New York Just Banned Hidden Hotel Fees. Is Your City Next?

In February 2026, New York City did something no other big American city had done. It did not just make hotels disclose their junk fees more clearly. It banned the hidden fees outright.

That is a bigger deal than it sounds. The federal rule that took effect last year forced hotels to show the full price up front, holds and fees included. New York went a step further and went after the practice itself. The question every traveler should be asking is simple. Does this spread.

What New York actually changed

The federal junk-fee rule is a transparency rule. Hotels can still charge a 45 dollar resort fee, they just have to show it in the headline price instead of springing it at checkout. New York's law is different in kind. It targets undisclosed mandatory fees and surprise credit card holds as a banned practice, not just a disclosure problem.

For a city that runs on hotel rooms, that is a real shift. And because New York often sets the template other cities copy, hotel operators across the country are watching to see whether a wave of city-level bans follows.

Why the fees got so big in the first place

Resort and destination fees were supposed to be a beach-resort thing. They are not anymore. Over the past few years they spread to city hotels, airport properties, and even budget chains, with mandatory daily charges now running from 25 to 70 dollars a night. They cover things you may never use, like a fitness center, bottled water, or a local phone line nobody calls.

The increases have outpaced inflation badly. Resort fees at most Orlando hotels jumped at least 11 percent over two years while general inflation sat around 2.7 percent. On the Las Vegas Strip, half the hotels raised resort fees recently, pushing the average to about 42 dollars a night, up 6 percent in a year.

The new fees hiding behind the old ones

Just as travelers learned to spot resort fees, hotels started adding fresh line items. Daily housekeeping charges. Luggage storage fees. Early check-in premiums. And a newer favorite, the sustainability surcharge, which is usually opt-out rather than opt-in, so it lands on your bill unless you notice and decline it.

None of these are illegal under the federal rule as long as they appear in the displayed price. That is exactly why New York's approach matters. Disclosure alone has not stopped the fees from multiplying. It has just made them slightly easier to see.

What this means for you on your next booking

Three things are true right now. First, thanks to the federal rule, the price you see at the start of a US booking should already include mandatory fees, so compare total prices, not nightly rates. Second, if you are booking in New York City specifically, surprise mandatory fees and unexplained card holds are now off the table by law, so flag anything that shows up that was not disclosed.

Third, watch the award-stay trap. Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards still charge resort and destination fees on points bookings, including free-night redemptions, regardless of status. A free night is not always free. Many other chains waive those fees on points stays, so it pays to check before you redeem.

The international angle

The fee story is not only American. Cities abroad are adding their own charges, just labeled as taxes rather than resort fees. Edinburgh launches Scotland's first visitor levy in July 2026, a 5 percent charge on every accommodation booking, capped at seven consecutive nights. Venice, Barcelona, and others have been ratcheting up tourist taxes too. The line between a tax and a fee is getting blurry, and either way it lands on your final bill.

How to keep fees from wrecking your budget

Sort by total price, not the nightly rate, so a low headline with a fat fee does not fool you. Read the fee breakdown before you book and decide whether the property is worth it with the fee included. For points stays, confirm whether resort fees apply before you burn the points. And keep your booking on a platform that shows all-in pricing and rewards you for the spend.

Booking through Best returns 10 percent of the room rate as cashback, which softens the blow on a market where the base rate is only part of what you pay. It will not erase a resort fee, but getting money back on the room is the kind of math that actually moves your total down.

Common questions about hotel fees in 2026

Did New York ban resort fees? New York City banned undisclosed mandatory hotel fees and surprise credit card holds as of February 2026, going further than the federal disclosure rule by targeting the practice rather than only requiring it to be shown.

Are hotel resort fees illegal now? Not nationally. The federal rule requires hotels to include mandatory fees in the displayed price, but it does not ban them. New York City is the notable exception with its outright ban on hidden fees.

Do you pay resort fees on points stays? Often yes. Marriott and IHG charge resort and destination fees on award nights including free-night redemptions. Some chains waive them on points bookings, so confirm with your specific hotel.

How much are hotel resort fees in 2026? Mandatory daily fees commonly run 25 to 70 dollars a night, with Las Vegas Strip averages around 42 dollars and steady increases that have outpaced inflation.

The direction of travel is clear. Travelers are sick of being nickel-and-dimed, regulators are starting to act, and New York just drew a harder line than anyone else. Whether your city is next is the story to watch through the rest of 2026.

How to read a hotel's fee breakdown in 30 seconds

The all-in price is progress, but it still pays to know where the money goes. When you open a rate, look for a line that breaks the total into the room, taxes, and fees. If a property is charging a 50 dollar nightly resort fee on a 120 dollar room, that fee is nearly a third of what you are paying, and you should ask what it actually buys.

Compare two hotels at the same total price and the one with a lower fee component is usually the better deal, because fees rarely come with extra value and often cover things you would never pay for separately. A gym you will not use and bottled water you can buy for a dollar are not worth 50 dollars a night.

What a city ban does and does not cover

Even New York's tougher law has limits. It goes after fees that are hidden or mandatory and not disclosed, and it stops surprise card holds. It does not set a cap on what a hotel can charge if the charge is clearly disclosed and tied to a real service. So a New York hotel can still price itself high. It just cannot ambush you at checkout.

For travelers, the practical takeaway is the same everywhere. Disclosure is improving, but the burden is still on you to read the total, question a fat fee, and walk if the value is not there. Regulation is catching up to the practice. It has not replaced paying attention.

Images: Hero and front-desk check-in via Pexels. New York skyline via Wikimedia Commons (Dietmar Rabich), used under CC BY-SA. Used under license.