A Las Vegas hotel is accused of adding extra charges to guest bills by saying customers smoked in their rooms.
Former guests who claim to have stayed in one of the 2,800 rooms at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip say they were assessed a $500 smoking fee after smoke was “detected” in their rooms.
When customers dispute the charge, the hotel explains that smoke was detected in their room and residents are required to pay a cleaning fee.
Those who have tried to have the hotel drop the charges after disagreeing with front desk staff say they have then been told to dispute the charges through their bank or credit card.
A Las Vegas hotel is accused of adding extra charges to guest bills by saying customers smoked in their rooms
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 were slapped with a $500 smoking fee after smoke was ‘detected’ in their rooms
Customers who are non-smokers are even among those charged a fine.
Disgruntled travelers have then taken to TripAdvisor to express their disgust at the treatment they received at the hotel.
“I have never been so outraged by ridiculous allegations and shady business practices like Westgate’s. This hotel is trying to charge me a $500 dollar smoking fee on top of my stay because ‘smoke’ was detected in my room,” one customer, Christina K, wrote last month.
‘They claim that because I was in the room and the smoke detector went off, they should charge me a smoking fee and there is no way I can dispute this except through my bank – AND I don’t smoke nor am I a smoker! I just didn’t smoke!’
Christina said a manager at the hotel hung up on her, while a second said there was no way to drop the charges.
However, Christina admitted, “I don’t really have any way to prove that I just DID NOT smoke.”
When customers dispute the charge, the hotel explains how smoke was detected in their room and how guests are required to charge a cleaning fee
Another customer suggested that the $500 smoking fee was known to be a common hotel scam.
‘Their ventilation system has been manipulated. Every time I turned on the air conditioner it smelled like cigarette smoke. Everyone gets a $500 smoking allowance and they claim their detectors are scientifically tested and 100% accurate. No one claims otherwise. It’s the poor ventilation. They rigged that place,” Jay M wrote.
The smoking fee appeared on the bill of another former guest of the hotel, Shawn H, who also stayed at the property last month.
‘The management of this hotel should be investigated for fraud with their smoke detectors. I was out to dinner and they tried to charge me $500+ for a “smoking fee”. I don’t even smoke!’” Shawn wrote.
‘It’s extortion and fraud. Apparently they will try to hide behind ‘we use this technology and it is accurate’ despite not providing any evidence.”
It was a familiar story for another patron who stayed earlier this summer.
‘We have been fighting a ‘smoking charge’ ever since. We don’t smoke/vape ANYTHING. This was a family outing that ended on a sour note due to a $600 smoking fee. Managers unhelpful,” Angelica A added in this year’s July review.
“Be very careful when booking here,” urged one former customer. ‘While I was at the pool I was somehow given a smoking allowance even though no one was in my room when it supposedly happened. So on top of the $51 resort fee I had to pay $515 and I have never smoked in my life. It definitely tainted my holiday weekend.”
Another tenant also explained that they were surprised to be charged a smoking fee despite not being in the room.
“Booked a weekend to go to a football game at Allegiant Stadium, so I was basically alone in the room while I slept and got ready. On the last day of our stay, our debit card was mysteriously charged for almost $500. During checkout we were told that a smoke detector had gone off in our room, so we had to pay a smoking fee.’
One of many complaints on Trip Advisor about an unwanted and unjustified smoking rate
In most cases seen by DailyMail.com, the hotel does not respond directly to the guest leaving the review, but in one case, Valerie Kelterborn, a Guest Experience Manager at the hotel, explained how the technology works and mentioned how it had been tested ‘1 million times’.
‘Our hotel section is a non-smoking building and is equipped with patented FreshAir technology in every room.
“FreshAir devices with patented PolySens® technology are widely deployed in hotels, apartments and other professionally managed properties, detecting and proving smoking in unauthorized areas,” Kelterborn explains.
‘Unlike typical smoke detectors that use light or radiation to detect general particles (dust, smoke, steam, etc.), FreshAir sensors are the only technology that can detect specific molecules in tobacco smoke and marijuana smoke.
‘The accuracy of the device has been tested more than 1 million times and is widely used as a gold standard in the catering industry due to its precision in detection.’
DailyMail.com has contacted the hotel for further clarification regarding the numerous complaints the hotel has received.