In 2026, the way you pay for a hotel room has fundamentally changed. Thanks to the Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2025, the surprise resort fee at the final checkout screen is largely a thing of the past in the U.S. Hotels are now legally required to show the total mandatory price upfront.
However, just because the fees are visible doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared. To protect their margins against rising labor and energy costs, hotels have moved the goalposts. They are introducing new, highly specific charges buried deep in the digital fine print or triggered by specific behaviors.
