Vacation, Adventure & Lessons Learned-part 4

When we get to the Ramada Inn, we had to go to the "Welcome Center", where you are given the vouchers for your hotel stay, meals, and what time you will be going to the, "Time Share Pitch". My sister was told it would be ninety minutes and you could leave after that time, even if they weren't done by that time. Attending was mandatory for them to OK the payment of the hotel room. After the Welcome Center, we went to check in and my sister is handed a bill for 24.00. By now she is ready to explode, "For what? Everything is suppose to be taken care of." The lady tells her it's for the, "amenities and taxes". This was the printout:

Surcharge 8.90
State Tax .54
City Tax .45
In Room Safe 1.00 (even if you don't use it)
State Tax .06 (on safe)
City Tax .05 (on safe)
Charitable Donations 1.00 ( their coffee fund?) Total for two days 24.00

Later that night, Sandra and I used our Dinner voucher to get something to eat. After we finished, the waiter said he will be back with the bill. "The bill?" I ask Sandra. "Isn't this suppose to be free?"
Yes, the buffet was free, but you have to pay the taxes on the food and they add the gratuity to it.
Now, I can understand the gratuity, because some people won't tip, even if it's free. But taxes on free food? That blew my mind. That's the way all the meal were, buffet style, taxes and gratuity, in the hotels.
The next morning, my sister went to the sales pitch. The ninety minutes, turned into 4 1/2 hrs. There was no way she could have left. They had taken the group off the grounds where their cars where, and took them to another location. Bingo, got you by the "you know what's". That night was our second night, and the next morning we were headed for Ft. Lauderdale, that was our third day there. Yep, three days and two nights.