Resort fee
A resort fee is a mandatory daily amount a hotel charges on top of the advertised room rate, nominally covering things like Wi-Fi, the pool, the gym or local calls — whether or not you use any of them. Because it is often excluded from the headline nightly price and added at check-in, two rooms advertised at the same rate can cost very different totals. It is not a tax and not optional at properties that levy it.
Where it applies
How to avoid or shrink it
- Read the room’s fine print before booking — the fee is usually disclosed, just not in the headline price.
- Ask whether the fee can be waived for loyalty members or on award/points stays; at some chains it is.
- Compare the true nightly total (rate + resort fee + tax), not the advertised rate, across properties.
Resort fees are far more common in some markets (notably US city and destination hotels) than others. Plenty of hotels charge none at all — so the fee is a reason to compare totals, not to assume every stay has one.
Run a specific booking through the calculator and this fee is counted — sourced, dated and confidence-graded alongside everything else the headline price leaves out.
Back to the full fee glossary, or browse the Hidden-Fee Index.