The 11th edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) defines resort fees as “mandatory fees charged at either a flat amount or a percentage of the room rate.” These fees are frequently intended to cover services such as fitness facilities, spas, pools, local phone calls, internet access, airport transportation, and golf driving ranges, among other recreational facilities.
Resort fees were initially introduced to allay the complaints of resort guests who felt they were being “nickel-and-dimed” every time they used a resort amenity. Since then, the practice of charging a resort fee (or similar mandatory charges) has been instituted at types of hotels other than resorts. It is the charge of a resort fee at non-resort properties that has caught the attention of travelers who question the mandatory fee.
Despite the clamor from travelers, resort fees are still a rare occurrence. According to the 2018 Lodging Survey published by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and STR, 6 percent of U.S. hotels charged a resort fee that year. Of the 6,300 detailed U.S. financial statements processed by CBRE Hotels Research for its annual Trends in the Hotel Industry survey, only 4.8 percent of them reported earning resort fee revenue in 2018. When analyzed by property type, 50.8 percent of the resort hotels in the CBRE sample charged a resort fee, versus 2.8 percent for all other hotel types.
To assess the impact of resort fees on the operating performance of U.S. hotels, CBRE analyzed data from 306 properties that reported resort fee revenue in 2018. Historical trends were based on a sub-sample of properties that reported a resort fee each year from 2015 through 2018.
Impact on Revenue
At hotels that charged a resort fee in 2018, the associated revenue averaged 3.3 percent of total revenue. This ratio was slightly higher at resort hotels (3.6 percent) as compared to non-resort properties (2.8 percent).
