What Is a Resort Fee?

A resort fee is a mandatory daily charge that a hotel adds on top of the base room rate, usually to cover amenities such as the pool, Wi-Fi and gym (NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees). At US hotels these fees typically run USD 15 to 50 a day (NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees).

Last updated: October 2026

How a resort fee works

The fee is charged per night on top of the rate, and guests cannot simply refuse to pay it (NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees). A few hotels charge a percentage of the rate instead of a flat amount (NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees).

Most US hotels do without one: in 2022, 94% of US hotels charged no resort fee (AHLA: Resort Fees at a Glance (Dec 2022)). Of 160 hotels in one consumer sample, 30 charged a resort fee, at an average of USD 33 a day (sample year not stated) (NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees). In Hawaii in 2018, more than 100 hotels charged mandatory resort fees of USD 5 to 40 a night, and those fees brought in USD 271 million in 2015 (UHERO Brief: Mandatory Resort Fees (Apr 2018)).

In Hawaii, the general excise tax applied to the resort fee, while the transient accommodations tax applied only to the base room rate (UHERO Brief: Mandatory Resort Fees (Apr 2018)). Lodging tax rules belong to occupancy tax.

Why resort fees matter for hotel distribution

The FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect on 12 May 2025 and covers hotels, motels, inns, short-term rentals and vacation rentals (Federal Register: Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (Jan 2025)). A mandatory resort fee must be part of the upfront total price. Taxes and government charges may be left out of that total, but they must be disclosed before the guest is asked to pay (FTC: The Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, FAQ).

The rule also applies to third-party platforms, resellers and travel agents, and the all-in total must be the most prominent price in an ad (FTC: The Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, FAQ). The FTC estimates the rule will save consumers up to 53 million hours a year of wasted time (FTC press release: bipartisan rule banning junk ticket and hotel fees (Dec 2024)). For an operator, that means the fee has to travel with the rate to every OTA and reseller that shows a price; a channel that receives the rate without the fee will display a total that is too low.

California moved first. A state law on short-term lodging pricing (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17568.6) took effect on 1 July 2024, the same day as SB 478, and requires every lodging price display, advertisements included, to show the room rate plus all mandatory fees, with civil penalties of up to USD 10,000 per violation; it covers hotels, motels, B&Bs and short-term rentals of 30 days or less (Manatt: California's New Pricing Laws Are in Effect).

State enforcement came earlier still. In November 2021, Marriott agreed with the Pennsylvania Attorney General to show the total price of a stay online, including all mandatory fees, and to sort results by that total within nine months (ABA Journal: Marriott will post resort fees in upfront pricing (Nov 2021)). Marriott also agreed with the Texas Attorney General to display room search results by total price and to list mandatory charges apart from taxes (Texas Attorney General: Paxton secures agreement with Marriott).

Channels set their own rules for collecting the fee. Airbnb lets some software-connected hosts collect resort, utility and HOA fees outside Airbnb, as long as the fees appear in the listing's price breakdown at checkout (Airbnb Help Center: article 2827). OTA treatment has also shifted over time. In 2019, Expedia Group said it would rank properties that charge resort fees lower in its search results and would not charge commission on the fees (Travolution: Expedia Explore 2019). The same year, Booking.com said it was updating its process to charge commission on mandatory fees paid at the property, such as resort fees (The Points Guy: OTAs charging commission on resort fees (May 2019)). These are 2019 positions, and partner terms change, so check each channel's current rules. How commission is calculated belongs to OTA commission.

Resort fee compared with other charges

	Who sets it	How it is charged	In the FTC upfront total?
Resort fee	The property	Per night, on top of the rate	Yes, it must be included
Destination or amenity fee	The property	The same mandatory charge under another name	Yes, when it is mandatory, as for a resort fee
Occupancy tax	Government	A tax on the stay	May be left out, but must be disclosed before payment

Resort fee and destination fee rows: NerdWallet: Hotel resort fees. FTC total-price column: FTC: The Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, FAQ. Cleaning fee details live on cleaning fee; tax details on occupancy tax.

Frequently asked questions

What is the resort fee in Las Vegas?

In January 2025, resort fees at casino-hotels on the Las Vegas Strip ran from about USD 44 to nearly USD 57 a night, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal survey. Fontainebleau charged the most, at USD 56.69. Circus Circus was second-lowest at USD 44.22, and Casino Royale, operated by Best Western, was the only Strip hotel with no resort fee.