Why do I have to pay resort fees on my Las Vegas trip?

Q My family and I are going to Las Vegas in July, staying at the Bellagio for a week. We have been informed that on top of the normal cost of the holiday, resort fees of up to $40 per night will apply. This means potentially an extra $280 is payable at the hotel. That is more than £200 and is a lot of money as far as I’m concerned. I’ve heard pretty much all Las Vegas hotels charge this. What are these extra fees for, and do they have any legal basis to be able to charge them?

Jason W

A The resort fee is an American concept that first appeared in 1997. The US Federal Trade Commission estimates that one in 14 American hotels now imposes a resort fee, making about £2bn in a year.

The resort fee is used as a device designed to flatter a hotel’s rates on price-comparison sites, and to allow hotels to reduce commission paid to online travel agents. The two worst areas for the practice, in my experience, are Las Vegas and New York City.

I am afraid to say that the information I have from Thomas Cook is that the resort fee, including tax, is $44.22. Assuming you are all in the one room, the cost for a week will be $310, nearly £240.

Thomas Cook says the fee “is charged by the hotel and must be paid for locally”. What does it buy you? Access to high-speed internet and the fitness centre, which these days I assume are part of the regular room rate in any hotel; free local and long-distance phone calls, which may possibly be worth something to you; and airline boarding pass printing – again, a service which I expect to be included in the cost of the room.

Americans are accustomed to all manner of extra charges being added to travel purchases, which is one reason resort fees have been able to spread and increase.

While pricing rules in the UK require all non-optional costs to be included in quoted figures, the prevalence of locally applied fees means that British travel firms are simply obliged to tell you at the time of booking what additions are payable. I trust you were suitably warned, so that you could decide whether or not to proceed with the booking based on all the available information.

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