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Three major hotel groups are being investigated by the ‘Office of Fair Trading’ over claims they fixed prices.

The Radisson, Thistle and Starwood chains – which run hotels all over the world – are accused of secretly setting room rates with online travel agents and ordering them not to offer discounts.

It means holidaymakers may have had to pay hundreds of pounds more than they should have.

All three hotel groups deny breaking competition law but if they are found guilty of price- fixing they could be fined up to 10 per cent of their turnover, which could cost them millions.

source: dailymail.co.uk

A number of hotels in London have been accused by tourism authorities of hiking room rates during next year’s Olympics.

Ahead of London 2012 tickets going on sale this Tuesday, UKinbound, the industry body for overseas tourism to Britain, said the move undermines the hospitality industry’s efforts to avoid tourism “‘price-gouging’”.

Visit Britain, the government’s tourism agency, said it hoped that hoteliers and other hospitality businesses would sign up to a “f’air pricing and practice charter’” under which they would voluntarily agree to offer fair and reasonable prices between June 1 and September 30 next year.

source: breakingtravelnews.com

British tourism authorities have revealed that they are considering scrapping the country’s star-rating system, a traditional indicator of hotel quality.

In a move that could mark the start of a broader shift away from state-sanctioned assessments, Britain’s government said that a forthcoming policy paper will propose ending the one-to-five-star system.

It says that user reviews offer consumers a better idea of what the hotel’s quality will be like and what they can expect from a stay than the ratings of the current system, in which the country’s hotels are evaluated by experts.

source: Independent.co.uk

Global hotel chain Marriott has decided to pull pay-per-view porn from new hotels, according to reports in the US.

Guests in new Marriott hotels will no longer be able to view adult content through their television sets, as it moves towards internet-based on-demand entertainment.

Marriott has well over 500 hotels around the world currently approved or under construction and is the first major chain to introduce such a significant policy change regarding adult content.

source: The Independent

German sculptor H.A. Shult used 12 tonnes of recycled junk to build the hotel in central Madrid’s Callao Square and draw attention to the amount of flotsam spoiling Europe’s beaches.

His Corona Extra Save the Beach Hotel opened its doors on Jan. 19 and operators say its five double rooms have been fully booked for the four days in which it will be taking guests.

Schult has been getting support from some pretty famous patrons, including Danish model Helena Christensen — who has spent a night in the hotel — French explorer Alexandra Cousteau and jewellery designer Jade Jagger.

source: Reuters

Qatar is planning to have more than 90,000 hotel rooms in place for the World Cup 2022 tournament.

Quoting industry sources, local media in Qatar claim authorities plan to focus on the three to four-star hotel sector and are planning to increase the total number of rooms available to 90,000 hotel rooms by 2022.

“‘We already have a lot of five-star luxury hotels here so we want to develop more and more three and four-star hotels to cater to spectators from different income groups visiting the country for the 2022 event,’” An Arabic daily newspaper reported.

source: arabianbusiness.com

Rome plans to go ahead with an accommodation tax on January 1 next year, it was confirmed this week.

The city council said the ‘Contributo di Soggiorno’ would be introduced despite concerns from the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) about how the money would be collected.

The tax will be €3 per night for guests at four and five star hotels and €2 per night for guests staying in all other accommodation. Children under 2 and youth hostels are the only exemptions from the tax.

source: travelmole.com

A no-frills hotel that costs as little as £9 a night – but charges for extras including towels and luggage storage – has opened in London.

Using a similar strategy to budget airline Ryanair, Malaysian hotel chain Tune Hotels will charge its customers extra for everything from towels to using the hair dryer and even getting the room cleaned.

The tiny rooms will cost as little as £35 a night for a standard, with an occasional special offer price of £9, and come with a comfortable bed, power shower and a laptop stand.

But luggage storage costs £2, getting your room cleaned will add £7.50 and using the hair dryer costs £1, with each towel used costing £1.50.

A night’s worth of television will set you back £3 and using the room’s safe will cost an extra £2.

source: This is London