Every traveler that I know despises resort fees—myself included. I think it’s a travesty that hotels can get away with charging a mandatory nightly surcharge to cover the cost of certain amenities no matter whether you use them or not. The worst part is that most of these fees are unadvertised and travelers don’t find out until they check-in.
When it comes to Vegas, there’s not much you can do except try to book hotels that don’t have one or choose another destination since only a handful of Vegas hotels don’t have a resort fee. Basically, you should just be prepared to shell out an extra $5-$25 a night. The good news? Vegas Chatter has compiled this comprehensive guide to all of the resort fees in Las Vegas and what they’ll get you in return that you can use before booking your trip.
A tip for the leisure traveler: I almost always waive the resort fee in Vegas. Tell them when you check in, and it should not be a problem. You occasionally lose some coupons to bars/eateries/restaurants in the hotel (if there’s a promotion at the time), and more notably, you lose complimentary Internet access. However, since my Vegas trips are all play and no work, 4G serves all my needs. I don’t find their coupons to be of much value, as they are often for specific dishes, drinks, or combos that I know I won’t crave (ex. complimentary kids meal or a specific martini at a specific bar at a specific time).
How do you waive the fee? I didn’t realize that’s possible.
You can ask when you check in but then they will charge you for everything (WiFi, gym, newspaper….)