Room Rates Can Double After These Charges – And Don’t Forget About Paying For Parking
Las Vegas – once an isolated domain of bargain hotel rooms in the heart of a vibrant destination – have joined many other locations in charging resort fees.
In many cases, these fees can more than double the cost of the published room rate. These resort fees are hotels’ equivalent of airlines charging for checked luggage.
The entire travel industry is thriving on all these extra charges and I can’t help but wonder what they will come up with next. I wouldn’t be surprised to check into a hotel and be charged $5 a day for my room key.
Here is a complete list of the charges, which are added to your bill per day. The fees include use of the swimming pools, gym and Internet, and guests have no choice but to pay the fees.
• $45: Palzzo and Venetian (Sands properties). At least they offer free parking.
• $39: Bellagio, Vdara, Encore, Wynn, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Nobu, Caesars, Cosmopolitan, Green Valley Ranch Resort and Red Rock Resort: Those last two properties are nowhere near the Strip, by the way.
• $37: Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Cromwell, Delano, MGM Grand, The Signature at MGM, Mirage, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo and New York-New York.
• $35: Luxor, Excalibur, Tropicana, Trump International, LINQ, Bally’s, Harrah’s, Flamingo and Treasure Island.
• $33: Hard Rock Hotel.
• $32.99: Stratosphere
• $32: SLS
• $30: Rio, Circus Circus
• $29.50: Golden Nuggett
• $29: Hooters
• $25.99: Palace Station
• $23 – Downtown Grand
• $20.99: Gold Coast, Sun Coast, Silver Sevens, The Orleans
• $19.99: Aliente Hotel, Sam’s Town, Super 8 at Ellis Island
• $14.95: El Cortez
But don’t think you’re finished with fees with these resort charges. Many casinos now charge for parking, up to $24 for every 24 hours.
So shamefully unethical are resort fees.
Resort fees are all too often buried in small print and–worst of all–they hide the true cost of rooms in hotel price comparisons.
The word “fee” should apply to optional charges, e.g., parking fees (you have the option of parking elsewhere), not to mandatory charges that unlike taxes go into the hotel owner pockets.
Note that some chain motels just off the Strip do not charge resort fees.