I'm really not trying to pick on hotels as they are valuable partners for any event planner or event producer. With that said, recently the MeCo Forum had a discussion about outrageous hotel charges, specifically parking charges. Some found that although they had obtained a discounted room rate, that there were instances that the high cost of parking, negated the great room rate. Whether you're a meeting planner who negotiated a hotel contract, or an event producer for an event where the contract has already been signed, we all must remember that for a successful event outcome, the event production company, the event planner and the venue must be good partners. After all, our common goal if to have successful meetings and events.

Reading through  a Linkedin Group discussion, I came across the following outrageous items. Read all the way through, as I finish  with a good hotel story.

• A  fee for toilet paper $3.00 per person ++.  For the 700 person event, that totaled $2100++.  There were no restroom attendants. The planner discussed this with the hotel and the charges were removed
• Load in & Load Out
  Supervisor "Usually never shows up and if they do they just say "hi," and of
  course if you need them, they can never be found"
• Outside vendor fees
  
• $150 Power charge per
  each electrical outlet on the wall, now most receptacles have 2 outlets
  therefore $300 per day if you plug in 2 items
  
• Disposal fee for any
  cups, paper etc  left in the room after the client departs the room on
  the final day

Lastly, not from the above discussion, but from a blog about food allergies, New York's Waldorf Astoria provided stellar service and met the needs of anyone whose food allergies were not compatible with the menu that had been prepared with most food allergies in mind.  There was a printed menu displaying the ingredients for each dish at every seat. However, as needed, they created special meals on the spot for those who requested something because there was nothing on the reportedly allergen free menu for them. Remember, there are so many types of food allergies it would be just about impossible to have a menu for all food allergic people. The author of the blog states that the food was delicious and the service outstanding.

As the blog was written by a guest, not the planner I don't know if the host group paid an additional fee for that stellar service. Obviously,
the outstanding professional planner for the event and the hotel folks
worked together as partners to achieve a successful event http://ow.ly/TtLA