Guides
Guides to hotel prices, fees and cancellation
What the price covers and what it does not, explained with sources.
City tax and tourist tax 2026: rates for 19 citiesTourist tax and city tax in 2026, city by city: Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Crete, Antalya, the Algarve and more. Rates, exemptions, who collects it, with official sources and an open dataset.
Hotel cancellation deadlines: which time zone counts?Does a hotel cancellation deadline run on the hotel's clock or yours? What a GMT deadline means, how to convert it, and what the clock change does to it.
Do hotels take a deposit at check-in? Holds, charges and typical amountsDo hotels take a deposit at check-in? The difference between a hold and a charge, how the amount is set, how long it lasts, and what to do if it stays.
Why the hotel price changes at checkout, and how to check the real totalWhy a hotel price can be higher at checkout than in the search, what taxes and fees actually cover, and a five-step check of the real total before you pay.
Taxes and fees on a hotel booking, explained: VAT, city tax, resort fees and depositsVAT, city tax, resort fees and deposits on a hotel booking: which belong in the price, which the hotel collects on arrival, and what the rules require.
Member prices and public prices on hotels: what you actually payWhat a member price on a hotel really is, when the discount is real, and how to compare hotel prices like for like before you book.
Non-refundable hotel rates explained: what you can and cannot doWhat a non-refundable hotel rate means, whether you can still cancel it, what partially refundable means, and how to choose between the rate types.