Resort Fee amounts increase far faster than prices at the gas pump.

I came across an article on the Vegas Tripping website from April, 2009. It was your standard outcry against fee article that showcased a few fee examples.

At the time of the article:

Excalibur – $5  (now $12.50)

Hard Rock – $8 (now $18)

Hooters – $5 (now $8)

Luxor – $5 (now $15)

New York New York – $4 (now $15)

Tropicana – $8 (now $10)

Talk about inflation. The MGM group of hotels have double and even tripled their fee amounts. Sadly, as we looked at a few months back in our blog article: MGM Q2 Earnings  , the hotel group is using the fees as a revenue driver, so they aren’t going anywhere.

The Vegas Tripping article highlighted the inclusions in the April 2009 $5 Excalibur Resort Fee:

Free local + 800 calls

Fitness Center Access

2 Free ‘standard’ drinks at Excalibur Casino Bars

2 Free Midway Games tokens

The current $12.50 Excalibur charge includes:

Free internet access

Free fitness Center access

free newspaper

free long distance calls

The additional $7.50 per night grants guests internet & long-distance calls, however this is off-set by the loss of the free drinks + tokens. Is this worth a two and half times fee increase?

Will the fees continue to rise? That’s anyones guess, although we can see that Resort Fees have risen as much as 200% in only two years at select hotels.

Check out our new Resort Fee Calculator: