Travelodge, Premier Inn and Ibis to see how much I’d have to pay for extras.

Travelodge

The initial price I got for a three night stay at the Liverpool Central Travelodge from July 19 was £620.97.

Travelodge’s website was fairly transparent about extras as the booking page guided me to ‘Proceed to Extras’.

WIFI cost £3 for 24 hour access which would add up to £9 on my three night stay. I could get breakfast to go for £5.50 per day.

Late and early check-in each cost £10 and it’s fairly standard for a hotel to charge extra for this service.

I was a little shocked by the WIFI charges which would definitely start to add up over a short mini break although breakfast seemed reasonable.

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Premier Inn

The initial price for a room at the Premier Inn hotel at Liverpool’s Albert Dock was £683 for a refundable booking or £642.50 for a non-refundable booking for three nights from July 19.

WIFI was included in the price of the room while a full unlimited breakfast was £9.99 per day per person. There was also a cheaper continental breakfast on offer for £7.99.

Premier Inn’s room initially seemed more expensive than the Travelodge but after paying for WIFI at Travelodge, the prices were much more comparable.

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Ibis

A three night stay at the Ibis at Liverpool’s Albert Dock from 19 July was £707 for travellers who signed up for the free ‘Member’ scheme or £785 otherwise.

A buffet breakfast could be added on after the booking for £12 per day while a pet could stay in the room for £30. Wifi was included in the price of the stay.

The results

I found that the initial price customers see at booking could go up if you want WIFI and breakfast included at a budget hotel. It’s definitely a good idea to check out all the extras before deciding on a booking.

Travellers might also want to look at the local breakfast options before committing to the hotel offering as it may be cheaper to eat elsewhere.

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