May 30--After government workers were hit with a surprise $2.75-a-night energy surcharge at the Wyndham Harbour Island in Tampa, state Attorney General Bob Butterworth on Wednesday filed a deceptive trade practices suit against Wyndham International Inc. 

The suit alleges that Wyndham misled consumers while collecting more than $600,000 in energy surcharges at its 12 Florida hotels before the practice was halted last fall. 

Butterworth's consumer fraud unit is weighing whether to file similar suits against other chains that have allegedly slapped fees unannounced on bills. The investigation includes Marriott International, Hilton Hotels, some Holiday Inn operators and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which operates the Sheraton and Westin chains in Florida. 

The investigation was in response to the lodging industry's lingering love affair with fees. Hotels dreamed up an array of extra add-ons last summer that helped them maintain their revenues despite an economic slowdown that led to declines in room rates. 

"Hotels have been using all sorts of guises to keep their revenues up," said Percival Darby, a hospitality management professor at Florida International University in Miami. 

While many business hotels doubled their charge for a local telephone call to $1, others tried recouping lost revenues by charging for things such as room safes, self-parking or "resort" amenities. When electric and natural gas prices soared in early 2001, many chains added "energy surcharges" to offset their higher air-conditioning and heating bills. Frequently customers first learned of the surcharges at check-out. 

Many business travelers complained. But meeting planners who book rooms by the hundreds months in advance went through the roof when hotels tried to change negotiated deals with extra charges. 

"There was such bad publicity and an outcry from guests that most chains stopped charging them and built the extra costs back into their regular rates," said Chuck Ross, a consultant with Atlantic Hospitality Group in Valrico. 

Butterworth's staff put the word out for state agencies to report extra add-on charges after one of his investigators spotted a $2.50 energy surcharge on his bill from a Jacksonville Hilton. 

In the case of the Wyndham, the Harbour Island hotel wanted $2.75-a-night extra from people who checked in last July for a records storage conference held by the Department of State. The charge was not disclosed in advance, the state alleges. 

Keeping extra fees out of the base room rates helps a hotel seem like a better deal when prospective guests comparison shop. 

"The consumer needs to know the true cost of booking a room before they make a decision to book," said Tina Furlow, an assistant attorney general. 

"We are also concerned these fees are not adequately explained," said Mark Kraus, an assistant attorney general. "Calling a service fee a surcharge makes it sound more like a tax that some agency or government entity required they put on the bill." 

Wyndham last week become the first chain to settle a similar deceptive advertising class-action lawsuit in state court in San Diego. That case is pending against several national hotel chains. Wyndham agreed to provide $15 coupons to customers who were charged energy surcharge fees if they opt out of the suit. The chain picked that amount because its energy surcharge during the California electricity crisis last summer was $7.50 a night. 

The company, which is headquartered in Dallas, declined to comment on the Florida suit. But it said its policy has been to disclose energy surcharges when reservations are booked. 

"We also informed customers of the energy surcharge with signs at check-in counters and in each room," Wyndham spokeswoman Darcie Brossart said. 

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