Flashback to 2001… Enron was making big money trading energy, and (not entirely coincidentally) California was experiencing blackouts. Hotels across the country, but especially in California, were tacking on energy surcharges of $2 or $3 every night, instead of raising the actual rates.

Thankfully, that practice slowly disappeared, as hotels raised rates to incorporate the higher energy costs. (Airlines, on the other hand, subsequently embraced the practice of fuel surcharges, but that’s another issue…)

At this point, there’s no sign of the hotel energy surcharge coming back. Largely, that’s a function of how electricity is priced: Despite increases in fuel costs, electricity costs haven’t gone up for consumers, due largely to state and local regulation.

But hotels are feeling the pinch of higher energy costs another way, it seems, since they’re resorting to fuel-themed gimmickry to attract customers. Apparently fearful of reduced bookings, they’re encouraging guests to stay (and burn fossil fuels to get there) by offering gasoline credits.

The conference and visitor bureau in Costa Mesa, Calif., home to popular Southern California beaches and Disneyland, is offering a $25 gas or airfare rebate for travelers staying at select Orange County hotels, plus a food voucher worth $25 per night, through its “Drive and dine on us” program.
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In New Hampshire, the state visitor’s bureau has a whole page of “gas saving offers” on its Web site.

They include a gas credit of as much as $50 for drivers headed to the The Highlands Inn in Bethlehem – 25 cents a mile or 30 cents a mile if you drive a hybrid.

I realize that hotels run on electricity, not regular unleaded, but the different approaches to increased fuel costs, 2001 vs. 2008, are somewhat ironic.

That said, energy is getting more expensive across the board. And I wouldn’t be surprised if energy surcharges start to reappear on hotel bills in coming months.

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