Hotwire was next. We booked several hotels on Hotwire. We decided to book a two star hotel. We ended up at the Travellodge LAX South 1804 E. Sycamore Ave, El Segundo, CA. Travellodge doesn't stand out as a bad brand. However this Travellodge is run by a modern band of real life pirates. The rooms smell musty. The bedspreads have stains and smell really bad. We asked a maid how often they wash the bed spreads. She smiled and said, "Only when they need it." Bathtubs are moldy and gritty, looks like very cursory cleaning. The telephone did not work at all.

We knew going in that this motel was a two star. We weren't looking for perfection. What we didn't expect were the sur charges they sprung on us. A check of the Travellodge corporate website as well as all of the major on-line bookers list the same amenities for this motel on their websites. At issue are the sur charges the motel management charges to your credit card without any notice. They charge you $2.50 per day for wireless internet access. They also charge you $1.75 per day for a closet safe. Most recently the hotel started charging $5.00 per day to park in front of your hotel room. That totals $9.25 a day extra in bogus sur charges. Multiply that by 94 rooms. That's $869.50 a day x 365 days=$317,367.50 a year- all bogus sur charges going right into the owners pocket.

You might say some people will need to use the internet so $2.50 seems reasonable and some people will use the room phone. Still more people might need a safe. Surely $1.75 isn't too much for that. We can't even come up with even a laughable answer as to why you have to pay $5.00 to park in front of your room in a motel. As far as we know, that's a first. The best part is that no one tells you about these hidden fees until checkout. When you protest and explain you don't need the internet because you don't have a computer with you and you have your own cell phone and don't need to make calls from the motel phone- things start to get loud. They tell you that it doesn't matter whether you use the phone or the internet, you are being charged anyway because the services are in the room and you could use them.

When you demand that the charges be removed, they refuse. You threaten to call Travellodge Corporate. They say if you do, they will call the police and have you thrown off the property. You call Travellodge Corporate and complain that you have fraudulent charges added to your bill. Travellodge Corporate calls the hotel and tells management that you are complaining about the charges. The manager, a large Indian man comes to your room screaming to get out of his motel right now. He is outraged that Travellodge Corporate has called him asking questions about his business. You point out that the reservations are pre-paid for three nights through Hotwire. Now the threats start rolling. The manager says that he doesn't care how much you have paid. He says he has the right to keep the money because you have caused a disturbance. You ask what he is talking about. He says that by calling his corporate office, we have caused trouble. You say that you will talk to him in the morning and try to close the door.

Then he really explodes. He threatens to call the police and have us arrested, citing inkeeper laws. He pulls out his cell phone and calls 911, telling the police that he has guests causing trouble. The El Segundo Police arrive. We explain to the El Segundo officer what this thief is trying to pull off. The officer says that he was on his way to his dinner break and that he doesn't want to deal with this. The manager is screaming that he wants us arrested if we don't leave right now. We refuse to leave in the middle of the night without a refund of our prepayment on Hotwire and we tell the officer that we will not pay his bogus charges either.

After 30 minutes back and forth arguing, we agree to leave the next day by checkout time and without the balance of the money owed. The officer would have arrested us on the strength of the manager's word that there was some kind of disturbance. We weren't willing to go to jail to prove a point.

Now comes the part we haven't told you. Travellodge LAX South advertises in it's amenities section and on all the major bookers websites as well as the Travellodge Corporate website that they have free local phone calls. Under amenities, they list a safe and high speed internet. Nowhere is there any mention that you will be charged for these services whether you use/want them or not. You have no choice in the charges being billed to your credit card. A total of 51 amenities are listed including a casino and golf course, a beauty and barber shop, other shops and commercial services including a bar and lounge. None of these exist and are just made up to pump up the property, providing misinformation to the unsuspecting guest looking to book the best motel with the most amenities for the best price.

California has a deceptive business practices law. A copy of this story is being forwarded to the California Attorney General's Office. A lot of guests may be due refunds and this Travellodge needs to be honest with it's customers by full disclosure of it's so called sur charges as well as forcing and billing people for services they don't want and did not order.