Hotels get into fee game

Some chains are starting to charge for Internet access, storing bags and cutting short scheduled stays. It's the same playbook that most of the airlines have been using, but will it work for hotels? From the NYT:

Jan-Philip Velders, an information technology specialist at the University of Amsterdam, said that as a business traveler he was turned off by hotel surcharges. An elite-level participant in the Hilton, Marriott and Starwood loyalty programs, he said he planned to attend a conference in June in Miami. Although the conference will be held at the Intercontinental Miami, he will stay at a Courtyard by Marriott a few blocks away, where the room rate is $50 cheaper a night and Internet access is free. "The value for the dollar is higher at the Courtyard than at the Intercontinental," he said.

Keep in mind that airlines and hotels have very different business models. "There's a hotel on every corner, but a limited number of airlines flying a limited number of routes," said Margaret Bowler, the Britain-based director of global hotel relations for Hogg Robinson Group. Still, everyone seems to agree that new fees will be instituted, and existing fees will be going up.