Hotels are always looking for ways to make more money. One way, as any traveler can tell you, is to tack on fees that are not advertised.

Hidden hotel resort fees

For example, the Palazzo in Las Vegas is being sued in a class action lawsuit for their "resort" fees that they tack on via "dip" pricing, where the price that you see advertised does not include the resort fee. And, you don't see this resort fee until you go through the check out process.

So, for example, when you search for a hotel room on the Palazzo's website, you:

• select your dates and click "Book Now"
• view "starting from" rates and click "Select Offer" on the displayed rate that you want
• select "Book" on the room and displayed rate you want
• view what is called the "New Total" price and the fine print saying: "Current Total: USD $329.00+Tax: USD $ 39.48) and click "Continue"
• now you see, itemized, the Room Total and Tax. You will now, finally, see: "Rates do not include a resort fee of $29 plus applicable tax per night, payable upon check-in" (even though the taxes have been included in the itemized list on the page). There is no mention that this resort fee is a mandatory fee - although I have found that, in general, you can assume that all "resort" fees are mandatory.

An easier way to find hotels' "hidden fees"

This, of course, makes hotel comparison shopping a nightmare. But, sites like Kayak can help. Just do your hotel search in Kayak. Then, select "Nightly plus local taxes and fees" in the top right corner. You will then be viewing a list of hotels, complete with the TOTAL hotel price you can expect to pay. Once you find a hotel with a price you like, you can then go to the hotel's website to see if there are any deals on the hotel, knowing that there IS a hidden price.

So - bottom line: be vigilant, and research ALL the fees you might have to pay - at all times.