So you do your research, check all the travel sites for weeks on end before your vacation, looking for that great deal and finally you find something that looks very reasonable, only to get to the check out and see a hefty fee added to the price you thought you were going to pay. Or, even worse you don’t find out about it until you are at your destination, as some third party vendors don’t add the resort fee when selling the room and either don’t disclose it at all or are vague about the amount.
All hotels in Las Vegas add a daily resort fee to the price of the room, ranging from $22 to $28 plus tax. If you are staying a few nights this adds significantly to your hotel bill.
What exactly does one get for the resort fee? Or, to put it better what is promised for it? The hotel I stayed at on my most recent trip, Palms Place, included the following:
* a daily paper (which on my most recent trip wasn’t even dropped by my door but had to be picked up in the lobby; of course I never bothered too)
* use of the gym (ok, how many people actually make use of the gym while on vacation? In Vegas??)
* unlimited local calls (right, as if anyone goes to Vegas to chat on the phone for hours, right? If anyone needs local info they are 99.9% sure to use their cell phones!)
* shuttle to and from Palms Place to certain hotels on the strip. (I made use of this one time, but finding the spot where the shuttle picks up was so difficult I almost gave in and hopped in a cab. Still, for one ride it was mighty expensive considering I haven’t made use of the previous amenities included in the resort fee).
* the most important for everyone, wireless internet, however with many caveats. Only one device per day can log on. As a solo traveler this wasn’t a problem for me but for a couple or a family with children it creates major inconvenience. You would think for that price you could at least use it as much as you need it, right? Well not so at all! Take a look at this:
This is by no means criticism of the hotel I stayed at. I like it a lot! I actually stayed at all three Palms hotels many times in the past, I love that there is easy convenient parking, the cinema, the off strip location, the variety of restaurants available, their top notch customer service and comfortable rooms.
If hotels are using the resort fee to boost their income per room it would be wiser to just include this fee in their rate, so it doesn’t stick out as a separate charge, because nobody likes to see that on their bill after all the effort of finding the best deal!
A few years ago this fee did not exist, purchasing internet access was optional and it cost $11 for 24 hours. I think that was much fairer. Personally I could tether my phone to my PC I have 500MB per month for tethering or I could go to my favorite coffee shop if I needed more data, but I would definitely avoid this fee if it was optional, I just don’t think it offers enough for the price.
