See what your stay will really cost: Marriott adds 'all in' pricing button

For several years now, one of the biggest complaints about the hotel industry has been the steady expansion of resort and destination fees, which can add anywhere from $20 to $50+ to your nightly rate. Taxes and fees aren't always well disclosed, especially when booking through a third-party travel agency, leading many travelers to be confused about the total rate they actually owe for their stay.

For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

Marriott adds 'all in' pricing button

While most travel news in recent weeks has centered on coronavirus-related shutdowns and cancellations, Marriott has quietly rolled out a huge improvement to its online search engine. Now when you search for cash rates at a hotel, you'll see a button you can click to display rates inclusive of all taxes and fees — including resort and destination fees.

Looking at the W South Beach as an example, we can see that the total "all in" cost is nearly $100 per night more than just the base room rate, as you have to add regular taxes and fees plus the $40 daily resort fee, which itself is subject to additional taxes.

You can also see this new feature reflected in the URL for hotel searches on Marriott.com (emphasis mine):

"https://www.marriott.com/reservation/rateListMenu.mi?defaultTab=prepay&showFullPrice=false"

Meanwhile, if you changed the end of the URL to "showFullPrice=true," that would enable the all-in pricing display.

Related: Which Marriott Bonvoy credit card is right for you?

Not only is the button available once you click into a specific hotel, but you'll also see it on the general search page. Once you check it, a note will appear below the hotel price showing you that taxes and fees are included in the rate you see.

You'll see the biggest discrepancy in prices at hotels like the W South Beach that charge large resort fees, but every hotel charges some kind of tax on top of the base room rate, so it's worth using this all-in pricing feature any time you're searching for a hotel. As of now the Marriott website defaults to just showing you the base room rate, so you'll have to remember to manually check the box each time you search to see the total price.

Related: The award traveler's guide to Marriott Bonvoy

The same feature is available on the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app — if you select "Filters" you'll see a button that allows you to display rates with all taxes and fees.

Bottom line

I consider this to be a hugely positive development for Marriott customers, who now have the ability to easily see the total cost for a hotel night inclusive of all taxes and fees. While this doesn't address the concern over the rapid proliferation of resort fees (including at non-resort properties that don't offer any unique amenities), it will help eliminate confusion about what the true cost of the stay is.