A SHERATONNY charge on your credit card statement comes from the Sheraton New York Times Square, a Marriott-branded hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The line item usually represents one piece of a hotel stay: the room rate, the mandatory daily destination fee, taxes, or an incidental authorization hold placed on your card at check-in. Because the descriptor is abbreviated and can post days after checkout, guests often don’t recognize it at first glance.
If the amount matches what you’d expect for your stay plus fees and taxes, it’s almost certainly legitimate. If it doesn’t, the charge is worth a closer look before you dispute it, because part of what you’re seeing may be a hold rather than a final charge.
What the Charge Usually Covers
Three things typically account for a SHERATONNY entry:
- The nightly room rate and applicable taxes.
- A mandatory destination fee of $30 per night, plus tax on that fee.
- An incidental authorization hold placed on the card at check-in to cover potential extras like room service or minibar use.
The $30 Destination Fee
The Sheraton New York Times Square adds a mandatory destination fee to every reservation. The hotel introduced the fee at $25 per night in February 2018 and later raised it to $30. It applies whether or not you use any of the perks it’s tied to.
In exchange, the hotel provides a $30 daily food and beverage credit usable at on-site outlets such as the Starbucks, Library Bar, Hudson Market, and in-room dining. The credit does not roll over, and taxes and gratuities on those purchases aren’t covered. The fee has historically also bundled a daily fitness class, enhanced internet, discounted merchandise, and a choice of a local attraction experience.
Guest complaints about the fee have been common. Travelers have described paying tax on the mandatory fee and then again on the food purchased with the credit as “double taxation.” Some guests who booked before the fee was introduced reported it was applied retroactively. Front-desk staff have given inconsistent answers about whether the fee can be waived, with some presenting it as removable at check-in and others as non-negotiable.
Why the Pending Amount Can Look Too High
The second reason a SHERATONNY charge may look larger than expected is the incidental hold. Marriott properties authorize a temporary hold at check-in that covers room and tax, any destination or resort fees, and a per-day incidental amount that varies by property.
A hold is not a charge. It’s a reservation of funds that shows up as a pending transaction and reduces your available balance until it’s released. After checkout, the hold typically drops off within five business days, though depending on your card issuer it can linger for up to 30 days. Paying the final bill with the same card you used for the hold generally speeds the release. If you check out on a different card, the original hold may take longer to fall off while the hotel and issuer reconcile the two transactions.
If your statement shows both a pending amount and a settled charge that together look like you were billed twice, wait for the pending item to clear before assuming there’s an error.
A Note on Marriott Bonvoy Status
Elite status does not waive the destination fee. Marriott Bonvoy applies the fee to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members and to award-night stays. Because the fee bundles enhanced internet — a benefit Gold-and-above members already receive free — those members are entitled under program terms to a replacement benefit of equivalent value, though guests may need to request it at check-in, citing section 1.3.c.iv of the Bonvoy terms.
How to Dispute a SHERATONNY Charge
If the amount doesn’t match your folio, your stay was canceled, or the charge is entirely unrecognized, start with the hotel. Front-desk or billing staff can pull up the reservation, walk through the line items, and correct billing errors directly. Marriott’s customer service line can also retrieve folio details for any Marriott-branded property.
If the hotel can’t resolve it, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute the charge with your card issuer. A few points worth knowing:
- Disputes must generally be initiated within 60 days of the statement date on which the charge appeared.
- You are not required to pay the disputed amount during the investigation, and the issuer cannot report the account as delinquent while the dispute is open.
- The issuer must acknowledge the dispute in writing within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles.
- For unauthorized charges, federal law caps consumer liability at $50, and most major issuers offer zero-liability policies that eliminate even that.
Keep your reservation confirmation, folio, and any email correspondence with the hotel. Those documents anchor the dispute.
What New Disclosure Rules Change
Two regulations affect how a fee like the Sheraton destination charge is supposed to be presented before you book. The Federal Trade Commission finalized its Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees in December 2024, effective May 10, 2025. It requires lodging providers nationwide to disclose all mandatory fees, excluding government taxes, at the beginning of the booking process, with penalties of up to $51,744 per violation.
New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection went further. A rule effective February 21, 2026 makes it a deceptive trade practice to advertise a hotel room without clearly disclosing the total price of the stay, including all mandatory fees. Hotels can still charge destination fees, but the all-in price must appear at the first point in the booking process across every distribution channel, including online travel agencies, and each fee’s nature, purpose, and amount must be disclosed. A separate provision, effective January 22, 2027, requires hotels to disclose their card hold policies — the standard hold amount, when the hotel may retain part of it, and the approximate release timeframe — before a consumer books.
If you booked a stay and were not shown the destination fee upfront, you can report a suspected violation to New York City by calling 311 or visiting the city’s consumer protection website.