I realize that we are in a period of inflation, but the brazen attempt by the St. Regis Chicago to pass off a phony inflation “surcharge” as a tax is really pathetic.

Sleazy: 3.5% Inflation “Surcharge” At Miru In St. Regis Chicago

You might remember that the St. Regis Chicago was the hotel that thought it could get away with denying Marriott Bonvoy elites their breakfast benefit when it first opened in 2023. After a lot of pushback and bad publicity, the hotel backed down.

Now the hotel is at it again, with a 3.5% surcharge masked as a tax.

A reader was dining earlier this week at Miru, the hotel’s Japanese restaurant (as an aside, he said the food was not great either). When he received the bill, he noticed a “restaurant surcharge” line item on the bill directly below the subtotal and above the tax.

Looking at the bottom of the reciept, he found this explanation:

As a way to offset rising costs we have added a 3.5% surcharge to all checks. You may request to have this taken off your check should you choose.

Yes, an inflation surcharge…costs are up so we are going to add a 3.5% tax to your bill and hope you miss it or just think it is a tax. That strikes me as both pathetic and unethical.

At least, in this case, it was optional…the reader asked that it be removed and it was.

CONCLUSION

I know restaurants tend to be a low-margin business and inflation has hit both labor and food costs. Even so, the smoke and mirrors of adding surcharges (like British Airways has done the last two decades) strikes me as worse than simply updating the menu prices to reflect rising costs.

What do you think about the practice of the St. Regis Chicago? Is adding this optional surcharge a better solution than forcing a price increase on the menu, or just sleazy?

> Read More: St. Regis Chicago Shamed Into Offering Elite Breakfast Benefit