Hotel Resort Fees: How to Find the Real Nightly Price
A federal rule now requires the total price up front. Here is how to use it.
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A hotel advertises a low nightly rate. At checkout, a resort fee appears and the price jumps. A federal rule now targets exactly that, and you can use it to compare hotels in minutes.
Key takeaways
- Since May 12, 2025, an FTC rule requires short term lodging to show the total price, including mandatory fees, up front.
- Taxes and optional extras you choose can be listed separately, but they must be disclosed before you pay.
- Compare totals for the same dates, not nightly rates.
What the rule requires
The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees covers hotels and other short term lodging. A business must tell you the total price it will charge, including mandatory fees it knows about and can calculate in advance. Resort fees are one example, and a cleaning fee on a vacation rental is another.
The total has to be displayed more prominently than other pricing details, except the final amount you pay. Charges left out of the total, such as taxes, must be disclosed before you pay, with what they are and how much.
The rule does not ban fees. It requires honest, up front pricing.
Six steps to the real nightly price
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Compare the headline total, not the rate. Two hotels at the same nightly rate can cost very different amounts once a mandatory fee is added. Look for the all in total shown for your dates.
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Do the math for your whole stay. Take an example like the FTC's: a $199 nightly rate plus a mandatory $39 a day resort fee is $238 a night. For four nights, that is $952, not $796. Multiply before you compare.
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Find what is left out. Taxes and optional charges can be listed separately. Read the line that lists them before you click pay, so the final number does not surprise you.
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Ask what the fee buys. Hotels usually say what a resort fee covers, such as a pool, Wi Fi or parking. If it covers things you will never use, treat it as a real cost of staying there, because a mandatory fee cannot be skipped.
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Compare the same dates on more than one site. Check the hotel's own site and at least one booking site, and compare the final total on the last screen before payment. Presentation differs between sites, so the last screen is the fair comparison.
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Screenshot the total before you pay. If the final charge is higher than the total you were shown, contact the hotel with the screenshot. If you think the rule was broken, you can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
A quick rule of thumb
Choose the hotel with the lower total, then break ties on cancellation terms. A slightly cheaper stay that cannot be cancelled is often worse than a slightly dearer one that can.
For related reading, see points versus cash booking, which helps you compare a hotel's cash price to its points price, and rental car extras to check for the same total price habit on the car.
Your checklist for this week
- ☐ Pick the dates and compare three hotels by total, not nightly rate.
- ☐ Multiply any resort or cleaning fee by the number of nights.
- ☐ Read the list of charges left out of the total.
- ☐ Check the hotel's own site against one booking site.
- ☐ Screenshot the final total before you pay.
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