By Scott Roeben, on January 17 2024

It’s that time again! And by that we mean it’s time for a major casino company to increase resort fees, and also time to not shoot the messenger.

Resort fees have now hit the uncomfortable $50 mark at several Las Vegas hotels: Bellagio, Aria, Vdara, MGM Grand and Cosmopolitan.

The resort fee increases affect a dozen Las Vegas hotels, but it’s not all bad news.

We first got word of the looming resort fee increases back on Jan. 11, 2024. The higher fees went into effect on Jan. 16, 2024.

Here are the new resort fees at some of your favorite Las Vegas hotels:

Excalibur, Luxor: $37
New York-New York, Park MGM, Signature: $42
Mandalay Bay, Delano: $45
Aria, Vdara, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Cosmopolitan: $50

Resort fees have been increased $2-3 dollars per day across the board.

Yes, Cosmopolitan is part of the MGM Resorts family now, you just won’t find it on the MGM Resorts site yet. It’s complicated.

Enough with the bad news. In 2024, we’re all about being upbeat and positive!

On the bright side, Las Vegas hotel rooms are an incredible value, especially when you compare rates to other major cities.

Don’t freak out, just consider the resort fee part of the cost of your room.

There’s more great news! (What the kids call “spin.”)

Hotels have also gotten much better at disclosing resort fees. They have always been perceived as “hidden” or “surprise” fees, but fee transparency has been in the news, so hotels have adjusted their practices accordingly. Nobody’s really “surprised” by resort fees anymore, and most understand their origin and purpose.

Basically, resort fees keep the official room rate lower so hotels can rank better in online travel site search results. They also lower commissions hotels pay to travel sites, as commissions are based upon the rate of the room.

Now, when you book a room at an MGM Resorts hotel, you get to see all the hotels available, and when you select a date range, you can see average room rates at each hotel, the associated resort fees and an average cost per night (resort fee included). That’s about as transparent as it gets.

In other super upbeat news, the U.S. government is very serious about addressing resort fees, so the issue should be resolved by early 2086.

But wait, there’s even more good news! You can get a room at Luxor and Excalibur for less than the resort fee! The average room rate at Luxor is $27, the resort fee is $37. The average rate at Excalibur is $25, the resort fee is $37. What amazing values.

Las Vegas resorts have had an extended good luck streak following the pandemic, so they’re definitely probing to see if there are pain points when it comes to fees and prices.

The reality is the post-pandemic wave of euphoria couldn’t last forever, and visitation to Las Vegas has flattened. Competition for business hasn’t really been a thing for the past couple of years, but it could be again. Fees and prices and table minimums and players clubs perks should adjust accordingly as the reality starts to sink in that Las Vegas has more supply than demand. (Fontainebleau just brought another 3,400 rooms online.)

The impact of legalized gambling’s proliferation across the U.S. has been delayed, but it’s looming. Las Vegas had a monopoly on vice, but no longer does. Pain point probing has consequences. Gird your loins.

Upbeat version: Loin-girding is a valuable life skill that can result in more party invitations and winning lots of bar bets.