I go out of my way to avoid hotels with “resort fees”. That’s one of the reasons we just don’t go to Vegas anymore.
We don’t gamble and we couldn’t care less about shows. We hate the severe overcongestion of the strip. And we’re both way past the age where we have any interest in clubbing. There are tons of great restaurants and bars and touristy things to do far away from the strip. But it seems like just about every hotel in and around the town charges resort fees now, and the ones that don’t are in bad neighborhoods or don’t have much walkable nearby or have some other deficiency. Add to that the rising costs of everything in Vegas, and it’s just not worth the trip anymore.
Vegas used to be a cheap place to go because they made up so much money in gaming. About 15 years ago prices started to creep, but it was okay because Vegas still offered a lot of value for what you were paying. Vegas is now trying to reinvent itself as “a premium destination where people will pay anything because it’s Vegas” rather than “a somewhat expensive destination, but you get a lot for your money”.