Hotels Have Been Charging Resort Fees Since the 1990s. The Government Only Started Forcing Them to Show the Real Price in 2025.

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Mandatory resort fees — charges added to a hotel’s advertised nightly rate for amenities like pool access, gym use, or Wi-Fi that are billed regardless of whether a guest uses them — trace their modern origin to Las Vegas hotels in the 1990s and early 2000s, where properties began adding the fees as a way to advertise a lower headline room rate while recouping revenue separately (Las Vegas Citycast). The practice spread nationally over the following two decades, and it took until May 2025 for a federal rule to specifically require hotels to display the full, all-in price upfront rather than burying mandatory fees in fine print.

How the Practice Spread From Vegas to Nearly Everywhere

Once a handful of Las Vegas properties demonstrated that resort fees could boost effective revenue per room without appearing to raise headline rates on search engines and comparison sites, the model spread to major hotel chains and resort destinations nationwide. NerdWallet’s analysis, cited in Washington Post coverage of the trend, found Wyndham among the chains charging some of the highest resort fees in the industry, commonly in the $30-50 per night range, a substantial addition to an advertised rate that can meaningfully change the actual cost of a stay once added at checkout (Washington Post).

What the New Federal Rule Actually Requires

• Effective May 12, 2025, hotels and short-term rental platforms must display the total price including all mandatory fees as the most prominent figure shown to consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s rule
• The rule specifically targets the practice of advertising an artificially low base rate and revealing mandatory fees only later in the booking process
• The FTC’s own economic analysis of hotel and resort fees documented the practice’s cost to consumers in detail, providing the research basis for the eventual rule (Federal Trade Commission)
• Separate federal legislation has also been introduced seeking to ban mandatory resort fees and other required charges outright, though that broader ban remains a proposal rather than enacted law

Why Hotels Fought to Keep the Practice Even After Facing Scrutiny

Resort fees generate revenue that, unlike room rates, often isn’t shared with online travel agencies or booking platforms under standard commission structures, giving hotels a direct financial incentive to maximize fee revenue separately from the advertised room price that platforms take a cut of. That structural incentive explains why the practice persisted and spread for roughly three decades despite consistent consumer complaints and periodic legal challenges, including state attorney general lawsuits in several jurisdictions targeting specific hotel chains over resort fee disclosure practices well before the 2025 federal rule took effect.

What Travelers Should Actually Check Before Booking Now

Even with the new disclosure rule in effect, travelers booking through third-party sites or international properties not fully subject to U.S. FTC jurisdiction should still verify the total price, including any resort, cleaning, or destination fees, before finalizing a booking, since enforcement consistency across every platform and property type is still developing in the rule’s first years. Calling a hotel directly to confirm the exact fee structure remains one of the more reliable ways to avoid a checkout surprise, particularly for international bookings or properties operating through platforms with less direct FTC oversight than major domestic hotel chains.

How Resort Fees Compare Internationally

Mandatory resort-style fees exist in various forms outside the U.S. as well — some Caribbean and Mexican resort destinations apply similar mandatory charges, sometimes labeled as service charges or destination fees rather than resort fees specifically, while many European hotels instead fold comparable costs into a more transparent single nightly rate from the outset. That international variation means American travelers accustomed to encountering the practice domestically shouldn’t assume it works identically abroad, and should verify a specific property’s fee structure regardless of destination rather than assuming rules learned domestically transfer directly.

Practical Steps at Booking

• Look specifically for a ‘total price’ or ‘price breakdown’ toggle on booking sites, now more commonly available following the 2025 disclosure rule
• Screenshot the total price breakdown at time of booking in case a discrepancy arises at checkout
• When in doubt, a direct phone call to the property remains the most reliable way to confirm the full expected charge before arrival

The Bottom Line Before You Book a Room

Resort fees aren’t disappearing just because disclosure rules have improved — they’re simply becoming harder for hotels to hide. Checking the total price, not just the headline rate, is still the traveler’s job at every booking.