I should point out that the quote with the 5% tax also has a 13% surcharge. I don't think it is necessarily gouging, but certainly obfuscating the price to get people who aren't paying attention to the bottom line. I booked a hotel in NY and there is a mandatory $10/night facility fee. Why not just bump the room cost up by $10 and call it a day? Because that makes their room price more than the surrounding hotels.