VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: You Don’t Have to Pay Resort Fees
Posted on: September 15, 2023, 08:04h.
Last updated on: October 28, 2023, 07:52h.
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on March 17, 2023.
All major resorts on the Las Vegas Strip now charge resort fees — even those, like Planet Hollywood, that once proudly advertised not doing so. According to a growing chorus of consumer advocacy websites, paying these fees is unnecessary because they’re illegal.
“You do not legally have to pay any hotel resort fee,” claims killresortfees.com. Resort fees violate Nevada’s Deceptive Trade Practices Law, the website proclaims, so you may refuse to pay them at check-in.
Tell the manager you already paid the published rate for the room and all necessary taxes,” killresortfees.com advises, encouraging you to stand your ground.
Is this good advice? Only if you don’t mind running a serious risk of having your reservation canceled, being charged a cancellation fee, and getting escorted out of the hotel by security.
Moreover, many hotels won’t even allow you to raise a stink about resort fees at check-in. Unless you specifically remember to inquire about hidden charges, they will only be revealed after you check out and your credit card has already been billed for them.
Hidden in Plain Site
The first resort fees went unnoticed because only a few dollars per night were charged by only a few hotels 25 years ago.
Now, according to a Nerd Wallet analysis of more than 100 hotels around the US in January 2023, they average $42.41 per night or about 11% of the overall cost of a hotel stay.
Only four hotels on the Las Vegas Strip don’t charge them: Travelodge by Wyndham Center Strip, StripViewSuites at Jockey Club, Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South, and Best Western Plus Casino Royale.
To check if a hotel charges a resort fee and how much, visit resortfeechecker.com.
Why Resort Fees Exist
According to hotels, they’re a convenience for their guests, who demand only one price for a bundle of amenities rather than be billed separately for things like Wi-Fi, gym access, and local phone calls.
Because all travelers use the hotel phone to make local calls in 2023.
The real reason resort fees exist is the introduction of online travel agencies (OTAs) in 1996. The first resort fees were rolled out one year later, allowing hotels to compete on Expedia, Travelocity, and Booking.com.
That’s because OTA users almost always search for the “best value” or “lowest price” parameters on these platforms. And the only way for resorts to show up higher in these searches is to offer lower daily room rates. The most economically efficient way to accomplish this is by disguising a portion of their rates as undisclosed fees.
Now that 41% of all booking comes through OTAs versus 29% via hotel websites and 29% through travel agents, according to hospitality.net, the cost of not appearing on the first page of OTA results has increased, too.
And resort fees provide other economic benefits. Hotels pay commissions to OTAs for every room booked — commissions based only on room rates, not separate fees. Additionally, resort fees contribute to revenue per available room, an important performance indicator. And according to the analyst firm OTA Insight, resort fees offer tax advantages.
But the biggest incentive for hotel corporations to continue charging resort fees is because it’s a revenue stream their stockholders have grown accustomed to. According to Consumer Reports, U.S. hotels collected a whopping $2.9B in resort fees in 2018, triple their 2004 take.
Not Illegal … Yet
You can certainly challenge resort fees, for instance, by filing a dispute with your credit card company or a complaint with your state’s attorney general. But even if you can (somehow) waive them, you’ll still need to pay them first.
If resort fees truly were illegal, President Biden wouldn’t currently be calling on Congress to make them illegal, along with “junk fees” for concert ticket “services,” bringing bags on airplanes and canceling your cable, internet, or phone service.
By the way, you shouldn’t take advice from avoidincometax.com, either. (Yes, it’s a real website.)
Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Visit VegasMythsBusted.com to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email corey@casino.org.
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Last Comments ( 14 )
If resort fees are deceptive then so is the title of this article. Obviously, it is designed as click bait for those unaware of Las Vegas hotel procedures. I would have at least added question marks. VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED?: Do You Have to Pay Resort Fees? Believe it or not there are 2 hotel casinos that do not charge a resort fee, both downtown, Binions and the Four Queens. While not my favorite places to stay, if you just want a cheap room, and detest paying resort fees, you have that option. All of the other hotel/casinos reveal resort fees on their websites. It is a pain to go through the booking process just to get to see them. But there are websites such as LasVegasAdvisor.com that will contain that info and more like parking and fees and buffet prices. I would like to see hotels follow the rules airlines must use. All mandatory fees are shown upfront. The reason for these fees is 3rd party websites like Travelocity and Expedia. They get a cut of the room price. Tack on a "resort fee" and the hotel doesn't have to share that money with anyone. This explains why there are times that the resort fee is more than the room rate. With some exceptions Las Vegas hotel rooms, even adding a resort fee, are quite reasonable. The thinking used to be that since you would probably lose money gambling, hotels didn't mind offering cheap room and cheap meals. Now that the corporations have taken over, every area of the hotel/casino is expected to add to the bottom line. For me the one aspect of resort fees that I absolutely detest is that, at some properties, they are sometimes added even if the room is comped! MGM Resorts is known for this. But I have seen it elsewhere.
These resort fees are out of control. I would of loved to stay at the new Resort World but I am not going to pay $95.00 for a resort fee, I have no plans to use anything on the list and then on top of all that resort fees, it doesn't even cover parking!!!!
Resort fees are also extremely common in New York City. It's a kind of theft perpetrated on tourists with the full approval of local governments.
I live 2 hours away from Las Vegas, and used to go down there at least once a month for a few days to see shows go shopping and eat at buffets. I could go down on a Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and get special priced days at the hotel. Usually around 30 or $40 a night for a hotel on the strip. When they started to throw in extra for parking and Resort fees I quit going. I use the money that I save, to go to Mesquite for an afternoon. I'm not a high roller and Las Vegas probably doesn't miss me at all. But I don't miss them either.
If they all got rid of the resort fee they would just raise tybasic room rate, wouldn't they?
It cannot be normalized as a thing just because it's been there for so long especially in Las Vegas and hawaii. Other hotels have tried in other states but have failed so now they try all kinds of other crazy fee schemes until they get called out. In Delano I asked the front desk what my resort fee covers and her smiling marketing speech took over. Well you get our world famous pool of course. I said you mean that one out there in the 40 degree weather and the fact that it's been empty for god knows how long now because it's the middle of the winter. She said no more and refunded my resort fees.
I find it pretty annoying to pay the full resort fee in winter when the pools in Las Vegas aren't even open.
If hotels included the resort fees in the initial price, it would drive customers away because of the high prices. Is it a deceptive practice? Yes. If you don't want to do business that engage in deceptive practices, do some research for hotels on or near the strip that do not charge resort fees. So far, the cheapest one I found is Motel 6 on Tropicana
This article's a joke. I haven't seen anywhere that sells rooms NOT put the resort fee as part of the price. So, you already know you're paying it. It's not hidden at all, unless you're willfully blind or one of those people who just see what you want to see and disregard reality.
I stayed at The Flamingo and upon making the Reservation I looked EVERYWHERE for their parking fees of $16.00 per night, nothing. The total cost of the room was @$303.00. Nothing about parking extra etc. After I checked-in I was told it was under "Terms and Conditions" on the last page in small lettering really hidden. Once again The TOTAL bill was @$303.00 noting about Parking extra, parking was additional no mention what so ever. I fought with Flamingo, filed a complaint with The Nevada Gaming Commission, never heard anything back, and my Credit Card who favored the Flamingo. I cancelled my credit Car, I bad mouth The Flamingo and tell people where they can stay with no fees... BTW.. I am an INN owner and my policies must be very clearly written out or I can get charge-backs, so I know the system. Flamingo got their money because Flamingo does a LOT of business with this particular brand of Credit Card. Once again I bad mouth Flamingo every opportunity I cn and I have swayed a number of people away from their hotel...
I understand that resort fees are here to stay, but they should be included in the OTA search as part of the cost of the room, not added at checkout. I'm also not going to be a Karen and ask for the manager to remove the fee.
Back before the resort fees, they use to charge for WIFI. Cost about the same...
When you make a reservation on line with the hotel, you agree to pay the resort fee. It is a contract. Just stay at the Travelodge and not worry about the resort fee. killresortfees.com pops up every now and then and it hasn't changed anything.
It's 2023. Resort Fees have been "a thing" for decades and are now all well documented for all hotels - if you take 15 seconds to look beyond the "bargain rate." They are not truly "hidden" and sprung on you after the fact. If you are a smart consumer and are concerned about the added costs ASK before booking. Every hotel will tell you what the fees are per night and I have not seen a reputable chain or hotel's website that doesn't show them as part of the grand total before you click "book" Seriously, I have no sympathy for the whining revolving around these fees. They are a revenue generator for the hotels plain and simple. Don't like them? Find a hotel that doesn't charge them and take your business there. Good luck.