Las Vegas Resort Fee: What It Covers and Costs

A resort fee surprises many guests because it shows up after the room rate. This guide goes from what the fee is to the law, the cost and the ways around it.

Step 1: See what the Las Vegas resort fee covers

A resort fee is a flat daily charge that a hotel adds to your room rate for a bundle of extras. At the Venetian, the resort fee page says rates include "a daily Resort Fee of $55 plus tax per night, payable upon check-in." It lists fitness access for two at the Canyon Ranch spa and fitness center, in-suite internet, boarding pass printing, unlimited local and toll-free calls, and the PressReader app for newspapers and magazines.

No official page publishes one standard list for all hotels, so the Venetian's five items are the list this guide can confirm. It shows how the fee works. You pay it whether you use the extras or not. Most guests use a phone and the internet, and few use the newspaper app. The fee is taxed: the Venetian prints it as "plus tax," and the City of Las Vegas says room tax covers "the occupancy of a room and all related charges." The city page does not name resort fees, so ask your hotel how it taxes the fee.

Other hotels have their own lists and their own amounts. The amounts for each hotel are not published in one official place, so this guide quotes only the Venetian, which prints its fee on its own page. Look for the same page on your hotel's site.

Pro Tip Open your hotel's own fee page before you book and copy the list of extras. Should you skip them all, ask whether a rate without the fee exists.

Step 2: Know what the law says about a mandatory fee

Since May 12, 2025, a mandatory resort fee has to be in the total price you see first. The FTC fees rule covers short-term lodging, and it says businesses must tell you the whole truth up front about total prices and fees. The rule does not ban resort fees. It only says they cannot be hidden.

The FTC's question and answer page says which fees count. A fee counts as mandatory if guests must pay it no matter what, or if it is added by default. The agency gives this example: a resort charges $199 a night plus a mandatory $39 daily fee, and "the required resort fee must be included in the total price."

Taxes work differently. A hotel may leave government taxes out of the headline price, but it must show them clearly before you pay. A fee for an optional extra can also stay out of the total. This is why a resort fee is not the same as an optional charge such as parking: the FTC says businesses need not include fees for optional extras in the total price, while a resort fee you must pay is included. The FTC page does not mention parking, and the Venetian's fee page does not mention parking or service charges, so ask your hotel about those separately. For service charges the FTC only says to avoid vague names such as "service fees" and to describe each fee truthfully. The FTC page does not say why hotels charge resort fees, and no official page gives a reason. Hotels describe the fee as payment for the extras they list.

So can you refuse the fee? Usually not. The FTC says a business cannot treat an automatic fee as optional just because it removes it when a guest notices and challenges it. A fee that is part of your rate is yours to pay. When the booking page offers it as optional, you can skip it, and you do that when you book.

Key Takeaway The FTC rule since May 12, 2025 does not make the Las Vegas resort fee go away, but it makes the hotel show it in the first price, so compare totals and not room rates.

Step 3: How big is the fee over your stay

The fee adds up fast, because it repeats every night and the room tax applies on top. At the Venetian, $55 a night plus tax comes to about $62 a night if the full 13.38% room tax applies to the fee. That is about $249 for four nights. The Venetian's page says the fee is "plus tax" but does not name the tax rate, so the 13.38% is the City of Las Vegas rate for the Strip area and an estimate, not a figure the hotel prints.

The room tax is set by the area. The City of Las Vegas says locations inside the Primary Gaming Corridor are subject to a rate of 13.38%, and locations outside it pay 13%. The Strip falls in the corridor.

To judge the fee against the room, set it next to the nightly rate. The budget page shows Las Vegas hotel prices and how the rest of a trip adds up.

Prices shown on hotel search sites do not always say whether the fee is in them, so read the total line at checkout. When the hotel shows a nightly rate and a separate fee, add the two and multiply by your nights.

Step 4: Find a Las Vegas resort fee you can skip

A few hotels offer a rate with no fee, and one casino dropped its fee for a summer. Circus Circus lists a "No Resort Fee Room Special" on its home page, but the page gives no amount, so check the booking page for the price. To get a fee waived, ask at booking for a no-fee or optional-fee rate. No official page says a hotel must waive a mandatory fee at the desk, and the FTC says a hotel cannot treat an automatic fee as optional just because it removes it when you object. So once a fee is part of your rate, plan to pay it. The only waivers found are a no-fee rate, an optional fee chosen at booking, or a dated offer like the one below. Treasure Island advertises packages with an "Optional Resort Fee" and a "$69* night + no resort fee" offer, and its page does not show the fine print. Those small stars matter, so read the terms before you pay.

An optional fee often means you give up what it covers, such as internet or fitness access. That trade is fine if you only want a bed.

Resorts World Las Vegas waived its fee, which normally ran $50 a night, for all hotel guests from June 20 to September 11, 2025, according to a trade press release. That was a summer offer, and it does not mean the hotel waives the fee now.

Here is a short path that works:

1. Search the hotel's own booking page for your dates and read the total, not the headline rate.
2. Look for the words "no resort fee" or "optional" on the rate.
3. Compare two hotels by the total for all nights, including tax.
4. Already booked? Ask the front desk what the fee covers. Do not count on a refund.

The honest limit: a hotel with no fee is not always cheaper. A room at $120 with no fee can cost more than a room at $90 with a $40 fee, so do the sum. No official source read for this guide publishes a full list of no-fee hotels for 2026, and none says whether a given hotel waives the fee on comped rooms.

A room price is only the headline, and the total at checkout is the number you actually pay.

Step 5: Put the money toward the extras you want

The fee pays for a fixed list, and a pool party is not on the Venetian's list. If a pool day is what you came for, you can book one on its own. A pool party crawl with a party bus goes to three pool parties in about 5 hours and costs from €88 per person. It rates 4.6 from 123 reviews on GetYourGuide, Turnt Up Tours runs it, and the listing shows no free cancellation.

The VIP pool crawl visits two dayclubs in about 4 hours, also from €88 per person. It rates 5.0, but from only 12 reviews, so read the listing first. It offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, as the listing states, and meets at Rockhouse on Las Vegas Boulevard. Both tours are for guests 21 and older. The party-bus crawl has groups of up to 40 and the VIP crawl up to 100. The party-bus crawl does not include hotel pickup or drop-off, drinks or reserved seating in the clubs, or tips, so plan how you get back. The VIP crawl is run by Create Ibz, and its listing says food and drinks are not included. For more choices, see the club crawls page.

Watch the price unit. Things to Do in Las Vegas's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found that 22 of the 309 Las Vegas listings are priced per group, not per person, so the unit next to the price matters as much as the number. These two crawls are priced per person.

If you are still choosing a hotel, the where to stay page compares the areas of the Strip and Downtown. A tour does not cancel the resort fee, and you still pay it at the hotel. Going alone saves the tour price but means you handle entry, lines and rides. A tour costs more and takes the planning and the driving off you.

Prices and ratings above are as of October 2026.