Fees Gone Wild: MGM Resorts Charges for Plates, Forks and Napkins

By Scott Roeben, on May 27 2025
3 min read 134 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas WTF

You may have heard about, or personally experienced, Las Vegas doing its best to nickel-and-dime everyone into submission. Well, MGM Resorts is a market leader in this regard. They brought paid parking to Las Vegas casinos, for example.

We recently learned the casino company is charging guests ordering room service for the privilege of eating off of plates, using silverware and drinking from glasses.

MGM refers to these luxuries as “Classic Service” and guests are dinged $25 (called an “operation charge”) for what used to be free. Shocker. Room service customers can opt for “Takeout Service,” where your food is delivered in boxes with plastic lids ($10). As our fellow youths are known to say, oy.

See, room service is so expensive, it requires a security detail. Just play along.

There is a seemingly endless supply of ridiculous and irksome fees at Las Vegas casinos, restaurants and lounges.

We’ve been sharing such fees as they’ve proliferated for the last dozen years or so. At this point, we sort of have outrage fatigue, but occasionally we’re reminded we still have a good supply of outrage left in the tank.

Room service has gone away at many hotels (the service is often a loss-leader, like buffets), so we should probably appreciate the fact MGM Resorts still has room service at all. Probably.

Mostly, we can’t believe the audacity.

Food rarely exists in a vacuum. We need a way to transport it, organize it, consume it. Plates, napkins, silverware, glasses, that is how food is consumed. It’s all part of it. Can you imagine if a restaurant charged an additional fee for forks? People would take to the streets with with another kind of fork.

Pitchforks. In case that wasn’t obvious.

On the bright side, if there is one, at least MGM Resorts is transparent about these fees.

“In-Room Dining” menus are online for all to see. Here’s the Bellagio menu as an example.

Crazy coincidence. Seamless and Satisfying was the name of our band in high school.

Nobody’s surprised that room service food is more expensive than regular food (French toast is $25, fried rice is $27, spaghetti and meatballs is $38, a bottle of Captain Morgan is $160), but getting dinged extra for “linens, silverware and glassware”? Please.

And that doesn’t include taxes and tip.

Than again, your meal is “delivered with care,” so there’s that.

At least the take-out containers are “eco-friendly”?

Imagine Frank Sinatra being served this in his room. Whacking would’ve ensued. Hat tip to Eye of the Flyer for the original pic.

As visitation has declined in Las Vegas, there’s been a lot of discussion around why. This, friends, would be a big part of that.

Yes, other countries are mad at the U.S. right now, and many people are rolling back personal spending due to economic uncertainty, but the nickel-and-diming has had a big impact on the perception of Las Vegas.

People are visiting, but they’re cutting down on their trip frequency. When they’re here, they’re hitting Walgreens and CVS for liquor before heading to the casino. Yes, pre-gaming is tacky, but the average visitor just can’t bear the gouging anymore as $26 is the new $6 for a simple cocktail in a casino lounge on The Strip.

Our biggest hit: “Delight in the Convenience.”

The post-pandemic bubble has burst and Las Vegas is in for a rough summer.

Do people on vacation (especially if they’re staying at a higher-end resort like Bellagio) care if they’re hit with a $25 charge for silverware and napkins? Maybe not, but maybe that charge, in combination with CNF charges, service charges, processing fees, handling fees and parking fees, could make a traveler think twice about where they spend their vacation dollars.