Las Vegas Hotels Under Fire for Skyrocketing Hidden Fees and Extra Charges

Las Vegas visitors are encountering a growing onslaught of hidden fees across hotels and restaurants, with many charges buried in fine print and increasingly hard to avoid.

At Paris Las Vegas, a guest was hit with a $50 "cord-unplugging fee" after unplugging a minibar tray to charge a laptop. A small sign warned of the fee, but it was not placed near the outlet. The front desk said it could not be removed because it was a third-party charge.

Many restaurants on the Strip now tack on a 4.85% "concession" or "service" fee to customer bills. These surcharges appear in tiny print and don't correspond to any added value. Occasionally, servers may remove them upon polite request, but the fees are often left unnoticed.

At Flamingo Las Vegas, guests trying to check in early were confronted with a staggering $60 early-check-in fee, displayed via digital kiosk. This is well above the more typical $20–$50 range and is being automatically applied, bypassing human discretion.

Luxury resorts under MGM Resorts — like Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, and Mandalay Bay — have rolled out a $25 "operation fee" for room service "Classic Service" involving linen, plates, and silverware. There's also a cheaper $10 "Takeout Service" option, but both represent additional nickels-and-dimes on top of base prices.

At Aria, guests are being charged around $26 for a single bottle of water from the minibar, marked up sharply from retail, and some have reportedly refused to pay when questioned. A recent survey of 15,500 respondents showed that 88% think Las Vegas has become too expensive, indicating a major shift of Las Vegas moving away from a buy-in point to where the city has built a long-standing reputation as an affordable escape.

Overall, in 2025, Las Vegas resorts have been sneakily rolling out layer upon layer of surcharges that have changed the city from leisure and affordable value to looking for constant fees.