What Those Sneaky 'Resort Fees' Really Are And How To Avoid Paying Them

They go by several names, though no matter how they're listed they're generic. Whether they're listed as resort fees, urban fees, or destination fees, they're a common traveler nuisance. You can't always get away with not paying them, though it certainly doesn't stop folks from trying. Especially since they don't hold a lot of purpose for the consumer, just the resort or hotel property — much like those pesky high Airbnb fees which you can avoid as well.

According to travel industry analyst and founder of Atmosphere Research Group Henry Harteveldt, they're part of a wider strategy. He told The New York Times that resort fees exist "to keep their published base rates lower to compete with other hotels in online or mobile tools. It's annoying to the traveler because hotels are not being transparent and resort fees are unavoidable."

These fees have not always been part of the hotel game. They didn't really appear until 1997 and have been a highly lucrative tactic for properties ever since. Even if your resort fee is only $10 a night, over a week's vacation that snowballs into $70. Multiply that by all the hotels doing the same thing and you're looking at additional profit for the properties in the hundreds of millions. So, what can we do about it? 

The easiest and most straightforward way to try getting a resort fee removed is to simply ask the front desk during check-in. It isn't a guarantee that it'll happen, though anecdotally it is known to work from time to time. One hotel employee posted on Reddit that they and their colleagues often waive fees for kind guests. 

"If people ask us nicely to take [the resort fee] off, we will," the Redditor wrote. "[The] Key word, NICELY. We are tired of being yelled at for fees we didn't come up with and don't agree with. We can only do this if you book direct though, we have no control over 3rd party pricing." Always booking direct is also one of those simple tricks to get extra perks at a hotel. 

Another way to skip over the exorbitant fees is to book your hotel with reward points or to have status built up with that brand. Though this method varies from hotel chain to hotel chain. For instance, Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt point stays do not include resort fees. This method is more tried and true than just asking at the front desk, though many hotel or travel credit cards have high annual fees and it can take time to build status with one particular brand.

Where you vacation will also determine how high your resort fees are. If you don't feel like fighting them or don't have the credit card or status to have them automatically removed, building the fee into your vacation plan will have to do. Some of the cities with the highest resort fees in the United States include Las Vegas, Miami, and New York City. The most expensive resort fee can be found at the Fisher Island Club and Resort with a whopping $160 a night charge. 

Beyond where you're staying geographically, the hotel you choose can also determine how much you're left to pay. According to data collected by Nerdwallet, the chain with the lowest overall resort fees is Marriott with 2.5% of a room price. In that same data, it is revealed that Wyndham hotels take a 6.4% up charge of room price with these fees. Depending on how much you're spending on a room per night, those fees can really add up. 

At the end of the day, it's worth remembering that resort fees are not the norm in American hotels. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), only 6% of properties charge these fees. With that in mind, you have a lot of options in the majority of markets to avoid those sneaky fees. Hopefully they'll become more transparent someday just like major cruise lines which are going to be less confusing and secretive in pricing.