The quick answer on resort fees
A resort fee is a mandatory nightly charge added to your hotel bill on top of the room rate. You cannot decline it. It is charged whether or not you use any of the amenities it supposedly pays for.
- They are mandatory, not optional. Despite being described as a fee for amenities, you cannot opt out by not using the pool.
- They must now be disclosed up front in the US. Federal rules require the total price, including mandatory fees, to be shown before you pay.
- They are usually not included in the headline rate. Comparison sites often still sort on the room rate, so the cheapest listing may not be the cheapest stay.
- They are charged per night. On a week-long stay the total is substantial.
- Points bookings are not exempt. Award stays frequently still attract the fee, with a few programme-specific exceptions.
In practice, the only reliable defence is to compare the total price at checkout rather than the nightly rate on the search screen. That is one extra click per hotel. It is also the single highest-value habit in hotel booking.
Why resort fees exist
Resort fees exist because hotels compete on the number shown in search results. Moving part of the price out of the room rate and into a separate mandatory charge makes a hotel look cheaper on a comparison screen. The guest still pays the same total, or more.
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There are secondary reasons too. In some jurisdictions the fee is taxed differently from room revenue. Commission paid to online travel agencies is usually calculated on the room rate rather than the total, so shifting revenue into a fee reduces what the hotel pays the agency. Corporate travel policies often cap the nightly room rate, and a resort fee can sit outside that cap.
None of those reasons benefit you. Understanding them, however, explains why the practice has been so persistent, and why it concentrates in markets like Las Vegas, Orlando and Hawaii where comparison shopping is intense.
What resort fees are said to cover
The listed inclusions are usually things that were historically free, or that most guests would never use. Typical examples include wifi, pool and gym access, towels, local phone calls, a newspaper, bottled water, a fitness class, or a discount coupon booklet.
Occasionally the bundle has genuine value. Some resorts include parking, airport shuttles, equipment rental, or meaningful food and drink credits. Those are worth something real. Nevertheless, you should value the bundle at what you will actually use, not at the hotel’s stated retail value, which is typically inflated.
Resort fees and the total price you actually pay
The table shows where charges appear and whether you can avoid them. Treat it as the set of lines to look for on the checkout screen.
| Charge | Typical name | Mandatory? | Can you avoid it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room rate | Nightly rate | Yes | No, but it is comparable across sites |
| Resort fee | Resort fee, destination fee, amenity fee, facility fee, urban fee | Yes | Rarely, and only by choosing a hotel without one |
| Occupancy and sales tax | Taxes | Yes | No |
| Parking | Self or valet parking | Only if you park | Yes, by not driving or parking elsewhere |
| Early check-in | Early arrival fee | Only if requested | Yes, usually |
| Extra guest | Additional occupant | Depends on occupancy | Sometimes, by booking the right room type |
| Pet fee | Pet cleaning fee | Only with a pet | Yes |
| Incidentals hold | Authorisation | No, it is a hold | Not avoidable, but it is refunded |
A framework for handling resort fees
Four steps. Do the first two before booking, because they are far more effective than anything you can do at the desk afterwards.
What US disclosure rules now require
Federal rules now require hotels and short-term lodging to show the total price, including mandatory fees such as resort fees, up front rather than revealing them at the end. The intent is that the first price you see is comparable to the first price you see elsewhere.
This is a meaningful improvement. However, it changes disclosure rather than legality. A resort fee that is properly disclosed is still a charge you must pay. The rule removes the ambush, not the fee.
It is also worth knowing that enforcement is evolving, and several state attorneys general have pursued hotel groups separately over fee disclosure. If you encounter a fee that genuinely was not disclosed before you paid, that is the situation worth escalating. The FTC guidance on advertising and pricing sets out what sellers must do.
Resort fees on points and award stays
This catches people out more than anything else. Booking a free night with points usually does not waive the resort fee. You arrive expecting to pay nothing and leave having paid a cash bill for several nights of fees.
Programme rules differ, and a small number of chains do waive the fee on award stays or for top-tier elite members. Because it varies by brand and by individual property, check before you redeem rather than afterwards.
The practical consequence is that a resort fee lowers the value of a points redemption. If a free night still costs a meaningful cash amount, the points are buying you less than the headline rate suggests. Factor the fee in when you decide whether to pay cash or redeem.
Can you get a resort fee removed?
Usually not, and it helps to be realistic about this. The fee is a term of the booking. Front desk staff generally have no authority to remove it, and asking firmly does not change that.
There are narrow exceptions. If an amenity the fee explicitly covers was unavailable for your whole stay, such as a closed pool during renovation, that is a reasonable basis to ask for a partial credit. If the fee was genuinely not disclosed before you paid, that is a disclosure complaint rather than a negotiation. And top-tier elite status occasionally includes a waiver at certain brands.
Otherwise, the leverage is in hotel choice, not in conversation at checkout. Raise it politely once if you have grounds, then move on.
How resort fees interact with taxes and corporate policy
Two side effects are worth understanding, because they explain why the practice survives commercial pressure to drop it.
The first is tax treatment. In several jurisdictions room revenue attracts occupancy tax at one rate while a separately itemised service charge is treated differently. Shifting revenue from the room rate into a fee can therefore reduce the tax collected on the booking. Whether that benefit accrues to the hotel or to the guest varies, and the detail differs by city and state.
The second is commission. When a hotel sells a room through an online travel agency, the commission is usually calculated on the room rate rather than on the total the guest pays. A resort fee sits outside that calculation. Consequently a hotel keeps more of the money from a booking split between a lower rate and a fee than from the same total charged entirely as room rate.
Corporate travel adds a third incentive. Many expense policies cap the nightly room rate an employee may book. A resort fee frequently falls outside that cap, which means a hotel can remain technically compliant with a traveller’s policy at a higher effective price. If you book business travel against a cap, check the total rather than the rate, because the cap does not protect you from the fee.
Resort fees outside the United States
The resort fee as a named charge is largely a US practice, but mandatory extras are not. Elsewhere the same money is collected under different labels, and the distinction matters because some of those charges genuinely cannot be avoided by choosing a different hotel.
City tourist taxes are the most common. These are set by local government, charged per person per night, and often collected at the property in cash. They are unavoidable in that destination regardless of where you stay, although the rate sometimes varies by hotel category. Budget for them separately rather than treating them as a hotel decision.
Service charges are different again. In parts of Asia and the Caribbean a service charge plus government levy is added to the quoted rate as a fixed percentage. Because it is a percentage rather than a flat nightly amount, it scales with the room rate, so a more expensive room carries a proportionally larger addition.
Resort fees in the American sense do appear at some international resort properties, particularly those marketing to US travellers. Where they do, the same comparison habit applies: price the total for your dates rather than the nightly rate.
Where resort fees are most common
They concentrate where hotels compete hardest on displayed price. Las Vegas is the most notorious market. Orlando, Hawaii, Miami, and large convention cities follow. In big cities the same charge is often called a destination fee or an urban fee, which sounds different and functions identically.
Outside the US the practice is less widespread, though mandatory charges appear in other forms: city tourist taxes, service charges, and in some countries a compulsory per-person levy collected at the property. Those are separate from resort fees and are often genuinely unavoidable because they are set by local government rather than the hotel.
Comparing hotels when resort fees differ
The comparison that matters is total cost for your actual stay, including everything you will be charged. Here is the short version of how to run it.
- Shortlist three or four hotels on location and reviews first, not price.
- For each, proceed to the final checkout screen and record the total.
- Add parking if you are driving, since that is frequently separate from the resort fee.
- Subtract the value of anything in the bundle you will genuinely use.
- Compare those adjusted totals. The ranking often reverses.
A hotel with a higher room rate and no fee frequently beats a cheaper-looking hotel with a large one. Our guide to hidden hotel fees covers the other charges to look for, and the hotel cancellation strategy guide explains how flexible rates interact with the total.
A checklist before you book
- What is the total price at checkout, not the nightly rate?
- Is there a resort, destination, amenity or facility fee, and how much per night?
- What does it include, and which of those will you actually use?
- Is parking included in it, or charged separately?
- Does it apply to award stays, if you are redeeming points?
- Is it charged per night for every night, including the day of departure?
- Is there a comparable hotel nearby without one?
Mistakes that cost the most
Sorting search results by nightly rate and booking the top result. Redeeming points without checking whether the fee still applies. Assuming the fee covers parking when it does not. Valuing the amenity bundle at the hotel’s stated figure. Arguing about the fee at checkout instead of comparing totals at booking. The decision that saves money happens before you book, not at the desk.
Frequently asked questions about resort fees
Are resort fees optional?
No. Despite being presented as a charge for amenities, they are mandatory and cannot be declined by not using the pool or gym. You can only avoid one by choosing a hotel that does not charge it.
Do I have to pay a resort fee if I booked with points?
Usually yes. Most programmes still charge the fee on award stays, though a few chains waive it, and some top-tier elite benefits include a waiver. Check the specific property before you redeem, because it reduces the value of the redemption.
Are resort fees legal in the US?
Yes, provided they are properly disclosed. Federal rules now require the total price including mandatory fees to be shown up front. That regulates how the fee is presented rather than banning it.
Can I ask the hotel to remove the resort fee?
Rarely with success. Front desk staff usually cannot remove it. Reasonable grounds for a partial credit include an amenity the fee covers being unavailable for your entire stay, or the fee not having been disclosed before you paid.
Is a destination fee the same as a resort fee?
Functionally yes. Destination fee, amenity fee, facility fee and urban fee are different names for the same mandatory nightly charge, used more often by city hotels than by resorts.
Does the resort fee get taxed?
It depends on the jurisdiction, and in some places the fee is taxed at a different rate from room revenue. For you as a guest the only number that matters is the total at checkout.
Comparing total hotel prices
Affiliate disclosure: Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you book through them, WanderOza Travel may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it does not change what we recommend.
Because the resort fee is the part that moves the ranking, the useful comparison is the final total for your dates. If the trip also involves flights, it is worth pricing both together so the accommodation saving is not lost on the airfare. Compare flights for your dates on Aviasales while you shortlist hotels.
If you are travelling somewhere a long way from home, the mandatory charges at the property are not the only unavoidable cost worth planning for. Compare travel insurance cover with EKTA if medical costs at your destination would be significant.
How this guide was researched and an important note
This guide is based on the published booking terms of major US hotel groups, on Federal Trade Commission rules and guidance covering mandatory fee disclosure, and on state attorney general actions brought against hotel operators over fee presentation.
We have deliberately not quoted specific fee amounts. Resort fees vary widely by property and market and are revised frequently, so a figure remembered from a guide is the most likely thing to be wrong by the time you read it. The amount that applies to your stay is shown on the checkout screen before you pay, and that is the number to compare.
We research and compare booking mechanics rather than reviewing individual properties. For the official US position on fee disclosure, see the FTC consumer advice site.
Last updated .