Resort fees have been “dead” for a year. Did anyone notice? 

Remember that new rule on unfair or deceptive fees that went into effect back in 2025? You know, the one that was supposed to kill resort fees?

Since then, a hotel or booking site that advertises a room to an American traveler is supposed to show the total price, mandatory fees included, in the first number you see.

Or not. Our readers are still running into these annoying extras. It turns out that exterminating these dishonest charges is more difficult than it first appeared.

How did resort fees become “illegal”?

The new FTC rule covers short-term lodging and live-event tickets. It bans what the government calls bait-and-switch pricing, and it defines a mandatory fee as one you can’t reasonably avoid. A resort fee counts even if the front desk waives it when you push back. Cleaning fees on vacation rentals count, too, which is why Airbnb started including them in its prices last year. So do card-processing fees when there’s no other way to pay.

But three things can still appear later: taxes and government charges, shipping, and optional add-ons you choose yourself.

States moved first on resort fee bans:

• California’s SB 478 took effect July 1, 2024, requiring advertised prices to include all mandatory fees, with exceptions for taxes and reasonable shipping. Another law, AB 537, applied the same idea specifically to short-term lodging advertising.
• Texas authorities have reached settlements with six companies over hotel pricing. Booking.com paid $9.5 million on Aug. 19, 2025. Hyatt paid $1.25 million on Dec. 30, 2025. Marriott, Omni, Choice and Hilton also reached agreements.
• New York City announced a ban on hidden hotel fees and unexpected credit card holds in January. It’s the first American city to take this action against resort fees.

In Congress, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act was introduced in both chambers as S.314 and H.R.1479. It’s stalled in the current congress, but could pass next year.

Abroad is a different country

The FTC rule reaches businesses advertising to U.S. consumers. Book overseas hotels on non-U.S. websites, and you’re outside that system.

Europe has its own framework for handling resort fees. The EU’s price indication rules govern how prices get displayed, Under a coordinated enforcement action, Airbnb committed to showing the total price including all applicable mandatory charges, with Booking.com and Expedia agreeing to pricing presentation changes in December 2020.

So the traveler’s rule of thumb is geographic. In the United States, the number you see should be the number you pay, taxes aside. Elsewhere you have to closely read the confirmation to confirm what charges you’re really paying.

The other side

Hotels argue the fee bundles real amenities, including Wi-Fi, pool access and the fitness center, and that unbundling lets rate-sensitive travelers pay less. Of course, that’s absurd because at the end of the transaction, customers paid more. It only made them think the price was lower.

Some hotel operators say the rule accomplished what it set out to do, since the comparison is now apples to apples, and that a fee disclosed up front is a legitimate line item, not a trick. The American Hotel & Lodging Association has backed a single federal standard, which the Hotel Fees Transparency Act would create, over a state patchwork

And outside the U.S.? It’s still the Wild West, unfortunately. When you book a hotel across the border, you really have to read the fine print. (Then again, you always have to read the fine print.)

If yes: Was the fee included in the price you saw when you booked, or added later?

• Included up front.
• Added at checkout.
• I didn’t notice until I received the folio.

If no: Why not?

• I avoid properties that charge them.
• I asked and it was waived.
• I only book abroad.

My take

The rule did the job it was written to do, and the reason no one noticed is that these fees shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Here’s what I’m curious about: Has the all-in pricing brought the total down or simply forced hotels to raise their prices? I suspect the latter is true. I’ll have to do some more research.

Your turn

Have you noticed the death of resort fees? I’d love to get your comments.

Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.