KCRag Forum

...Holiday Inn Express comparing Emporia, Kansas with Westport.

Westport-Room Rate        91.20
State Tax                        7.05
City Tax                          1.73
Bed/Occupancy Room Tax    6.84
                                     
Total daily taxes on room    15.62        or  17.12%


Emporia - Room Rate          72.00
State Tax                          4.90
City Tax                            4.32

Total daily taxes on room    9.22          or    12.8%


Doing it by %age takes care of the differing room rates-city to small town.

The taxes add up.

3 day stay taxes were $27.66 in the small town, $46.86 in Westport.

Difference in room rates between Westport and Emporia  $19.20
Difference in state taxes between Westport and Emporia  $ 2.15
Difference in other taxes between Westport and Emporia  $ 4.25

Not staying in Emporia.............................  PRICELESS!!!

Holiday Inn Express
ST. LOUIS
2625 LAFAYETTE

Rate Type:  Featured Rate

Rate:    $143.96  (USD)  per room, per night CONVERT CURRENCY

Daily tax on room  13.98% per night

3 days of taxes were  $60.37
$20.12 per day


If the Westport room rate had been 72 dollars, the 3 day tax total would have been 5 dollars.  It certainly does add up!
&&

You are free to spend your time in Emporia if you prefer. 

Leave it to those who have such a powerful hate. Merely a comparison-nothing intended.

Of course there are those of us who have business in Emporia as well as in KC and need to stay there.

I already wrote a nice review on Westport Holiday Inn Express when we stayed there a few days ago.

I didnt' even mention the over $20 Sprint Center tax on our KC rental car which went to Emporia too.

Soaking the tourists to pay for the stuff the locals want though-that's the priceless thing. 

tourists use the sprint center too. 

Bigger cities generally have higher hotel taxes for things like the convention center and general tourism items. 

I've heard NYC has a total hotel tax rate of some 20+% (when you include the city and state stuff). 

I'm sure that the diff between the $72 rate and the $91.20 rate would take care of the location diff. And rightfully so-the city hotel room should cost more-no question.

Boston has the biggest taxes for tourists of any I've been to recently. The rental car taxes were about 25% of the total. Bigger even than Chicago.

nota wrote: Leave it to those who have such a powerful hate. Merely a comparison-nothing intended.

Of course there are those of us who have business in Emporia as well as in KC and need to stay there.

I already wrote a nice review on Westport Holiday Inn Express when we stayed there a few days ago.

I didnt' even mention the over $20 Sprint Center tax on our KC rental car which went to Emporia too.

Soaking the tourists to pay for the stuff the locals want though-that's the priceless thing. 

The point is that there is a lot more stuff to pay for in KC than in Emporia.

I didnt' even mention the over $20 Sprint Center tax on our KC rental car which went to Emporia too.

Soaking the tourists to pay for the stuff the locals want though-that's the priceless thing. 

Thanks for the new arena.

Not sure about the merits of comparing the Emporia and Westport HI Express hotels. Are they the same age and quality? The HI Express in Springfield, MO (next to Cards AA Stadium) is actually one of the nicer motelish/hotelish hotels I've stayed. Some other HI Expresses are complete dumps.

Just because they fly the same flag doesn't make it a valid comparison. 

This thread is being taken too seriously.  Here's the definition for drivel:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drivel

Relax, it's just tax drivel.

nota wrote: The rental car taxes were about 25% of the total. Bigger even than Chicago.

Try picking up a car at DFW sometime - makes our little sprint center tax look like chump change.  I have actually had the taxes exceed the rental fee at DFW. 

even with higher fees as a % of the total cost, renting a car in KC is still cheaper than 90% of other large cities.  there was a graph in the Star comparing cities when the Sprint Center vote passed or something. 

chrizow wrote: even with higher fees as a % of the total cost, renting a car in KC is still cheaper than 90% of other large cities.  there was a graph in the Star comparing cities when the Sprint Center vote passed or something. 

I just rented a vehicle in KCMO and Denver, seemed about the same to me. 

As someone who has traveled for business 20 times a year for 30 years I can definately verify that hotel taxes in Kansas City are not out of line and more importantly, that total hotel cost (room plus taxes) in KC is low compared to east or west coast.

hotel rooms in places like Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, New York are not just high, the service is pathetic and the rooms are dirtly. They have major service problems on the east coast. 

PumpkinStalker wrote: This thread is being taken too seriously.  Here's the definition for drivel:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drivel

Relax, it's just tax drivel.

EXACTLY!!!!!!

PumpkinStalker wrote: This thread is being taken too seriously.  Here's the definition for drivel:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drivel

Relax, it's just tax drivel.

So, this thread is hotel tax saliva? 

AllThingsKC wrote: So, this thread is hotel tax saliva?   

NAH!! I call that "dribble"

I was going after definition #2 for drivel.

Powerful hate? Just so I know..... I was joking. It is your life, you can stay where ever you want. Just don't bring me with you. lol

K.C.Highrise wrote: Powerful hate? Just so I know..... I was joking. It is your life, you can stay where ever you want. Just don't bring me with you. lol

OH COME ON!!!!!!!!! Emporia is my hometown and I don't like to go there either. The most excitement after 5 is going to Braums for ice cream or driving past the cattle yards, etc. It's hot and dry there and just not much fun anymore. I was joking too.

Emporia used to be a "happenin" place in my young days. It was cool to go to town on Wednesday evenings and park in front of Crown Drugstore and watch the people go by. At the end of the evening, parents would take us in and buy us a nickel coke. If we were really good, we got a large for a dime!!!! And we got to spend our allowance of 50 cents a week. Actually, it was a really nice time back in the day.

People charged their groceries at Snider's Grocery and paid every first of the month. Gas was charged at the station and Albert Helmer would give us each a nickel candy bar and a nickel bottle of Coke when Dad paid his gas bill. He was a trucker every day and had a big gas bill every month. I remember it being as high as $40 or $50 a month. And everyone had to pay their bills on time-no shirking because if you didn't pay on time, everyone in town would know by a day or two.