“Resort fees” are daily charges added to a guest’s bill for things you provide such as access to the fitness center, the bell staff, a pool or a newspaper delivered to their room in the morning.

They make sense, but many guests despise them. This is usually because the guest, especially if they’re not a corporate traveller or they haven’t travelled much recently, is honestly unaware of the fee and thinks the hotelier is trying to pull a fast one, shaft a few more bucks out of them.

Causal travellers consider the resort fee deceptive, since they expect if you advertise such things as a fitness center and daily newspaper delivery, that they’re complementary with a paid room reservation.

And in some cases, yes, the fee can be abused. We’ve seen Las Vegas hotels where the resort fee is higher than the advertised room rate! But okay, that’s Vegas. Losing your money is the whole point of Vegas.

What can you do to honestly recoup your expenses without the guest telling all their friends on social media that you’re ripping them off?

One thing to do, probably the best thing to do, is simply be upfront about it. You do have legitimate expenses; the guest understands that. Make sure that when guests book their room a mention of a resort fee appears somewhere obvious and they’re reminded at check-in. You don’t want a guest standing at the front desk at checkout yelling to see the manager about that surprise $25 fee on their bill.

Give guests the opportunity to opt out of the fee. This includes not allowing them to use the fitness center or giving them the daily newspaper but many guests don’t want those anyway.

Business travellers who aren’t paying for the room anyway tend not to care about resort fees but they should still be notified as if they were budget-conscious penny pinchers out for the yearly holiday. It leaves them with an improved impression of your integrity.