A hotel in Las Vegas stands accused of adding on additional fees to guests bills by saying customers have been smoking in their room.
Former guests who claim to have stayed at one of the 2,800 rooms inside Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip say they have been slapped with a smoking fee of $500 after smoke was ‘detected’ in their rooms.
When customers fight the charges, the hotel allegedly explains that smoke was sensed in their room and how occupants are obliged to charge a cleaning fee.
Those who have attempted to get the hotel to remove the fee after disagreeing with front desk staff say they have then been told to dispute the charges through their bank or credit cards.
A hotel in Las Vegas stands accused of adding on additional fees to guests bills by saying customers have been smoking in their room
A number of people who claim to have stayed at the 2,800 room Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip say they have been slapped with a smoking fee of $500 after smoke was ‘detected’ in their rooms
Those who have been charged include even include customers who are non-smokers.
Disgruntled travelers have then taken to TripAdvisor to post their disgust at the treatment they’ve received from the hotel.
‘I have never been so furious with ridiculous charges and shady business practices such as Westgate. This hotel is trying to charge me for a smoking fee of $500 dollars in addition to my stay because there was ‘smoke’ detected in my room,’ wrote one customer, Christina K, last month.
‘They are claiming that because I was in the room and the smoke detection went off, they have to charge me a smoking fee and I have no way of disputing it other than going through my bank— AND I do not smoke nor am I a smoker! I simply did not smoke!’
Christina said that one manager at the hotel hung up on her while a second said there was no way of removing the charge.
However, Christina conceded, ‘I basically have no way of proving that I simply DID NOT smoke.’
When customers fight the charges, the hotel explains how smoke was sensed in their room and how occupants are obliged to charge a cleaning fee
Another customer suggested the $500 smoking fee was well known as a common scam pulled by the hotel.
‘Their ventilation system is rigged. Every time I turned on the air conditioner it reeked of cigarette smoke bad. Everyone gets charged $500 smoking fees and they claim their detectors are scientifically tested and 100% accurate. No one is claiming otherwise. It’s the poor ventilation. They have that place rigged,’ wrote Jay M.
The smoking fee appeared on the bill of another former guest oof the hotel, Shawn H, who also stayed at the property last month.
‘The management at this hotel needs to be investigated for fraud with their smoke detectors. I was out at dinner and they tried charging me $500+ for a “smoking fee”. I don’t even smoke!,’ Shawn wrote.
‘It is extortion and scammy. Apparently, they’ll try to hide behind “we use this technology and it’s accurate” despite giving zero evidence.’
It was a familiar story for another patron who stayed earlier this summer.
‘We’ve been fighting a ‘smoking charge’ since then. We do not smoke/vape ANYTHING. This was a family trip that ended sour because of a $600 smoking charge. Managers not helpful,’ added Angelica A in review from July of this year.
‘Be very cautious if booking here,’ urged a former customer. ‘While I was out at the pool I somehow incurred a smoking fee even though no one was in my room when it supposedly occurred. So on top of a $51 resort fee I was charged $515 and I’ve never smoked in my life. Absolutely tarnished my holiday weekend.’
Another lodger also explained how they were surprised to have been charged a smoking fee, despite not being in the room.
‘Booked a weekend to go to a football game at the Allegiant Stadium so really only was in the room when sleeping and getting ready. On the last day of our stay an almost $500 charge mysteriously charged on our debit card. We were told during checkout that a smoke detector went off in our room so we were being charged a smoking fee.’
One of several complaints on Trip Advisor about an unwanted and unwarranted smoking fee
In the majority of cases seen by DailyMail.com, the hotel does not directly respond to the guest leaving the review, however in one case, Valerie Kelterborn, a Guest Experience Manager from the hotel explained how the technology works noting how it had been tested ‘1 million times’.
‘Our hotel area is a non-smoking facility that is equipped with FreshAir patented technology in each room.
‘Widely deployed in hotels, apartments, and other professionally managed properties, FreshAir’s devices with patented PolySens® technology detect and prove smoking in unauthorized areas,’ Kelterborn explained.
‘Unlike typical smoke detectors which use light or radiation to detect general particles (dust, smoke, steam, etc.), FreshAir sensors are the only technology to detect specific molecules in tobacco smoke and marijuana smoke.
‘The accuracy of the device has been tested over 1 million times and is widely used as the gold standard in the hospitality industry due to the precision in detection.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to the hotel for further clarification on the multiple complaints the hotel has received.