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

It’s probably the most irritating moments in fashionable journey. You’re on the ultimate reserving display screen in your lodge, and there it’s: a compulsory, non-negotiable “$40 per night destination fee” that instantly inflates the full value. You’re a savvy traveler, you realize it’s coming, however the feeling of being performed is all the time contemporary.

For years, this was a irritating trick you principally needed to fear about in locations like Las Vegas. But the resort charge plague has unfold. 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’ downside right into a nationwide traveler headache.

Why Hotels Invented The “Destination Fee”

Let’s be crystal clear: this charge will not be a tax. Every traveler is aware of to count on official authorities expenses on their invoice. A “resort fee,” nonetheless, is a compulsory charge invented by the lodge itself, and 100% of it goes immediately into their pocket.

So why are you now seeing it in locations like Chicago or New York? Because a lodge in the midst of a metropolis cannot logically cost a “resort fee,” they’ve merely rebranded it as a “destination fee” or “urban amenity fee.” It’s a intelligent title change for the very same goal: to point out you a pretty, lower cost in search outcomes, solely to hit you with the true, greater value on the final attainable second. It’s a observe that vacationers on boards like Reddit are universally calling a “bait-and-switch.”

So, Do You Actually Have To Pay It?

This is the million-dollar query, and right here is the brutally sincere, on-the-ground reply for 2025: Yes, 99% of the time, you’re caught paying it.

Traveler boards are crammed with tales of individuals making an attempt to struggle the charge on the entrance desk, and the overwhelming consensus is that it is a dropping battle. Front desk employees are skilled with scripted responses, telling you it is “mandatory” and was disclosed within the nice print of your reserving. The arduous reality is that by clicking “book,” you could have technically agreed to their phrases, nonetheless misleading they might be.

The Myth of the Las Vegas Rollback

You may need heard rumors that Las Vegas was beginning to roll again its notorious resort charges. Based on real-world stories, that is a fantasy. While a single lodge like Resorts World might run a limited-time promotion to get heads in beds, it is a advertising tactic, not an business pattern. The main 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 Where The Fees Are Spreading

Based on latest traveler stories, these are the cities the place the “destination fee” plague is now most rampant.

1. New York City: The Big Apple is a serious offender. Travelers persistently report being shocked by necessary “urban fees” of $30-$50 per night time at accommodations all throughout Manhattan.

2. Chicago: The Windy City will blow a gap in your pockets. Hotels 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 City is singing a tragic tune for vacationers. As one of many hottest new vacationer locations, its accommodations have been fast so as to add “amenity fees” that may inflate your invoice by 15-20%, a typical criticism in journey boards.

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