You'd Better Ask How Much

Before leaving on a housecall, I tell guests my fee, but this is not universal among hotel doctors. Guests may learn when the doctor hands over the invoice at the end of the visit.

It’s often a bombshell. I recall a guest who showed me a bill for $1140, and I’ve seen higher. It takes huge balls for a doctor to do this, but it works. People who will quarrel with an unreasonable charge that arrives in the mail may keep quiet face-to-face with a doctor in a room far from home. 

Long, long ago I made visits for a national concierge agency that boasted it would fulfill a hotel guest’s every need. It was a luxury service, but not everyone in an upscale hotel is filthy rich. After collecting an immense fee from several resentful guests, I stopped accepting the agency’s calls.