This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Cabin in the Woods
Feb
13
2019
We are planning a trip down south that involves a stop for one night near the Smoky Mountains. Looking for a place to stay, Some Wife found a variety of rental cabins around Gatlinburg.
Since it was going to be off-season, the rates looked reasonable: $160/night, $180/night, and higher of course. But I figured $180 for a night for a cabin that fits the whole family is a good deal. Too good to be true, which of course it was, but I didn’t know that at the time.
I thought the rate would be $180 for a night, plus some taxes and fees, so I started booking it. It was open the night we wanted, good there. I entered my name and address and then they gave me the total so I could proceed to enter my financial information and book the cabin.
That $180 turned into $480 with taxes and fees.
Not a good deal.
Here’s the breakdown:
Cabin: $180
1-night stay fee: $75
Hot tub fee: $40
Cleaning fee: $80
Premium service fee: $50
Sales tax: $54.19
——
Total: $479.19
I think they really want you to stay longer. The fee structure seems to be setup that way.
Let’s see how it looks for a week (7 days / 6 nights).
Cabin: $180 * 6 = $1080
1-night stay fee: $0
Hot tub fee: $40
Cleaning fee: $80
Premium service fee: $50
Sales tax: $159.38
——
Total: $1409.38
So you can stay 6 times longer for less than 3 times the price.
1-night effective rate: $479.19
6-night effective rate: $234.90
My recommendation if you’re staying in the Smoky Mountains National Park area and really want a cabin: go for a longer time and find a cabin without a hot tub.
If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take your bed from under you?
Proverbs 22:27
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:50 am and has been carefully placed in the Travel category.
February 13th, 2019 at 10:52 am
What were the premium services?
February 13th, 2019 at 9:01 pm
Not sure. Only description was “Service Fees vary based on the cabin and time of year.” apparently this was a fancy cabin.
March 1st, 2019 at 8:24 pm
Yes, I’ve always thought this was fair. I mean, you’re paying for those things at a hotel when you pay $100/night regardless of the number of nights. It’s just that the longer stays are somewhat subsidizing the shorter stays; a three-night stay is not three times as expensive for the hotel as a one-night stay (especially for people like me, who keep the “Do Not Disturb” sign on continually).
March 3rd, 2019 at 6:59 pm
It’s not the fact that they itemize the cleaning fee that bothers me, it’s the other fees and the way they hide them. For example, why do they have a one-night-stay fee? I searched through cabins and skipped the cabins that had a minimum stay of 2 or 3 nights. This one did not have a minimum stay, so I thought they’d be okay with one night. But what does this fee do that the cleaning fee doesn’t cover? And none of the fees were disclosed until after I had entered my information. If they had listed them when I selected the cabin and dates, this might not bother me so much.
My overall lesson from this, for those interested in PR and customer service, is to make sure any surprises the customer has are pleasant surprises. When booking a normal hotel, the nightly rate is either inclusive of taxes or they disclose that a 12.5% state hotel tax will be added – no surprises when I try to complete the booking. And at the cabin I rented last year at Yellowstone, they offered me $5 off the nightly rate if I chose to forgo housekeeping services – a pleasant surprise for those who prefer to be not disturbed. But this company waited until just about the last possible moment to add in a bunch of fees, more than one of which seem gratuitous and could use some explaining – an unpleasant surprise for the customer.
March 5th, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Yeah, that’s shady. Haven’t seen that before.