Last updated: March 6, 2024
If you’ve booked a room in Atlantic City, you are well aware that the price you see advertised is not the price you pay. Sometimes it’s not even close. Whether you’re redeeming a “comped” night that ends up costing $39 or booking two-night stay that balloons from a $300 advertised rate to more than $400 total, the fees and taxes are a frustrating element of booking rooms at casino hotels.
When you book at Borgata through the MGM Resorts website, you get a clear breakdown of what you’re paying on top of the room rate.
In Atlantic City, the hotel tax rate is a whopping 13.625%, and New Jersey tacks on a $3 occupancy fee, a $2 “State Casino Hotel Surcharge” and a $2 “Tourism Promotion Fee” every night you stay. This little package of state fees adds up to $7.54 because of some confusing taxation. All of that is before you get hit with the resort fee, which is the hotel’s way of giving you a bundle of amenities at one low price keeping the advertised price low while increasing their Average Daily Rate.
The resort fee is also taxed at 13.625%, and to make matters more confusing, some casino hotels include that tax in their listed resort fee and some do not.
In the interest of clearing this up, below is a list of resort fees at Atlantic City casino hotels. The “Total Fees” column shows the combination of the resort fee, other state fees, and all taxes on those fees. More simply, it’s the difference between the advertised rate (plus tax) and what you actually end up paying per night. It’s also what you’ll pay for a comped night if you don’t have the necessary status to get resort fees waived (more on that below).
Atlantic City Resort Fee Comparison:
| Hotel | Listed Resort Fee | Tax Included? | Total Fees | Confirmed: |
| Bally’s | $26 | NO | $37.08 | 3/6/24 |
| Borgata | $25.05 | NO | $36.00 | 3/6/24 |
| Caesars | $27.99 | NO | $39.35 | 3/6/24 |
| Golden Nugget | $25 | YES | $32.00* | 3/6/24 |
| Hard Rock | $30.10 | YES | $37.64† | 3/6/24 |
| Harrah’s | $27.99 | NO | $39.35 | 3/6/24 |
| Ocean | $26.84 | NO | $38.00** | 3/6/24 |
| Resorts | $30.67 | NO | $38.23*** | 3/6/24 |
| Tropicana | $27.99 | NO | $39.35 | 3/6/24 |
*Golden Nugget lists their resort fee as $25 and the state fees as $7, so it seems like they include the $0.54 tax on the state’s fees as part of their listed resort fee.
***Ocean only charges 50 cents in tax on the state fees instead of 54. Thanks!
**Resorts rounds up on the taxes on the state fees and is taking an extra 2 cents from you every night.
†When you check out on Hard Rock’s website, the total resort fee will say $30.10. However, there’s a green notification at the top of the room selection page that says “Reservation Total does NOT include a $7.54 additional occupancy fees/night. This will be collected upon arrival.”
It’s worth noting that these fees are waived for elite status holders in many of the casinos’ players clubs. Keep in mind that you may still need to pay some or all of the state-imposed fees.
- Caesars, Harrah’s, and Tropicana: Resort fee waived for Total Rewards Diamond and Seven Stars cardholders.
- Bally’s: Resort fee is waived for Bally Rewards Superstar and Legend cardholders. However, the Bally’s website has an asterisk next to this benefit for the Superstar tier: “Based on play. Management approval required.”
- Borgata: MGM Rewards Gold members and above get resort fee waived, but it still shows up in the total when booking online. Be sure to ask the front desk at check-in to make sure the resort fee is removed.
- Hard Rock: Resort fee is now waived for Rock Royalty and above.
- Ocean: Resort fee waived for Ocean Rewards Prime and Reserve cardholders.
- Resorts: Resort fee waived for Star Card Red Carpet cardholders.
Showboat isn’t included in the table above since it’s not a casino, but it does have a $25.59 resort fee, and their tax amount always shows up as $1 higher than the state’s 13.625% tax rate. I’m guessing this is a state or city fee.
So keep these fees in mind next time you go to book an AC hotel. Also, if you stay somewhere and see that our information is out of date, let us know in the comments or email us at dueforawin@gmail.com.