Resort fee

A resort fee, also called a facility fee, a destination fee, an amenity fee, or a resort charge, is a separate mandatory (i.e. not optional) fee that a guest is made to pay by the accommodation provider per-day per-room in order to receive the key to their room rental which, often times, the guest has already paid for either in full or in part during the initial booking process (sometimes as a non-refundable payment). The fee is charged at the hotel in addition to a base room rate.

Resort fees are illegal in many countries, however, in other countries, including the United States, as of 2017 there is currently still a lack of any specific legislation that either allows or outlaws resort fees.

A resort fee is a daily mandatory additional charge that the hotel separates out from the advertised price. Consumer advocates equate this to paying a second room rate. The average resort fee costs $24.93 per day.

A resort fee is collected separately from the advertised room rate. A guest may pay in advance with a credit card for a room online. There he is paying the advertised room rate and all necessary taxes. This guest may assume that is the final price of the hotel. When the guest arrives at a hotel with a resort fee, he will be forced to pay the additional resort fee for his entire stay at the front desk when he checks in.

Sometimes this concept as referred to as drip pricing. One price is advertised out front to lure in a customer but when the customer goes to book there are then mandatory unavoidable fees, taxes and other add-ons that incrementally drip and increase the original advertised price.

The resort fee can be more than the advertised cost of the room.[1]

There is no limit to what the resort fee can be. Two hotels in Florida have resort fees of over $100 per day.

Resort fees are unique concept to North America. Though mostly found in tourist destinations in the United States, some resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean also charge resort fees. A handful of hotels in Canada have also recently taken up the practice.

Since resort fees are a concept unique to North America, they are just starting to be spread to the rest of the world through North American brands.

Resort Fees are most prevalent in tourist locations. Resort fees are usually seen as a nuisance by travelers. Since regular business customers whose loyalty is important may go elsewhere if charged these fees, the resort fee tends to be located largely in tourist areas. Resort fees in tourist areas affect unsophisticated travelers who do not know about hotel billing and do not travel often. They also affect international tourists who are unfamiliar with the breakdown of a US hotel bill and who may not speak English.

Resort fees are also commonly located in tourist areas where there is resort fee collusion. These are areas where every hotel decides to charge resort fees. Currently resort fees apply to all 62,000 rooms on the Las Vegas Strip.

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Wikipedia