Las Vegas Hotel Deposits: How Much Each Hotel Holds (and How to Get It Back)

The Las Vegas hotel deposit you meet at the front desk is an incidental hold: the hotel authorizes your card for a set amount per day, night or stay, on top of anything you haven’t prepaid, and releases it after checkout. Here are the deposit policies of 56 hotels as of October 2026, who takes debit or cash, and how long the money takes to come back.

Las Vegas hotel deposits at a glance

Standard-room incidental holds at the most-booked resorts, checked October 2026 on each hotel’s own terms, FAQ or caesars.com data; how we check facts explains the method.

Hotel	Incidental hold (as of October 2026)	Basis
Luxor, Excalibur	$50	Per day
Horseshoe, Paris, Flamingo	$50	Per day
New York-New York	$75 (FAQ cap $300)	Per day
MGM Grand, Park MGM	$100 (FAQ cap $400)	Per day
Caesars Palace	$100	Per day
Mandalay Bay	$100	Per day
Bellagio, ARIA, The Cosmopolitan	$150	Per day
The Venetian, The Palazzo	$150	Per night
Wynn, Encore, Fontainebleau	$150	Per night
Golden Nugget	$50	Per stay

Suites usually carry bigger holds, and the full 56-hotel tables below add debit and cash rules.

Las Vegas hotel deposits by hotel (as of October 2026)

Amounts are for a standard room unless noted, from each hotel’s own terms, FAQ or caesars.com data (October 2026). Where a hotel publishes no amount, its Booking.com or Hotels.com house-rules figure is shown and labeled. Suites often carry bigger holds.

MGM Resorts

Hotel	Incidental hold	Basis	Notes
Bellagio	$150	Per day	Plus room, tax and resort fee
ARIA	$150 Deluxe Rooms; $250 Tower Suites; $350 Sky Suites; $500 Villas	Per day	No cash at check-in; U.S. cash accepted at checkout
Vdara	$100 Studios; $250 Suites; $350 Luxury Suites	Per day	Cash not accepted
The Cosmopolitan	$150; $1,000 for a Bungalow or Chelsea Penthouse	Per day; per night for those suites	Bungalow and penthouse holds must go on a credit card
MGM Grand, Park MGM, The Reserve	$100; FAQs cap it at $400	Per day	Terms give no cap; FAQs apply the cap to credit and debit cards
The Signature at MGM Grand	$100, up to 3 days ($300 maximum)	Per day	Terms and FAQ agree
New York-New York	$75; FAQ caps it at $300	Per day	Terms give no cap
Mandalay Bay, W Las Vegas	$100	Per day	Suite FAQs: cash or debit accepted if a credit card stays on file
Luxor, Excalibur	$50	Per day	Lowest MGM hold

MGM’s reservation terms, updated Aug. 26, 2026, put the hold on top of room, tax and resort fee and require the credit or debit card used to book at registration.

Caesars Entertainment

Hotel	Incidental hold	Basis	Notes
Caesars Palace, Nobu Hotel	$100	Per day	No cash; credit card required for incidentals
The Vanderpump Hotel	$100	Per day	FAQ: credit or debit; Caesars’ data: credit card
Horseshoe	$50	Per day	Credit or debit card; no cash, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay
Paris, Flamingo	$50	Per day	Credit card required for incidentals
Harrah’s	Not published (per Booking.com: $100 a day, though the listing also shows $150)	Per day	FAQ: credit or debit, no cash; released within 3 to 7 business days after checkout. Caesars’ data: credit card
The LINQ	Not published (per Booking.com: $50 a night, though the listing also shows $150)	Not stated	FAQ: credit or debit (debit releases slower); Caesars’ data: credit card
Planet Hollywood	Not published (per Booking.com: $300)	Per day, per the FAQ	FAQ: credit or debit card

Caesars’ data still carries an older fee list showing $100 at Paris, Flamingo and Horseshoe; the current policy sections say $50 a day, and Horseshoe’s FAQ agrees.

Other Strip resorts

Hotel	Incidental hold	Basis	Notes
The Venetian, The Palazzo	$150; Signature Suites $500 or $2,500	Per night in the terms, “per reservation” in the Suites FAQ; Signature Suites per stay	Credit card deposit
Wynn, Encore	$150 rooms and Tower Suites; $500 villas, apartments and duplexes	Per night	Valid credit card required
Fontainebleau	$150 standard rooms and most suites; $500 Grand Panorama Suite and Fleur de Lis	Per night	No cash; credit card required at check-in
Resorts World (Las Vegas Hilton, Conrad, Crockfords)	Not published (per Booking.com: $150 for standard rooms)	Nightly, per the FAQ	Credit or debit card
SAHARA	$50; up to $100 on promotional rates	Per day	Major credit card required
The STRAT	$75, maximum $300	Per day	Credit or debit card matching your ID
Treasure Island	Not published (per Hotels.com: $100 a night; per Booking.com: $100 on arrival)	Varies by listing	No cash (Hotels.com)
Circus Circus	Not published (per Booking.com: $50 a day, up to $200)	Per day	No cash deposits (Booking.com)
Best Western Plus Casino Royale	$25 (per Booking.com)	Per night	No cash (Booking.com)

Downtown

Hotel	Incidental hold	Basis	Notes
Golden Nugget	$50	Per stay	Standard rooms
El Cortez	Pavilion and Cabana Rooms $50 a night (maximum $150); Original 47 and Tower rooms $150; suites $250	Per night, capped; others per stay	No cash; credit or debit, but credit for Premium Suites
Plaza	$100	Per reservation	Cash accepted for everything except the deposit; no prepaid, gift or virtual cards
Four Queens, Hotel Apache at Binion’s	$100	Per stay	No cash, gift or prepaid cards
Fremont, California, Main Street Station	$100	At check-in	Credit card, per current offer terms
Circa	$100 (per Booking.com)	Per stay	No cash (Booking.com)
The D, Golden Gate	$50 (per Booking.com)	Per stay	No cash (Booking.com)
Downtown Grand	$50 (per Booking.com)	Per night	No cash (Booking.com)

Off the Strip

Hotel	Incidental hold	Basis	Notes
Westgate	$50	Per day	Listed as a credit card charge
Palms	$100 per room; suites may be higher	Per night	Debit or credit; no cash, gift or prepaid cards
Rio	$100	Per day	FAQ mostly requires a credit card; no cash or prepaid cards
Trump International	$100 studios and suites; $500 penthouses	Per night	Credit or debit card
M Resort	$150, plus a hold for the full expected balance	Per stay	No personal checks or prepaid cards
Ahern Hotel	$100	Per night	Debit or credit card
Virgin Hotels	$100 (per Booking.com)	Per day	Credit card (Booking.com)
Red Rock, Green Valley Ranch	$100 (per Booking.com)	Per stay	No cash (Booking.com)

We couldn’t find a deposit policy for Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria or The Carriage House.

The three Las Vegas hotel “deposits”

Three different charges get called a deposit, and only one of them is the hold at check-in:

	Reservation deposit	Incidental hold	Resort fee
When it hits your card	At booking	At check-in	Per night, prepaid or billed at the hotel
What it is	Usually the first night’s room and tax on direct bookings	An authorization for room charges and damages	A mandatory nightly fee
Do you get it back?	Yes, if you cancel in time	Yes, minus anything you charge	No

Reservation deposit. Book direct and most resorts take one night up front. MGM refunds the first night’s deposit if you cancel at least 72 hours before arrival, unless your offer says otherwise, and Fontainebleau uses the same 72-hour line. Caesars bills one night on room-only bookings, and most of its hotel FAQs allow free cancellation up to 48 hours out, though Flamingo’s says 72, so check your rate. The Venetian bills the first night or the whole stay, depending on the offer.

Incidental hold. This is what the tables above cover: money held so you can charge things to your room. Bellagio’s terms tie it to “room charging privileges.” It’s released after checkout if you haven’t run up charges or damaged the room; El Cortez, for example, releases its deposit “pending a room inspection.”

Resort fee. A mandatory nightly charge, not a deposit, so it doesn’t come back. MGM’s terms apply it to all reservations, and The Venetian’s is payable at check-in. Our resort fees guide lists every hotel’s fee, and a few hotels skip it entirely; see Las Vegas hotels without resort fees.

Prepaid on Booking.com? You still get a hold

Booking.com is an intermediary: your booking contract is with the hotel. It lists three ways a stay can be paid: the hotel charges you at the property, the hotel charges you in advance, or Booking.com organizes the payment in advance. Any upfront payment “may be taken or pre-authorized when you make your booking, and it may be non-refundable,” so read the rate’s terms. Caesars says third-party bookings follow the booking site’s cancellation policy, not its own.

None of that replaces the check-in hold. Prepaying covers the room, but hotels still take an incidental hold at check-in under their own policy. Bellagio’s own fine print on Booking.com lists a $150 incidental deposit per night, per room, taken at check-in, and many listings note a damage deposit “required on arrival.”

What a pay-at-the-hotel rate adds is the rest of the bill. Plaza authorizes “the remaining balance for room, tax & nightly $39 (plus tax) resort fee, plus a $100 deposit,” and Four Queens authorizes “the full amount due plus a $100 security deposit.” Booking.com also warns that some fees inside the total it shows are collected by the hotel directly. Our guide to the best way to book Las Vegas hotels compares Booking.com with booking direct.

Do Las Vegas hotels accept debit cards and cash?

Debit: often, but the money leaves your account. MGM’s hotels, Resorts World, The STRAT, Palms, Plaza, El Cortez, Trump International and Ahern Hotel accept debit for the deposit, and so do Horseshoe, Harrah’s, Planet Hollywood, The LINQ and The Vanderpump Hotel according to their FAQs (Caesars’ property data for Harrah’s, The LINQ and Vanderpump asks for a credit card, so confirm). The catch shows up in the fine print:

• The Cosmopolitan: “If a debit card is used, an authorization will appear as an actual charge and the remaining funds will be refunded at checkout.”
• Four Queens and Binion’s: debit authorizations show up as an actual charge, and the funds are frozen until checkout.
• **The STRAT:** debit funds are charged in advance, and the refund takes an estimated 10 to 20 business days, depending on your bank.
• The LINQ: “Holds on debit cards may take longer to release than credit cards.”
• MGM: with a debit card, “unused funds may be withheld by your card issuer.”

Some hotels want a credit card: Caesars’ data says so for Caesars Palace, Nobu, Paris and Flamingo, and Wynn, Fontainebleau, SAHARA, The Venetian and Westgate name a credit card in their terms. Prepaid and app-based cards are widely refused; Plaza and Palms both name Cash App and Venmo.

Cash: rarely. Caesars Palace and Nobu (“Cash is not accepted for deposits or room charges”), Harrah’s, Horseshoe, Vdara, Fontainebleau, Palms, Rio, El Cortez, Four Queens and Binion’s refuse cash for the deposit, and Plaza takes cash for everything except its $100 deposit. ARIA won’t take cash at check-in but accepts U.S. cash at checkout, and the Mandalay Bay and W suite FAQs allow cash or debit as long as a credit card stays on file.

How long does the hold take to come back?

Hotel	When it’s released	How long it can take
MGM Resorts hotels	At checkout	Up to 10 business days to post; international banks may take longer
New York-New York	At checkout, if you charged nothing	7 to 10 business days; up to 30 for international banks
The Cosmopolitan	At checkout	7 to 10 business days domestic; 7 to 30 international
The STRAT	Within 24 hours after checkout	Depends on your bank; debit an estimated 10 to 20 business days
Harrah’s	After checkout	Within 3 to 7 business days
SAHARA	Not stated	Up to 5 business days for unused funds
Rio	At checkout	Typically 3 to 7 business days; international cards up to 30 days
Trump International	Day of departure, if there are no charges	Up to 7 business days domestic; 20 international
El Cortez	At checkout, pending a room inspection	3 to 10 business days
Four Queens, Binion’s	At checkout	Your bank may hold the funds longer

Among the other Caesars hotels, only The LINQ says anything (“released after checkout”), and M Resort warns its hold may last until after checkout “or longer at the discretion of your card issuer.”

What can eat into the hold

The hold secures whatever you charge to the room, so a few in-room extras can turn into real charges at checkout:

• Sensor minibars. ARIA’s FAQ says its minibars are sensor-based and not set to a food-safe temperature; ask the front desk for a personal fridge instead (fees may apply).
• Fridge rentals. MGM Grand charges $35 a night for a fridge when one is available, Excalibur $25 and The Venetian and The Palazzo $50 a day for a personal fridge (as of October 2026). Vdara includes a fridge for personal items in every suite.
• Room charges. Restaurant, bar and spa bills signed to the room come off the same authorization before the rest is released.

Our guide to Las Vegas hotel rooms with a fridge, microwave or coffee maker lists which hotels charge for what.

How to keep the hold small

• Pick a capped or flat hold for longer stays. MGM Grand’s $100 a day stops at $400, or four days’ worth, and The STRAT’s $75 a day stops at $300. Golden Nugget holds $50 per stay and Plaza $100 per reservation; our guide to downtown Las Vegas hotels covers both.
• Book a standard room. ARIA’s Sky Suites hold $350 a day against $150 for a Deluxe Room, and a Cosmopolitan Bungalow $1,000 a night.
• Use a credit card if you can. Debit holds can come out as actual charges and take longer to release.
• Prepay the room. Where the check-in authorization covers your unpaid balance, as at Plaza, Four Queens and M Resort, prepaying leaves mostly the incidental hold.
• Read promotion terms. SAHARA’s promotional rates, such as its no-resort-fee All-In rate, set the hold at up to $100 a day, double the standard $50.
• Budget for it. Count the hold as money you can’t spend until it’s released; our Las Vegas trip cost guide and list of cheap hotels in Las Vegas help you plan around it.
• Paying for early check-in or late checkout? Budget those fees as well; see our guide to Las Vegas early check-in and late checkout.

FAQ

How much is the deposit at Bellagio?

$150 a day, on top of room, tax and the resort fee, per Bellagio’s reservation terms (as of October 2026). It covers room-charging privileges and is released at checkout, though the refund can take up to 10 business days to post. Our Bellagio review has the rest of the fine print.

How much is the deposit at Caesars Palace?

$100 a day, according to Caesars’ property data, and cash isn’t accepted for deposits or room charges. A credit card is required for incidentals; the FAQ lists debit cards among payment methods around the resort but doesn’t say one can secure the deposit. Nobu Hotel holds the same $100. See our Caesars Palace review.

How much is the deposit at The Cosmopolitan?

$150 a day, or $1,000 a night for a Bungalow or Chelsea Penthouse, which must go on a credit card. On a debit card, the authorization shows up as an actual charge, and refunds take 7 to 10 business days for domestic travelers. More in our Cosmopolitan review.

How much is the deposit at Luxor?

$50 a day, on top of room, tax and resort fee, the lowest daily hold at any MGM Resorts hotel; Excalibur holds the same. Like other MGM hotels, Luxor requires the card you booked with at registration and releases the hold at checkout.

When is the MGM Grand deposit refunded?

At checkout. MGM releases the hold when you check out and sends it to your bank, and a refund shown on your receipt can take up to 10 business days to post, longer with international banks. MGM Grand holds $100 a day, capped at $400 in its FAQ. Our MGM Grand review has more.

Are there any Strip hotels that don’t charge a deposit?

Not that we found. Every Strip hotel with a published policy takes an incidental hold at check-in, and the lowest official daily amount is $50, at Luxor, Excalibur, Horseshoe, Paris, Flamingo and SAHARA (standard rates). We couldn’t find a policy for Four Seasons or Waldorf Astoria. Downtown, Golden Nugget holds just $50 per stay.

Check the deposit line in your confirmation and leave room on your card for the whole stay. If someone in your group is under 21, read our guide to the Las Vegas hotel check-in age, and for the rest of the planning, start with our first time in Las Vegas tips.

Detailed room, location and booking guides

• Las Vegas Hotels With a Debit Card: What to Check

More hotel reviews and trip-planning details

• Las Vegas Hotel Checkout: Review Your Bill and Get the Right Receipt