Suite at La Tonnarella in Sorrento--Occupancy surcharge?

I've heard that sites like Booking.com, Tripadvisor etc. add additional fees. ( sometimes up to 50% more.)
I got the info from a hotel/pension owner I always use in London.

I hope someone else can confirm this on the this thread.

Why not book directly with La Tonnarella and bypass the markup added by the middleman (booking.com)??? Booking directly means you can ask them for the exact price for 4 people and then you won't be waiting until you arrive to find out the REAL price like you would have if you had used booking.com

http://www.latonnarella.com/
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +39 081 878 11 53

As far as I know, booking.com charges a commission to the hotel. This may be reflected in the published room rate, but in the last four years I haven't seen much of a price difference between the hotel's price and booking.com's. The benefit to the hotel of listing with booking.com or other sources like it is that the hotel gets more exposure than their own web page might, plus the reviews which are done only by recent guests.

If I return to a place I originally booked through booking.com, I ask the hotel if they would prefer to have me book one night through booking.com so there will be a recent review (likely to be positive or why would I return?), and reserve the remaining nights directly with the hotel. Most want the review. and are willing to pay one night's commission. Everybody wins.

The standard pricing model in Europe for most hotels is per person. As compared to the US, where pricing is by the room with min concern about how many in the room. Did you indicate four people when booking the suite? And the price for a single room means just that - one person. You should be comparing to the price for a double. A double means two people, not two beds. The suite is not just for 2 people. The pricing is for two people. Just a misunderstanding of the differences in business practices.

Frank is absolutely correct. You reserve and pay per person, a very different experience than in the US. You will need to contact the hotel or go back to your booking.com reservation and change it to 4 people and pay the revised rate. For future knowledge, when you do the reservation online, there will always be a spot to state how many people will occupy the room (sometimes split between adults and children).

In general, the charge per person approach used throughout most, if not all of Europe is based on the actual costs hotels incur for each person staying. Such as the water used, extra linens, etc... Utility expenses are much higher than in the US.

There is also the issue of fairly strict occupancy limits for most buildings so the hotel absolutely want to know how many people are in each room. And it is not an occupancy surcharge. It is an occupancy charge. It is not scam and they are not cheating you.

Thanks for the info! And I wouldn't have questioned the additional charge if we were, say 4 people in a double room. I did state that we were 4 people on the reservation form. I was taken aback, since the suite seems both "made" and priced for 4 people.

Thank you for the feedback!

Unfortunately this is one of those "cultural differences" that you will encounter. Your American thinking is that the price of the room is $xxx.xx and it shouldn't make any difference if there is one or four people there. I go to New York and my hotel room is $350. Take my wife on the next trip and the room is still $350. The Europeans probably find that equally odd as to why should one person pay the same as two people. "I am being overcharged."

Another practice that you may surprise you. It cost more to set at a table than to stand at the bar. And don't buy it at the bar and try to sit at the table. This is especially true for take away shops, coffee bars, gelato bars. etc. However, you can sit down at McDonalds. And there is often a cover charge for tables - a basket of bread.

The tip off to me was when you posted, "occupancy rate for the suite is 2 people is" With the additional fee, what are you paying now? It is a four star hotel.

No one has mentioned that hotels generally provide breakfast as part of the lodging, some very basic but some quite elaborate. More people in a room means more people having breakfast means extra expense. In my case, I always assumed this was a good part of the different rates between "double room" and "double room, single use."

I did state that we were 4 people on the reservation form.

Then I would double check things to be sure you aren't being overcharged. Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes online reservations can be tricky with a lot of options to choose from. So be sure you did in fact select 4 people for the suite and selected the room rate for 4 people. Your reservation confirmation should clearly state how many people it's for. If that was the case, you shouldn't be getting extra charges. On the other hand, if you noted 4 people in a comments box, then it wouldn't have shown you a rate for 4 people and when the hotel read the comment, that's when they would've said "whoa..."

My reply is on the duplicate thread. Buon viaggio!