Gold Coast holiday unit guests must pay $10 a night surcharge if they want to use air-conditioning
Author: ABC NEWS Date Posted:7 June 2018
A block of Gold Coast holiday apartments where some guests must pay a $10 a night surcharge to rent the remotes for the air-conditioning units is phasing out the policy as they move onto a cheaper electricity provider, the property manager says.
Filmmaker Bruce Redman was working close to Surfers Paradise last week when he checked into a $150 a night unit for two nights.
When he made it to his room and went to switch on the air-conditioning he spotted a laminated sign stuck to the unit.
It read:
Mr Redman told the ABC it was the first time he had seen a surcharge for the use of the air-conditioner at paid accommodation.
"That's why I took a photo of it because I thought it was particularly interesting. It took the cake really, I was quite shocked," Mr Redman said.
"Maybe they've had people knock off the remote, but you charge a deposit, you don't charge per night.
"They've got your credit card details, so if they knock it off they can charge them for it."
Mr Redman shared the image on his personal Facebook page where his friends were "massively outraged".
"I should've known when I got to the front desk and they were going to charge me $10 a night for Wi-Fi."
He said he did not rent the remote during his stay.
The holiday apartment's website lists "air-conditioned apartments available" at a surcharge, as well as on listings websites bookings.com.
The property manager said the surcharge was put in place by the previous manager, and he was in the process of phasing it out.
He said it was the right thing to remove the surcharge.
"As the new manager here since February 2018, I have done few things to save electricity cost for all individual owners to reduce their concerns and cost of high electricity bills," he said.
He said only seven out of the 25 units had already moved onto a cheaper energy provider and as a result the air-conditioning was now included in the room price.
He said he had to talk with each unit owner individually before changing providers for them.
