3.1: Which hotel should I book ...and why 3.2: All rooms are not equal 3.3: Las Vegas resort fees 3.4: Hotel ratings ...what to believe 3.5: Getting a low price at a good hotel 3.6: Recommended hotels 3.7: Best hotels for the first timer 3.8: Checking in to your hotel 3.9: Slot machines and casinos everywhere

3.3  Be Aware of Las Vegas Resort Fees

Your unbelievable room rate may not be as low as you think!

Resort fees are a relatively new (and annoying) phenomenon in Las Vegas.  I won't go as far as to say that they are a rip-off, but some of the handling can certainly be deceitful.  A 4 night/5 day stay (such as when you arrive Sunday at 3 p.m. and depart Thursday by 11 a.m.) counts as 5 days and can cost you up to an extra $100 that you didn't expect to have to pay.  It is Vegas' way of cleverly upping their rates ...and profit.

Mandatory, non-negotiable resort fees range from $1 to $25 a night.  Not all hotels charge them but most of the better hotels charge about $20 plus a couple of dollars tax.

Here are some of the resort fees charged by some of the better known strip and nearby hotel resorts: $20 per night is added to your bill by the Aria, Bellagio, Encore, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand & Signature, Mirage, Vdara at CityCenter and the Wynn hotels.  The Excalibur, Hard Rock, Luxor, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Palazzo, Palms, The Hotel/Mandalay Bay, Treasure Island/TI, Tropicana and Venetian all add between $10 and $19 per night.  Those charging between $5 and $9 include the Circus-Circus, Hooters, Orleans, Riviera and Stratosphere.  (To their credit, the new Cosmopolitan does not charge a resort fee.)  The amount a hotel charges is subject to change without notice.

The following hotels (all owned by Caesar's Entertainment) also do not charge a resort fee: Bally's, Bill's Gambling Hall, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood and the Rio Suites.  A press release from Caesar's Entertainment says their hotels "...offer guests the excitement and value of the Las Vegas Strip, without the excessive fees."  (Yes. Caesar's called them excessive.)

The press release went on to say "Caesar's Entertainment Las Vegas resorts exclude mandatory resort fees, thus allowing guests to allocate their budget toward entertainment, dining, shopping or room upgrades rather than amenities that they may not use or desire" and that "In some cases, the fee may be in excess of 40 percent of the base room rate."  They claim "...its no-fees policy saves travelers $3 million per month."  You can find a list of hotels that charge a resort fee at this website.

Just what is a resort fee?

In my view, they are similar to the baggage fees that airlines (except Southwest Airlines) tack onto your plane fare.  The resort fee is not charged or collected by your travel agent or company, and it is completely independent of the rate you were quoted for the room.  The fee is not part of the final total listed on your reservation and is collected directly by the hotel at check-out.

Resort fees often cover features that you don't need - or want.  These "amenities" vary from hotel to hotel.  Is a resort fee a good deal?  That depends on what you get and how useful they are to you.

But free telephone calls (everyone has a cell phone), newspapers, pool/fitness center/gym/tennis court access, turndown service, in room coffee, internet access, in room safes, discount tickets/drinks/coupons/coupon books, between hotel shuttles and free parking/valet and concierge services are mostly features that I have received and were included without additional charge in past years.

My major beef with resort fees are that they are poorly disclosed.  (For example: look at the bottom of this page.)   A resort fee can often mean that the amazing room rate you negotiated is far more than you thought. 

Were you deceived?

Bjorn Hanson of New York Universitys Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management released a study a few weeks ago forecasting that American hotels will collect a record $1.8 billion in fees in 2011  up from $1 billion a decade ago.

The amount of a resort fee is the same if you book by phone directly with the hotel, a travel agent or use an online travel site.  You cannot opt-out of paying it.

When you book a Vegas hotel room very little - sometimes nothing - is said about the resort fee.  Sometimes you find out about this surcharge when you check-in or after after your credit card is charged when you check out.

Let me be clear. I have no problem with a hotel charging for anything provided the customer knows about it or has the option to accept or reject the service.  I firmly believe hotel guests should be explicitly informed of all mandatory daily fees and that they should be clearly highlighted on your reservation.  (Frankly, I personally favor a la carte fees or optional, bundled charges.)

In any event, you should not have to read the fine print on a website or hotel brochure to determine what your hotel rate will be.  In my opinion, if you did not know about significant, recurring daily charges until check in . . .or worse yet, until you check out, you would have a case for feeling you were mislead.

There is probably little that you can do once you are at the hotel.  But we have heard of cases that have been resolved in the traveler's favor by disputing a resort fee after you get the bill from the credit card company.  You might try this if you believe you were deceived.