There’s been a lot of news about resort fees lately, including some pretty steep resort fee bumps at several hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.
Visitors will be glad to hear there are a number of downtown Las Vegas hotels which do not charge resort fees.
Resort fees, of course, are mandatory surcharges tacked onto one’s nightly room rate. Resort fees are often charged for bundled services, covering things like Wi-Fi, spa and pool access, newspaper delivery and other amenities, but some travelers would rather avoid resort fees altogether.
Here are four downtown Las Vegas hotels that don’t charge resort fees.
Four Queens Hotel & Casino
Four Queens Hotel and Casino has been a go-to bargain in downtown Las Vegas since it opened in 1966. The casino is one of the liveliest in Sin City, and the hotel’s Hugo’s Cellar is one of the most celebrated in town. Go now.
Main Street Station Hotel & Casino
Just a block or two from Fremont Street, Main Street Station Casino, Brewery & Hotel is a mix of classic Vegas style and modern games of chance. Explore the hotel’s antiques and curiosities, or visit the hotel’s microbrewery. Book your stay.
Fremont Hotel & Casino
The iconic Fremont Hotel & Casino wows guests with its vintage neon, and has been doing so since it opened in 1956. Fremont is a craps mecca, and has a number of popular restaurant offerings, including the only Tony Roma’s in Nevada. Learn more.
California Hotel & Casino
The California Hotel & Casino, also called “The Cal,” boasts great dining, affordable rooms and some of the best gambling in all of Las Vegas. The Cal is undergoing an expansive renovation and looks better than ever. Take a look.
Make sure you know all your options before you book your Las Vegas hotel, and consider staying downtown.
Here’s a list of all our casino and hotel-casino partners.
For some, resort fees provide convenience (avoiding separate charges for amenities), but others view them as a practice that diminishes their ability to choose which amenities they’d like. Whatever your preference, we think you’ll like the value when you stay at a downtown Las Vegas hotel, and you’re always close to the non-stop action of Fremont Street Experience.
Update (4/6/18): Main Street, The Cal and Fremont casino will have a $14.99 resort fee as of April 16, 2018.
My favorite is The Cal. I try to stay here each time I come to Vegas. I refuse to stay anywhere that charges a “resort fee”. I don’t plan to use their facilities anyway. I just want a place to stay, eat, and gamble. The more they charge for these additional fees the less guests have for gambling and eating. If any of these 4 start charging this fee then I more than likely will not stay in Vegas.
we stayed at the 4 queens and it was a good place..no resort fees and that’s the way it should be..we drive from Tennessee there..if other places are raising resort fees then they are driving away customers.if we come again it will be the 4 queens again..awesome place..personally no place should have resort fees when they bring people there to gamble and stuff.
This “resort fee” scam was “tested” on the Las Vegas visitors at a low rate to see if they would resist. Clearly there wasn’t enough resistance to convince the bean counters that it would not be eventually accepted.
So the rate was raised higher and higher until it is what we are looking at now.
I WILL be staying at one of these four hotels… and I will remember to say thank you to the front desk personnel and fill out a comment card if that is available.
If enough people rebel this scheme eventually will fade and maybe even vanish if those willing to comply grow too few.
when the hotels started implementing the resort fees years back, the rate was not as ridiculously high as they are now for people to complain and hotels weren’t passing off bullsh!t amenities like getting wifi, cable channels and bottled water as the reason for the fees, so people weren’t really complaining then. if other cities can give you wifi included in the rate, why can’t hotels in vegas?…or just f’ing include the fee in the room rate and start jerking people about. let’s hope the downtown four stay resort fee free.
My son and I are looking for a week in Vegas in a couple of months. I am a Canadian and have been there a half dozen times in the past years and Resort fees of ANY kind are keeping me away from those establishments now. Our currency exchange rate is high enough to keep us away from Vegas, let alone adding Resort fees.
We will definitely be staying at a Hotel that does not charge a Resort fee.
mate we love Vegas and as a AUSSIE the cost AIRFARES around $2700 return and the Australian doller being =to 74 us then resort fees of say $35us thats $47.80 in our money plus tax. So when we return in Noverber 2017 we will stay off the strip and catch the bus
Good luck finding a hotel without a Resort fee anywhere close to the Strip. Hotels with no business calling themselves resorts are charging it now.
Heck, even 3 of the 4 places this article is about are charging a fee now…
Big rip off, don’t accept it . Go somewhere else , refuse to go to dumps downtown, only nice hotel is Golden Nugget, and not sure if they charge the resort fee.
The Nugget does have resort fees…
I don’t go for the hotel, I go to gamble. Vegas is the city that never sleeps. So i don’t sleep much, so i don’t care what the room looks like. Just clean!!
So you know that other hotels are dumps, but you dont know if GN has a resort fee? BTW, the answer is yes
i feel tricked every time i want start to book a 50 $ hotel in vegas and suddenly seems over 80 $ when it comes to pay time. i end up cancel the booking, and not going to this town. it is a scam before i even arrived. it used to be fun in the 90’s when prices were real .
The next thing we can expect from these new Vegas business plans is that we have to pay another mandatory fee for use of the elevators ,
That’s another 39 $ (great useful tip guys? )
Let me not forget to mention an extra Hotel tax 12 % , Tourist tax 17% , parking tax 24 % weather you are use it or not , Cleaning fee 16% + 32 $ mandatory fee. etc etc etc .
advertised price is 19 $ deal , but when pay the final total will be 259 $
it is like buy a new car for 19 $ ,but it seems that is just for the inside mirror.
Total scam at first hand. i skip my trip to vegas. too bad.
the taxes going to go up when they start building the Raiders stadium
No more trips to the strip for that price meal locals got hosed !!!
I think there should be law requiring that resort fees be listed in the price of the room. I feel sorry for someone getting a real good deal on a room for $21.00 and at check out finding the resort fee is $33.00. I think that is the same as in other scam.
I think by law they must tell you ahead of time.
The “resort fee” can be found if you look carefully on the advertising site. But it is NOT right up front where it can be factored into the price per night.
It definitely IS a “bait and switch” scam.
Another issue I have with these hotels is the “deposit”… why are they asking for a deposit? They already have my credit card information and surely have checked to validate it… so WHY do they charge a “deposit”?
If it is a DAMAGE deposit then why isn’t it a flat rate instead of XXX dollars per night? After all I am renting ONE room not a different room every night.
I plan to go to Vegas sometime next spring and I will be staying at 4 Queens or Main St. Station… I lived in Vegas for 14 years when it was a wide open FUN city, that truly never slept… NO resort fees, not even at Caesars!!
We travel to Vegas at least once per year. We always stay at the Golden Nugget downtown. We were very disappointed last year when we opted to stay mid week for the low rates and realized they added a $25 per night resort fee. I see it is now up to $27.50. What a scam! While we love staying at the hotel, we will not do so again in protest of the resort fees. We have stayed at the Cal when we could not get into the Nugget and it is fine…..and Main Street Station is a great place to gamble and eat. Our new stay……
That’s pretty reasonable compared to other hotels your protest won’t last long as you realize what a value the Golden Nugget truly is. With all the restaurants , just a few steps away and their amazing pool. I just paid with resort fee and tax for the signature suites at the MGM Grand over 80. dollars a night. So The Nugget was a bargain and its upscale you really can’t find a better upscale arrangement at a better price . The resort fee is for the pool the spa all the exras it costs to run that stuff…so you get what you pay for and you will understand once you try other places that you found the gem.
That is the BIGGEST load of horse shit! I remember a time when the casinos were cheaper and you got better service and just think NO FEES! Instead of sticking it to people, why dont you give us the option, if you want x, y, and z then there are these fees for it! Don’t tell me it to pay to this that and the other, and you get what you pay for! Funny thing about the fees, they were going to first go to the school, then right as is was put into place it was changed and started going to advert firm, AKA casino owners pockets! Glad you drank the Kool Aid, I didn’t!
I remember a time….what are you Frank Sinatra? If you travel almost anywhere in Vegas that has a pool and s pa and even hotels that don’t …they have a resort fee. pretty much. Inflation keeps the costs for these hotels high factor in rising gas, oil and electricity it takes to run a hotel the staff etc. It’s pretty obvious you want something for almost nothing well there are plenty of hotels like that….their called motels…well you know those times have changed and the Nugget is the biggest and highest quality for the lowest price and its a great great value. They even have a japenese restaurant…so sushi before going out, so fun, I love it .
I get it though you’ve been going and you’ve seen it change in front of your eyes, i guess I would be disappointing too, I don’t understand why they just don’t put it in the price..but I understand your frustration , I guess i would be singing a different tune if I was always going, I love the Nugget the restaurants, you can have breakfast lunch and dinner there, after noon tea, a spa a swim, there is a gorgeous rooftop bar with a DJ and the most stunning lighting during sunset for photos as the light bounces off the golden side of the building its gold mirrored…I had such a great time can’t wait to return. But happy to hear the other bargains around like Main Street. It’s a different time and place. and inflation goes up guys,…everything must change, that’s why when you roll into a good situation, assume its a moment in time and take advantage of it.
Avoid the town, used to be good, they are even talking about adding fees just to enter the casino for next year too.
Yes you have to dig down into the booking info to find if there’s a resort fee and how much per night. The cheapest resort fees are under $10/ day. I was there last April and what hurt my budget was the parking fees charged by most of the casinos, I paid $12 for 1.5 hrs at the Bellargio to see the fountains. And they expect me to stay, eat, gamble, and shop too? Fraid not! Silverton, South Point, Sams Town, open parking, no charge. Consider boycotting those who just have to make another buck off the tourist!
I use like going down to the strip and stay a couple of days EZ PARKING at the north door of the mirage super staff took great care of your car I played 20-40 holdem. Also the Raiders stadium will suck for locals. Future homeless camp.
Use to go Vegas 4 to 6 times a year, 2 of them for 14 plus days, but have not been back since Bally’s and their properties started charging resort fees again. With Casinos and entertainment right at home with several casinos, I will never pay one cent for any resort fee. Their loss, not mine!
Used to stay with LVH until Westgate took over. Never had resort fees. Then $20 / night and now in 2018 $38 including tax per night. Base room is $25 on Priceline. With the cheapest room rate expect to drop $65+ per night on a 3 star casino hotel. The only reason i would stay in the Westgate is when i come to town for a convention and the convenience of it being right next door to the las vegas convention center.
When trying to get the fee passed, the resort association said the money would be earmarked for Vegas schools. After it was approved, they flipped on that; the money now goes to the resort association — essentially, free advertising for the resorts. Viva las vegas! wonderful place to visit, lousy to live, as usual.
how is it that most mid priced, 2/3 star motels/hotels in the USA can have pools, wifi, fridges, parking, microwaves and other basic ammenities at no additional cost? The vegas pools are nice, but not $30/day nice!
Staying in Vegas used to be one of the cheapest things to do. Not any more. We’ll be staying at the Three Queens for sure! Used to love Main Street and The Cal. Oh well.
the “Four Queens”…lol I stay there every visit. Nice room, casino and good service.
freemont – not resort fee free anymore
WRONG!
No resort fee at the Freemont I was just there
WRONG! they have it now!
Heads UP! As of 2018, California Fremont and Main Street NOW CHARGES a $17 a night RESORT FEE! If your rooms are FULLY COMPEE, they are waived BUT if you are paying a nightly rate, even a discounted Casino rate, the resort fees are mandatory and WILL NOT be waived! Heads UP!
Dear Mr./Mrs. Author- maybe you should put that little disclaimer about the three (out of four!) hotels this article is about are charging the fees at the beginning of the article in bold, red type.
Almost a bait-and-switch type article, since most people probably won’t read to the last two lines.
These parasitic leeches will never, ever get a resort free from this cowboy. If that means giving up Las Vegas, so be it. More people need to rebel.