What a resort fee is
A resort fee is a mandatory daily charge, separate from the room rate, that Las Vegas hotels add to your bill for a bundle of amenities: in-room Wi-Fi, fitness centre access, local and toll-free calls, sometimes a daily newspaper or bottled water, printing at the business centre, and pool access. It is charged per night, taxed like the room, and collected at check-in or check-out whether or not you use anything in the bundle. You cannot decline it on arrival.
The practice began in the early 2000s as a way to advertise lower headline rates, and it spread because it worked: a $99 room with a $45 fee looks cheaper than a $144 room. As of 2026 almost every casino resort on the Strip charges one, most Downtown hotels charge a smaller one, and a shrinking number of off-Strip and chain hotels charge none. Our no-fee list tracks the exceptions.
How much they cost in 2026
Ranges as of 2026; confirm on the hotel site because the amounts change with little notice. Luxury Strip (Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Aria, Venetian, Palazzo, Fontainebleau, Caesars Palace): roughly $50 to $60 plus tax. Mid-range Strip (Paris, Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Park MGM, Resorts World): roughly $40 to $55. Budget Strip (Excalibur, Luxor, Flamingo, Harrah's, LINQ, Horseshoe, Sahara, Strat, Circus Circus): roughly $35 to $45. Downtown: roughly $25 to $40, with El Cortez and Four Queens lower and Circa higher. Off-Strip casinos: zero to about $35. Chain and non-gaming hotels: often zero, sometimes a $15 to $30 "destination" or "amenity" fee.
With room tax of about 13 percent applied, a $50 fee costs about $56.50 a night, or nearly $400 over a week for two people sharing one room. That is frequently more than the room itself on a cheap midweek booking.
The disclosure rules
Two changes have made fees easier to see. Nevada law from 2024 requires the resort fee to be included in the advertised nightly price, and a federal rule from the Federal Trade Commission that took effect in 2025 requires hotels and booking sites nationwide to show the total price including mandatory fees up front, not at checkout. In practice, the major hotel sites and the big booking engines now display the all-in rate or the fee alongside the rate on the first screen.
What the rules did not do is cap or abolish the fees; they only make them visible. The dark pattern to watch for now is a rate shown with "excluding taxes and fees" in small print on smaller or foreign booking sites. The final price screen before you pay is the one that counts, and the hotel's own site is the most reliable place to see it.
What you get for it, honestly
The bundle is real but mostly low-value. Wi-Fi is the item most people use and it is usually adequate. Fitness centres range from excellent (Wynn, Aria, the Waldorf) to a small room with three treadmills. Pool access is not really an amenity since the pool is the reason you booked. Local calls and newspapers are relics. Some resorts add a small daily credit for food, the spa or parking; some include a couple of bottles of water. A few, notably Wynn, at least deliver a level of gym and pool that justifies part of the number.
The important point is that the fee is a pricing mechanism, not a service charge. Treat it as part of the room rate and compare hotels on the total.
Legitimate ways to avoid or reduce it
- Loyalty status. MGM Rewards Gold and above, Caesars Rewards Diamond and above and upper tiers of Wynn Rewards have resort fees waived (limits apply, and tiers and rules change, so check the current program terms). A status match from another program can get you there quickly.
- Comped or offer rooms. Some casino offers waive the fee; many do not. Read the offer terms before assuming.
- Book hotels without a fee. Off-Strip and chain hotels; see the list.
- Points bookings. Hilton (Resorts World, Waldorf Astoria) and Marriott (Grand Chateau) properties generally waive resort fees on award stays under their published policies; confirm for the specific hotel.
- Ask for a partial refund if a promised amenity was unavailable during your stay, for example a closed pool or a broken fitness centre. Hotels frequently credit one or more nights' fee when asked politely at checkout.
More strategies in how to get a hotel deal.
Things that do not work
Refusing to pay at check-in does not work; the hotel will decline to give you a key. Disputing the charge with your card issuer after the fact rarely succeeds now that the fee is disclosed at booking. Booking through a third-party site does not avoid the fee, which is collected by the hotel directly regardless of where you booked. Claiming you did not use the Wi-Fi does not work. What occasionally works is a calm conversation at checkout about a specific failure of service; what never works is a shouting match.
Save your energy for the things that do move the number: dates, loyalty and choice of hotel.
Parking: the other fee
Paid parking arrived on the Strip in 2016 and now costs $18 to $30 a night for self-parking at most MGM and Caesars resorts, more for valet, as of 2026. Exceptions at the time of writing include Wynn and Encore, Treasure Island, Sahara, Circus Circus, the Strat, Casino Royale and nearly all off-Strip and Downtown properties. Loyalty status often waives parking before it waives the resort fee (MGM Rewards Pearl and above, for instance, has included free self-parking), which makes a free tier sign-up worth doing even if you never gamble.
Budget the parking line as part of the room cost if you are driving, and see the transportation hub for current garage rates and the alternatives.