Hotel resort fees can be an unpleasant surprise when you’re booking hotels. You think you’ve scored the ideal room at an unbeatable price, but then you discover an extra $20, $50, or even $100+ per night added to your bill, labeled as a “resort fee” or “destination charge.” These mandatory daily charges are meant to cover amenities like gym access, Wi-Fi, and local calls, but more often than not, you end up paying for services you don’t even utilize.
Resort fees can make it frustratingly difficult to calculate the true cost of your stay upfront. This guide will cover everything you need to know about resort fees including tips on how to avoid them.
What is a Hotel Resort Fee?
Hotel resort fees are daily charges to your room rate, regardless of whether you use the included amenities. The hotel industry argues that these fees are necessary to cover the costs of certain services and amenities. Still, many travelers view them as a sneaky tactic to raise prices without increasing the advertised room rate.
Resort fees first emerged at luxury resorts in the 1990s as a way to cover high-end perks. Still, they have since proliferated to non-resort hotels that often don’t offer any additional value for the extra fee. According to our research, the average resort fee is around $40 per night, but some properties charge well over $100.
The majority of hotels assess resort fees on a per-room basis, but a small number charge per guest, so you must read the fine print carefully.
How to Avoid Paying Resort Fees
Despite resort fees’ widespread prevalence, you can still employ several strategies to minimize or avoid them entirely with some careful planning and know-how.
Book an Award Stay
One of the simplest and most foolproof ways to dodge resort fees is to book your stay using hotel loyalty points. Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt consistently waive resort fees on award nights booked solely with points (but not for cash + points bookings).
Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges sometimes waive them as well, albeit less reliably. Focus on accumulating points in these programs through hotel stays, credit card spending, or point transfers so you can book award stays that bypass both the room rate and resort fees entirely.
Hold Elite Status
If you’re a frequent traveler who has attained elite status with a hotel loyalty program, you can avoid resort fees. The prime example is World of Hyatt Globalist status, which grants you a complete exemption from ALL resort fees, even on paid stays.
Some other programs also offer resort fee waivers or discounts to their elite members. For example, Caesars Rewards waives resort fees for their top-tier Diamond members. At the same time, MGM Rewards does the same for Gold-level elites and above at their respective Las Vegas casino hotels. If you’ve earned elite status, be sure to leverage it to avoid paying resort fees whenever possible.
Look For a Hotel Without Resort Fees
While the vast majority of hotels in resort fee-prone destinations charge them, there are a handful of holdouts. Seeking out these properties can save you a significant amount of money over the course of your stay.
Vacation rentals like Airbnb can also be a smart alternative to traditional hotels, but be cautious – some hosts with 6 or more listings are allowed to charge resort-style fees as well. Always double-check the final price breakdown to ensure you’re not blindsided by any hidden charges.
Ask to Not Pay the Resort Fee
It never hurts to ask. If you find yourself staying at a hotel that charges a resort fee, it’s always worth inquiring at check-in or check-out if they can waive or reduce it.
While success is far from guaranteed, your odds are highest if:
- You hold higher elite status with that specific hotel chain.
- Some of the amenities and services the resort fee purportedly covers were unavailable or unsatisfactory during your stay.
Remember to be polite but persistent. A manager may be more willing to waive the fee than a front desk agent, who might not have the authority to do so. It never hurts to ask, and you might save yourself some money in the process.
The Verdict
Hotel resort fees can be a real thorn in the side of travelers. They artificially inflate the true cost of your stay while often providing little to no tangible value in return. These sneaky surcharges can add 10% to 30% or more to your final hotel bill, and spotting them before booking isn’t always straightforward.
However, by focusing your stays on chains like Hyatt and Hilton that waive fees on award bookings, leveraging your elite status benefits, opting for fee-free properties whenever possible, and directly asking the hotel to remove the fees at check-in or check-out, you can keep more of your hard-earned money.
