Plain-English guide
Short answer: more than they used to, less than you'd hope. A US Federal Trade Commission rule that took effect in 2025 requires hotels and booking sites to show the total price, including mandatory charges like resort fees, up front for US lodging. That genuinely helped. But fees still slip through the cracks: search results sorted by pre-fee nightly rates, international properties outside the rule, prepaid OTA rates where the fee is collected separately at the hotel desk, and totals that only appear on the final checkout screen. In one August 2026 check of ours, a Las Vegas resort's cheapest rate showed $821 a night, and $931 all-in. Here's how to never be surprised by that gap.
No affiliate spin here. This is just how fee display actually works in 2026, and how to compare around it.
The 2025 US total-price rule fixed a lot. These are the two lists that still matter.
Where you'll see the fee up front
Where it still surprises people
Even with better rules, hotel pricing still runs on two numbers: the nightly rate that wins the click, and the all-in total you actually pay. Resort fees (also sold as "destination" or "facility" fees, typically $20-50 a night; we covered the mechanics in resort fees explained) live in the gap between them, alongside taxes and service charges. That Las Vegas example from our own August 2026 checks, $821 a night versus $931 all-in, is a 13% gap on one of the most fee-heavy hotel markets in the country, and it's typical of the class.
The subtle trap is cross-site comparison: one site quotes the room with fees folded in, another quotes it before fees, and the "cheaper" option is just the one hiding more. This is the single most common reason the same room appears at different prices on different sites. On prepaid OTA rates there's a second trap: you pay the site for the room, then the hotel charges the resort fee separately at check-in, so neither number alone is the price of your stay. The booking channel can widen the gap further with charges of its own, from bundled service-fee lines to currency markups; we break down that layer in hotel booking fees explained.
How to see the real price, every time
Underbook is a free Chrome extension that compares your hotel and dates across booking sites on an all-in basis: the savings math runs on totals after taxes and fees, not headline rates, so a site can't win the comparison by hiding its fee line.
And when the fee data isn't there, we say so. If no source for a hotel reports its before-tax breakdown, we can't be certain resort fees are inside the numbers, so Underbook labels the figure a "listed rate" instead of calling it "all-in", and tells you to verify fees before booking. That label exists because of exactly the Vegas-style fee gap above; we'd rather admit what we can't verify than quote you a total that grows at the front desk.
It banned hiding them from the advertised price, not the fees themselves. Since the FTC's total-price rule took effect in 2025, US hotels and booking sites must include mandatory fees in the displayed total. The fee still exists inside that total, and the rule doesn't reach international properties or stop list views from sorting by pre-fee rates.
Often not. Prepaying an OTA rate covers the room and its taxes; many hotels then collect the resort fee directly at check-in, in your final folio. The rate details on the booking site disclose this ("fees due at property"), but it's easy to miss. Add that line before comparing a prepaid rate against anything else.
Resort and casino markets are the heaviest: Las Vegas, Orlando, Hawaii, Miami, and big-city "destination fee" hotels in places like New York. Amounts run roughly $20-50 per night plus tax. Outside the US the same role is played by city taxes and service charges. Our resort fees explained guide covers what they claim to pay for.
If it was disclosed before booking, you agreed to it and the hotel can insist. If it genuinely never appeared before you paid, dispute it at the desk and then with the booking site; under current US rules an undisclosed mandatory fee is on shaky ground. Realistically, the win is comparing all-in totals so the fee never ambushes you.
Whenever the data exposes them, yes; our comparison runs on all-in totals, and the savings math never uses headline rates. When no source reports the fee breakdown for a hotel, we label the number a "listed rate" and tell you to verify, instead of pretending it's complete. Honesty about the gap is the feature.
Underbook compares hotels across booking sites on all-in totals, flags when fees can't be verified, and never lets a hidden fee line win the comparison. Free, and you always book where you choose.
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