I read a story today about a hotel lowering it’s room rates to $200 a night in New York City.

What the report leaves out is that if the hotel has a resort fee or whatever they choose to call it, it can reach up to $40 a night. And the taxes easily can be as much as 20 percent of the rate.

That would make a $200 room around $280 without a stretch.

That’s 40 percent higher than the rate mentioned in the story.

Since I have given up on precision journalism, maybe we should turn to, what else, the government.

If retailers have to list exact calories, how about the listed rate of a hotel night required to include any fees and taxes in the posted rate we see upfront?