Hilton extends energy surcharge beyond California

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Hilton extends energy surcharge beyond California

LOS ANGELES, April 17 (Reuters) - Following the lead of Sheraton and Westin hotels, Hilton Hotels Corp. has quietly expanded its room surcharge for offsetting higher energy costs in California to at least eight other states, a Hilton spokesman said on Tuesday.

In the last two weeks, Hilton, which operates Hilton and Doubletree hotels, has extended the $3-per-night surcharge to its hotels in Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York City, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington state and Washington, D.C., said spokesman Marc Grossman. 'The areas we identified were areas where energy costs were truly rising at an extraordinary rate,' Grossman said. 'Whether or not the surcharge gets put in place is up to the area managers.'

Hilton first introduced the surcharge at its California hotels in March to offset rising energy prices in the state as it grappled with deregulation. Rival hotel operators Marriott International Inc. MAR and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. HOT instituted similar surcharges at their California hotels at about the same time. In mid-March, Starwood, which operates Westin and Sheraton hotels, expanded its surcharge to include hotels in Houston, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, south Florida, Kansas City, Mo. and Steamboat Springs, Colo. Marriott has not yet extended its surcharge beyond California, said spokesman Tom Marder. 'Obviously the energy issue is significant and we're following it closely,' he said. 'But (expanding the surcharge) is not a determination we've made.'

The surcharge also recently showed up in Nevada, where casino operator Harrah's Entertainment Inc. added a fee of $3 per night last week to offset energy prices that have risen as much as 30 percent over the last six months. All hotel and casino operators that have added surcharges emphasized that the extra fees are only temporary until energy prices come back down.

Copyright 2001 Reuters News Service.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/reuters20010417_4024.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 17, 2001

Answers

This is a good example of the piggyback effect of California's electricity problems.

-- Wellesley (wellesley@freeport.net), April 18, 2001.

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