Travel question: I was not expecting to pay a resort fee – isn’t this a ripoff?

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The Venetian in Las Vegas charges more than $50 a night on top of quoted rates (Getty)

Q Have you ever written about “resort fees” charged by hotels in the US? I was unaware such a thing existed, so the bill on checking out was a nasty surprise. To be charged extra for things which are normally included, like TV and coffee in the room, is a total ripoff, is it not?

Jack S

A Resort fees were a pernicious concept when they first appeared in American hotels in 1997. By making guests pay extra for elements that you would expect to be part of the overnight rate, they allow hotels to disguise how much they actually cost.

Booking and price-comparison websites in the US are based on headline prices and do not include mandatory extra charges. In addition, commission is not paid on charges that are levied locally. So progressively resort fees have become more widespread and more expensive.

This year, for example, the Venetian in Las Vegas is charging more than $50 (£38) a night on top of the quoted rates; the official figure is $45, but tax is applied. The hotel says it includes access to the fitness facility, internet access, boarding pass printing and local or toll-free calls. In my experience you will get all of these (apart possibly from the fitness facility) in the $50 motel down the road.

An attempt in March 2018 to bring resort fees to the UK in the shape of a £20-a-night room charge at the Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire came to an abrupt end when I pointed out that it broke UK pricing rules.

Americans are remarkably tolerant of added extras. But for British travellers to the US resort fees are an unwelcome menace – particularly in Las Vegas and New York, and increasingly in Florida. If you book a package holiday, with flights and accommodation in the same transaction, then you should be warned of any resort fees that are payable locally.

If you are booking independently, then just make sure you know in advance what the final cost will be.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder