These 7 U.S. Cities Are Now Charging “Resort” Fees: Here’s How To Spot Them

It’s some of the irritating moments in fashionable journey. You’re on the ultimate reserving display screen in your resort, and there it’s: a compulsory, non-negotiable “$40 per night time vacation spot charge” that out of the blue inflates the overall worth. You’re a savvy traveler, you understand it’s coming, however the feeling of being performed is at all times contemporary.

For years, this was a irritating trick you principally needed to fear about in locations like Las Vegas. However the resort charge plague has unfold. Primarily based on a deep dive into what actual vacationers are saying on the bottom in 2025, the resort charge plague has formally escaped Las Vegas and is now invading main U.S. cities, turning a ‘resort’ drawback right into a nationwide traveler headache.

Why Motels Invented The “Vacation spot Payment”

Let’s be crystal clear: this charge will not be a tax. Each traveler is aware of to anticipate professional authorities prices on their invoice. A “resort charge,” nonetheless, is a compulsory charge invented by the resort itself, and 100% of it goes straight into their pocket.

So why are you now seeing it in locations like Chicago or New York? As a result of a resort in the midst of a metropolis cannot logically cost a “resort charge,” they’ve merely rebranded it as a “vacation spot charge” or “city amenity charge.” It is a intelligent identify change for the very same function: to indicate you a sexy, lower cost in search outcomes, solely to hit you with the actual, increased worth on the final attainable second. It is a observe that vacationers on boards like Reddit are universally calling a “bait-and-switch.”

So, Do You Truly Have To Pay It?

That is the million-dollar query, and right here is the brutally sincere, on-the-ground reply for 2025: Sure, 99% of the time, you might be caught paying it.

Traveler boards are full of tales of individuals attempting to battle the charge on the entrance desk, and the overwhelming consensus is that it is a shedding battle. Entrance desk employees are educated with scripted responses, telling you it is “necessary” and was disclosed within the wonderful print of your reserving. The exhausting reality is that by clicking “guide,” you may have technically agreed to their phrases, nonetheless misleading they could be.

The Fantasy of the Las Vegas Rollback

You might need heard rumors that Las Vegas was beginning to roll again its notorious resort charges. Primarily based on real-world studies, that is a fable. Whereas a single resort like Resorts World might run a limited-time promotion to get heads in beds, this can be a advertising and marketing tactic, not an business development. The most important gamers—MGM, Caesars, Wynn—are nonetheless charging huge charges, typically over $50 per night time, and they don’t seem to be backing down.

The New Battlegrounds: 7 Cities The place The Charges Are Spreading

Primarily based on latest traveler studies, these are the cities the place the “vacation spot charge” plague is now most rampant.

1. New York Metropolis: The Massive Apple is a serious offender. Vacationers constantly report being shocked by necessary “city charges” of $30-$50 per night time at lodges all throughout Manhattan.

2. Chicago: The Windy Metropolis will blow a gap in your pockets. Motels all through the downtown Loop and River North neighborhoods have embraced the vacation spot charge, with vacationers reporting charges of $25 or extra per night time.

3. Nashville: Music Metropolis is singing a tragic tune for vacationers. As one of many hottest new vacationer locations, its lodges have been fast so as to add “amenity charges” that may inflate your invoice by 15-20%, a standard criticism in journey boards.

4. Austin: The capital of “cool” has adopted a really uncool development. Lots of the stylish new lodges in downtown Austin now have necessary day by day charges which can be typically poorly disclosed on the time of reserving, a frequent supply of frustration for guests.