Staypineapple, A Delightful Hotel, South End in Boston

The hotel itself was clean, the bed was very comfortable, and the housekeeping staff was especially kind and attentive - we truly appreciated their work and hospitality.

However, we experienced a serious issue regarding the resort fee policy, which left us feeling confused and misled as international guests.

During online booking, the resort fee was listed as $25 per night, but important information about additional mandatory charges only appeared after payment was completed, when cancellation was no longer possible, wich is disappointing. Upon arrival, we were charged $200, which was later explained as $25 per person per night - something that was not clearly communicated during the booking process or at check-in. Initially, we believed this payment was a refundable deposit, as no clear explanation was provided.
What felt particularly unacceptable was the way additional fees appeared in multiple stages:
1. extra charges becoming visible only after payment and confirmation,
2. additional payments required again upon arrival at the hotel, and
3. further unexplained charges after checkout - in our case, an additional $16 was withdrawn without clear justification.
A staff member kindly explained that the resort fee includes Wi-Fi, water, and tea in the room, which we did use as they are standard services normally included in hotel stays worldwide. The fee also covered additional optional amenities such as bicycle parking and a complimentary alcoholic drink at the bar. However, we did not use these extra amenities, as they were not relevant to our stay. Since these services are optional by nature, it was unclear why guests are not given the choice to opt out instead of being required to pay for them regardless of usage.

Even more concerning is that these mandatory resort fees are presented as payment for comfort and amenities, yet the overall stay did not fully reflect this. The soundproofing in the hotel is very poor, and we could clearly hear the neighbour’s television. The manual heating system in our room also did not function properly. We chose not to report these issues at the time because we spent little time in the hotel and did not expect the final cost of the stay to become so high. In hindsight, considering the total amount paid, these comfort issues become more significant.

We strongly believe that all mandatory taxes and service fees should be transparently included in the total hotel price from the beginning. When fees continue to appear after payment, during check-in, and even after departure, guests understandably feel uncomfortable and misled.

Because the final amount paid was much higher than expected, we realized that for the same total price we could have chosen a better hotel without additional hidden fees - which we in fact did for our following stay.

We kindly ask the hotel to review these charges and consider a partial refund, as greater transparency and fairness in pricing would greatly improve trust and the overall guest experience

bad price