The bill had things on it you did not buy.

Resort fees that appeared after the price you were shown, minibar items you never opened, damage claimed after you left, and a hold that was supposed to drop off three weeks ago.

Read this first

A hold is not a charge, and only one of them starts a clock

An authorisation hold ring-fences funds against your available balance without moving any money, and it falls away on its own within a window your issuer can tell you. A charge is a completed transaction and shows on the statement as one. The distinction matters because a card dispute window generally runs from the transaction date, and that clock is the one people lose on while they are politely waiting for the hotel to reply. Read your statement, work out which of the two you are actually looking at, then call your issuer the same day and ask two questions: what is my deadline to dispute this transaction, and from what date does that clock run. Write the answer down with the name of the person who gave it, and build every other deadline inside it.

What you are owed

Anything that was not in the price you were shown

You agreed to the total presented to you at the point you paid. A mandatory fee first disclosed at the desk, or buried where the rate page did not show it, was not part of that agreement. This is why the screenshot of the rate page as it appeared when you booked is worth more than any argument you can make about fairness.

Every charge they cannot evidence

Minibar consumption and damage claims are assertions until the property produces something: a signed docket, a timestamped system log, dated photographs, an itemised invoice for the repair. Ask for the evidence in writing before you argue about the amount. A charge that cannot be evidenced is usually removed rather than defended.

Your money released on the timescale they stated

If a deposit or incidentals hold has not cleared, ask the property to confirm in writing the date they released it and the reference. A department is not a date. Where you prepaid through a booking platform, the platform is usually the merchant of record and the party actually sitting on the money, which is why the property and the platform belong on the same thread with the same deadline rather than being chased one after the other.

How they will refuse, and what answers it

“You agreed to the resort fee at check-in.”

Ask them to produce what you signed, and the version of the rate page you booked from. A fee first presented at the desk on a prepaid booking is a materially different proposition from a fee shown in the price you agreed to pay.

“The minibar system registers when an item is lifted.”

Then ask for the log, with timestamps. Sensor minibars routinely register items that were moved and put back, and properties know it. If they cannot produce a timestamped record against your stay dates, say so in writing and put a date on when you expect the charge reversed.

“Housekeeping recorded the damage after you checked out.”

Ask for dated photographs, the housekeeping report and the invoice for the repair or replacement. A charge levied after departure, with no inspection you were present for and no opportunity to respond, is the weakest kind of claim they can make, and it is worth saying that plainly.

Gather this before you write

□Your card statement showing every amount, date and merchant descriptor, with holds and completed charges separated
□The rate page and booking confirmation as they appeared when you booked, showing the total presented
□The final folio or itemised bill from the property
□The registration card or anything else you signed at check-in
□Every message about the charge, in both directions, with timestamps
□Your issuer's stated dispute deadline for this transaction and the date the clock runs from

Now make them answer.

Tell us what happened in your own words. We write the letters, set the deadlines, and email each escalation on the day it is due.