Another reason to be furious with Wyndham - Charging for parking at PALM AIRE!!!

[Floridaman76]

I'm taking a cruise out of Miami tomorrow and decided to spend the 2 nights leading up to it at a Pompano resort using Wyndham Rewards points. Choices were Sea Gardens or Palm Aire and I chose Palm Aire because Sea Gardens has Queen beds in all it's 1BR units except Ocean Palms, which they could not guarantee me.

Anyway, I checked in and they notified me there is a $20/night parking charge at Palm Aire now for "non-owners". I explained that i'm not only an owner, but i'm a VIP CW owner and a WR Diamond tier member, and that there was no parking fee disclosed on either the website, or anywhere in the booking process, OR in any of the email or text correspondences I had received to date.

I've stayed here several times using both my CW points and WR points and never had to pay to park. The check-in person said "they started doing it a couple years ago".

The person checking me in gave me the business card of the resort GM and I will be paying a visit to him this morning

This is absolutely ridiculous that this resort charges for parking. There is AMPLE parking and it's all surface lots that Wyndham owns, not parking garages.

They stuck me in Royal Palm, which I wasn't super thrilled about, I called asking for Areca before hand, but I got Royal. It's a very nice unit, spacious and a corner with a wrap around balcony. No complaints about the room. I'm just super livid about this parking charge.

Palm Aire and Sea Gardens is 7500 WR points per night, which I feel is a steal, but this $20/night parking fee is complete BS

 

[tschwa2]

Hotels often charge parking fees to increase revenue the same as bag fees for airlines. Airlines have plenty of space for the luggage. It is just another source of revenue. I just looked on the Wyndham hotel site and it currently does say under Featured Amenities Onsite parking: fees may apply. Booking as an RCI exchange or through the wyndham hotel site for either cash or rewards is considered a 3rd party booking and vacation club membership benefits do not apply. Hopefully as a curtesy they will remove it this time but going forward, I guess this is a warning that if it says parking fees may apply, you should assume that parking fees will apply.

 

[Floridaman76]

If there's a fee, they should disclose it. They do that for the resort fee at Kingsgate.

Also, I just called asking for a bag of ice, and apparently they don't do that here. The ice maker has made like 12 total cubes in the 16 hours or so i've been here and i'm over it.

 

[Floridaman76]

I went back and looked and the "parking fees may apply" is on the resort details if you are looking at the resort main page. If you actually walk through the booking process, even under "amenities and details", there is no mention of parking.

I understand resorts with limited parking or parking garages they don't own have to charge for parking. But this is a huge resort with AMPLE surface lot parking and to charge for parking here is absolutely absurd. They don't charge at Royal Vista or Sea Gardens or Santa Maria or Ocean Walk, and parking is a lot worse at those sites

 

[paxsarah]

Although if I were an owner at Palm Aire, I'd be perfectly happy that they're charging guests through Wyndham Hotels/Rewards for parking. I attended the Kingsgate annual meeting last week by zoom, and they talked about how the higher resort fee they're charging for non-owners makes a decent impact on the resort budget. As an owner, that works for me. If I stay through another means than my timeshare points, even an RCI exchange, I don't expect to be treated as an owner booking on points through Club Wyndham.

 

[Floridaman76]

Although if I were an owner at Palm Aire, I'd be perfectly happy that they're charging guests through Wyndham Hotels/Rewards for parking. I attended the Kingsgate annual meeting last week by zoom, and they talked about how the higher resort fee they're charging for non-owners makes a decent impact on the resort budget. As an owner, that works for me. If I stay through another means than my timeshare points, even an RCI exchange, I don't expect to be treated as an owner booking on points through Club Wyndham.

$20/day for parking in a surface lot they already own and maintain is a pure cash grab. Kingsgate's resort fee at least in theory goes to maintain and keep specific items online and up to date. Especially the game room/arcade and theater. I can understand that.

A surface parking lot is a completely different story.

 

[HitchHiker71]

If there's a fee, they should disclose it. They do that for the resort fee at Kingsgate.

Also, I just called asking for a bag of ice, and apparently they don't do that here. The ice maker has made like 12 total cubes in the 16 hours or so i've been here and i'm over it.

Straight from the WR website (same goes for the mobile app):

When using the booking engine (same goes for the mobile app):

 

[paxsarah]

It's a cash grab that presumably keeps owners' maintenance fees lower by adding to the resort budget. It's not going into Scrooge McDuck's pockets or anything. The worst thing about it is that it should be published on the WR website with a dollar amount, then customers can decide whether it affects their decision to book there or elsewhere.

 

[paxsarah]

I mean, "may apply" is weaksauce. Simply publish "Self-parking: $20." But this is just one random company that I don't have much of a relationship with, so as an owner (unless I was a Palm Aire owner), it's a problem mainly outside the realm of Club Wyndham ownership.

 

[HitchHiker71]

It's a cash grab that presumably keeps owners' maintenance fees lower by adding to the resort budget. It's not going into Scrooge McDuck's pockets or anything. The worst thing about it is that it should be published on the WR website with a dollar amount, then customers can decide whether it affects their decision to book there or elsewhere.

The more explicit the guidance - the more often content updates are required and incorrect or old guidance is provided - and then people complain that the parking is more than what was listed in the first place - hence the generic guidance provided instead. Not saying I agree or disagree - but I can appreciate the logic.