Avoid Resort Fee Scams: How to Spot the True Cost of Your Hotel Stay
Imagine you’re planning a family getaway to Las Vegas. You open Expedia, enter dates such as January 19‑22, and search for one room for two adults and two children 17 years or younger. The results page shows hundreds of options. A $36 per‑night rate for a twin‑queen room at the MGM Grand looks like a great deal, so you click on it. When you view the Price details, the breakdown reveals a $108 rate—three times the listed $36. Then an additional $287 in fees and a mandatory resort fee of $44 per night appear. The true cost is $176 per night, almost five times the advertised rate.
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Resort Fees Explained
What began as a few “resort fee” practices in popular vacation spots has now spread nationwide. Hotels often advertise a low base rate and then tack on mandatory fees that can exceed the advertised price. In urban markets where the term “resort fee” would be questioned, they are labeled as “facility” or “service” fees.
When you read the fine print, you’ll see a list of amenities the fee supposedly covers—swimming pools, Wi‑Fi, fitness center, daily newspaper, self‑parking, bottled water, shuttle service, and more. For families, access to a pool or free Wi‑Fi is often highlighted. But if the fee is mandatory, the claimed benefits are irrelevant; the fee is simply added to inflate the final price.
Why do even reputable hotels participate? It’s a modern version of Gresham’s law: “Bad price advertising drives out good price advertising.” The practice dates back to the 1980s with tour operators advertising low rates plus bogus “tax and service” add‑ons, and later airlines added “fuel surcharges.” Some operators admitted the practice was deceptive but felt compelled to stay competitive. The United States Department of Transportation required airlines to display full fares, but the hotel industry has yet to voluntarily adopt transparent pricing.
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Spotting the Real Cost Early
For a long time I wondered why major OTAs such as Expedia and Booking.com, and metasearch sites like Agoda, had not made a concerted effort to display all‑up prices up front. It’s encouraging to see several platforms begin to do so. Expedia now shows the total cost—including taxes and fees—on the initial results page, even though the base rate still appears low. Kayak even offers a filter that forces the search to display all‑up prices from the start. Booking.com, however, continues to list only the base rate, so caution is still advised.
If you’re booking a hotel for a trip, the safest route is to use Kayak for a transparent comparison. This approach lets you see the true cost before you commit, avoiding surprise fees at the front desk and ensuring a smoother booking experience.
