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.
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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.
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.
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.
