Resort fees are one of travel's greatest annoyances — mandatory extra charges that show up late in the booking flow, right before you hit confirm. You might also see them called destination fees, facility fees, or urban amenity fees, but they're all the same. A $35-a-night charge might not sound too bad on its own, but spread across a week-long trip, it can add several hundred dollars to a stay that looked completely reasonable two seconds ago.

Let’s go over what these fees are, when they might be worth tolerating, and how to get out of paying them.

A resort fee is a mandatory daily surcharge hotels add on top of the base room rate, supposedly to cover the cost of various amenities. Even worse, it’s not always included in the rate you see first when searching. It shows up later, sometimes much later, in the booking flow.

These fees typically run somewhere between $25 and $50 per night, but can push well past that at luxury properties or in cities like Las Vegas and New York. Some resorts in Hawaii charge more than $100 per night on top of the room rate! A federal rule now requires hotels to show the total cost upfront, so the all-in price should be visible before you book, though some properties still find ways around it.

On paper, resort fees cover the amenities that make a hotel feel like more than four walls and a bed. In practice, that often means things you'd fully expect to be included in your room rate anyway: Wi-Fi, gym access, a pool towel, maybe a bottle of water. And here's the part that really stings: you're required to pay the fee whether or not you ever set foot in the gym or touch the pool.

And just to be clear: resort fees don't mean all-inclusive. You'll still pay separately for things like room service, spa treatments, and cabanas. For example, the Cadillac Hotel and Beach Club in Miami includes beach chairs in the resort fee — but want an umbrella to go with those chairs? That'll cost extra. Especially cruel in the Florida sun.

That said, not every resort fee is a total money grab. Sometimes they come with perks actually worth using: food and beverage credits, complimentary parking, watersports equipment, bike rentals, or access to fitness classes both on and off property. We once stayed at a hotel in NYC where the resort fee included complimentary Barry's and SoulCycle classes, which would've cost over $40 per person. Suddenly the math looked a little different.

If you have hotel elite status, resort fees can feel especially frustrating since you may already get many of the inclusions. If premium Wi-Fi, free bottled water, or fitness center access come standard with your status, you're essentially paying twice for the same things.

Hotels charge these fees primarily to keep advertised room rates low while still collecting additional nightly income. They're not going anywhere, but the more you know going in, the better.

Most major booking platforms and big hotel chains now show the all-in rate before checkout. Confirm the full nightly cost, including fees and taxes, before committing to anything. Most hotel websites also list what's included in the resort fee somewhere on the property page — it can take some digging, but it's worth checking before you arrive so you know what to take advantage of.

If you want to compare properties by their resort fee structure before you start browsing, ResortFeeChecker.com lets you search by hotel name or city. Once you know what you're dealing with, you have a few options.

Both Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt waive resort fees on eligible award bookings, meaning you pay nothing in fees on top of your points redemption. For properties with high nightly fees, this represents significant additional value on top of the free room itself. Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards do not waive resort fees on award stays, so it's worth knowing before you burn points on a property that still hits you with a nightly charge.

World of Hyatt Globalist members have resort fees waived on both paid and award stays. Co-branded hotel credit cards often give you a significant head start here, with automatic elite tiers or accelerated night credits built in.

It doesn't always work, but if a listed amenity isn't available during your stay — pool closed, gym under renovation, Wi-Fi down — you have a reasonable case for a partial or full waiver. Document what's unavailable, ask to speak with a manager, and bring it up before checkout, not after. Don’t be a Karen, though — the front desk agent didn't set the fee, and a little friendliness can go a long way.

Sometimes you've found the right hotel at the right time and it has a resort fee. That's just travel. When you can't avoid it, the move is to actually use what's included. Front desk agents don't always walk you through the perks at check-in, so it's worth asking proactively for a full list. Make a point of using the food credit, and check whether any off-property perks like fitness classes or local experiences are part of the package. A perk you never use is just money you left on the table.