Los Angeles, CA
A Los Angeles hotel costs about 30% more than the rate you are shown.
Destination fees downtown, parking charged separately almost everywhere.
Typical advertised rate
$150.00
What it actually costs
$195.00
The gap
+30%
Per night, for a median property. Measured from real captured rates, not a live quote — prices move, and the point here is the SHAPE of the gap rather than tonight's number.
How the gap happens
A hotel advertises a nightly rate. Taxes are added at checkout, and in some cities a mandatory “resort” or “destination” fee is added on top — charged whether or not you use anything it covers.
Because that fee is usually collected by the property at check-in rather than by the booking site, it can sit outside the total you are quoted. We show it either way, and we are explicit about which part we charge and which part the hotel collects at the desk — because only one of those is ours to take.
Properties in Los Angeles are relatively uniform, so the gap is predictable — but it is still a gap, and it is still not in the headline.