Can Hotels Charge Pet Fees in South Dakota? What Travelers Need to Know
September 11, 2026
If you’re packing for a Black Hills road trip with your dog, one question probably comes up before you book a room: can hotels charge pet fees in South Dakota? For most pets, the answer is yes. South Dakota hotels are private businesses, and beyond a handful of disability-related exceptions, they’re free to set their own pet fees, deposits, and breed restrictions.
That freedom disappears the moment a trained service animal is involved. State and federal law strip away a hotel’s pricing discretion entirely in that scenario, and getting the distinction wrong can cost a business real legal exposure. This breakdown walks through what South Dakota law actually says about pet fees, deposits, service animals, and emotional support animals, plus what to do if a property charges you a fee it isn’t legally allowed to collect.
Important Note: This article provides general legal information based on South Dakota statutes and public records, not legal advice for your specific situation. For a formal dispute, consult a licensed South Dakota attorney.
Can Hotels Charge Regular Pet Fees in South Dakota
South Dakota has no law banning or capping pet fees for ordinary household pets. Outside of disability-access rules, hotels, motels, and short-term rentals in the state can decide whether pets are welcome at all, and what it costs to bring one. This practice is common enough that the state even built it into tax guidance: the South Dakota Department of Revenue’s lodging handbook notes that tax is refunded if a pet deposit is refunded, which only makes sense because charging guests to bring pets is standard, recognized business practice across the industry.
Fee structures vary widely by property. Research into South Dakota lodging shows a Clubhouse Hotel Suites location in Sioux Falls welcomes pets of any size for an additional fee of $30 per night, while an AmericInn in Chamberlain charges $20 per pet, per night in designated rooms. On the flat-fee side, one Sioux Falls property charges $75 for stays of 1 to 6 nights or $150 for longer stays.
| Fee Style | Typical Range in South Dakota | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Per-night fee | $10–$35 per pet, per night | Cedar Shore Resort area properties |
| Flat fee per stay | $25–$50, nonrefundable | Rapid City and Deadwood-area hotels |
| Tiered flat fee | $75–$150 depending on length of stay | Sioux Falls-area extended-stay hotels |
Hotels also get to decide which pets they’ll accept in the first place, including size, weight, and breed restrictions. If you’re traveling with a dog on a breed watch list, it’s worth reviewing our guide to pit bull laws in South Dakota before you book, since some properties apply the same restrictions private landlords use. Multi-pet households should also check our overview of residential zoning pet limits in South Dakota, since many hotels borrow similar per-room pet caps from local housing rules. Whatever the fee, your pet still needs to follow standard leash laws in South Dakota anywhere on hotel grounds that counts as a public space, like a lobby, parking lot, or walking path.
Service Animals: Why Hotels Cannot Charge a Fee
The legal picture flips completely once a real service animal is involved. Under federal law, public accommodations are generally required to allow trained service animals to accompany people with disabilities, and that obligation comes at no extra cost to the guest. South Dakota backs this up with its own statute: state law gives any person with a disability the right to reasonably equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of all hotels, lodging places, and places of public accommodation.
South Dakota’s public access statute is written broadly enough to cover more than physical disabilities. SDCL 20-13-23.2 explicitly covers persons who are totally or partially physically disabled, blind, deaf, or have a psychiatric disability or mental disability, language that ensures psychiatric service dogs are protected under state law. The same statute extends limited protections to service animals still in training, since South Dakota grants public access rights to service dogs in training under SDCL 20-13-23.2.
This isn’t a suggestion hotels can ignore. Any person who is totally or partially physically disabled, blind, or deaf may be accompanied by a service animal in listed places of public accommodation, and failure of an owner or employee to comply is a Class 2 misdemeanor. That’s a real criminal charge, not just a civil complaint. It’s worth noting that a fee waiver doesn’t erase other responsibilities; if a service animal ever injures someone during a stay, ordinary liability rules still apply — see our explainer on what happens if a dog bites someone in South Dakota for how that plays out.
Emotional Support Animals: Do South Dakota’s Laws Offer Extra Protection
Emotional support animals sit in a very different legal category, and South Dakota doesn’t close that gap the way some travelers assume. Neither the ADA nor South Dakota’s service animal law covers ESAs, so public accommodations in the state aren’t required to admit emotional support animals — only service animals and service animals in training. That means a hotel can legally treat an ESA exactly like a regular pet, fee and all.
Key Insight: South Dakota actually has two different legal definitions of “service animal” depending on context. The narrow, hotel-relevant definition under SDCL 20-13-23.2 covers only trained service dogs. A separate, broader definition under SDCL 43-32-33, which defines service animal to include any animal serving as an emotional support animal, therapy animal, or assistance animal, applies only to landlord-tenant housing disputes — not hotel stays.
That housing-specific law exists for a reason unrelated to travel. Enacted July 1, 2018, it makes it unlawful to knowingly make false disability claims or provide fraudulent documentation to a landlord, with penalties allowing landlords to evict tenants and collect damages up to $1,000 for fraudulent paperwork. None of that protection carries over to a hotel front desk. In practice, a hotel can charge a pet fee for an emotional support animal, and nationally, emotional support animals are not covered by the ADA, so hotels are not federally required to waive pet fees or modify no-pet policies for them.
Some travelers assume any comfort animal, regardless of species, gets the same treatment. It doesn’t. If your ESA is something other than a dog or cat, check species-specific ownership rules first, since exotic pets face their own restrictions; our guide to hedgehog ownership laws in South Dakota is a good example of how those extra layers work.
Pet Fee vs. Pet Deposit: What’s Legal in South Dakota
South Dakota law doesn’t require hotels to use one structure over the other, but the distinction between a fee and a deposit matters for your wallet. A pet fee is typically nonrefundable — it’s the price of doing business with a pet, full stop. A pet deposit is meant to be refundable, returned once the room is checked and no damage is found.
The state’s own tax treatment reflects that difference. Tax on a pet fee or deposit is refunded if the deposit itself is refunded, which means hotels have to track which charges are truly deposits and which are fees when they file. Real-world examples from South Dakota properties show both models in use: one Deadwood-area hotel charges a nonrefundable $25 pet fee per room per stay plus a separate refundable $100 deposit, while a Rapid City property charges a flat $50 nonrefundable pet policy fee covering up to two dogs under 20 pounds.
| Charge Type | Refundable? | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Fee | No | Covers cleaning and standard wear from having a pet in the room |
| Pet Deposit | Yes, if no damage occurs | Held against potential property damage |
Extra cleaning fees often exist because pet hair and allergens require deeper turnover between guests, a concern that spikes seasonally; if you’re curious how that plays out for dog owners specifically, our piece on dog allergies in spring in South Dakota covers why shedding season drives extra cleaning costs. Whichever charge a hotel uses, ask for it in writing at booking so you know exactly what should come back to you at checkout.
Are There Limits on How Much Hotels Can Charge in South Dakota
There’s no statutory ceiling on pet fees for ordinary pets in South Dakota. Prices are set by the market, and the range across the state is wide. On the low end, Cedar Shore Resort welcomes pets of any size for an additional $10 per pet, per night. On the higher end, Best Western Graham’s charges $25 per pet, per night for pets up to 80 pounds, and a My Place Hotel location in Sioux Falls allows two pets up to 80 pounds for $20 per night.
- Nightly fees: Generally run $10 to $35 per pet, per night.
- Flat or tiered fees: Commonly $25 to $150 depending on stay length and pet count.
- Refundable deposits: Often $50 to $100, separate from any nightly or flat fee.
Pro Tip: Always confirm the exact pet fee directly with the property before you arrive. Third-party booking sites can list outdated pricing, and some hotels reserve the right to charge whatever is quoted at check-in rather than what’s advertised online.
These caps only apply to conventional pets. Unconventional animals — think farm-type pets some travelers try to bring on the road — are usually barred outright rather than charged a fee, similar to the limits covered in our guide to goat ownership laws in South Dakota. And because cats fall under the same “regular pet” fee rules as dogs, if you’re weighing whether a fee applies to feline travel companions too, it’s the same answer as for dogs — hotels can charge for cats just as freely, a distinction covered from the other angle in our post on cat ownership rules in South Dakota.
What to Do If a Hotel Charges You Illegally in South Dakota
If a hotel tries to charge you a pet fee for a genuine, trained service animal, you have real legal standing to push back. Here’s a practical sequence to follow:
- Confirm the animal’s status first. Make sure the animal legally qualifies as a service animal under SDCL 20-13-23.2 (a trained dog performing disability-related tasks) rather than an emotional support animal, which doesn’t carry the same public-access protection.
- Reference the law at the front desk. Calmly note that South Dakota law entitles disabled guests to equal accommodation without a pet fee for a qualifying service animal.
- Ask for a manager and document everything. Get names, times, and if possible, a copy of the hotel’s written pet policy.
- Get any resolution in writing. If the hotel agrees to waive the fee, request a receipt or email confirmation showing the charge was removed.
- Report unresolved violations. Since noncompliance is a Class 2 misdemeanor under state law, persistent violations can be reported to local law enforcement or pursued through small claims court for reimbursement.
Keep in mind that having a service animal doesn’t exempt you from every other rule at the property. Owners remain responsible for their animal’s behavior, and if an incident occurs, standard rules apply — the same liability framework discussed in our guide to what happens if a dog bites someone in South Dakota. Documenting your situation clearly, from the moment you check in to the moment any dispute arises, is the single best protection you have if a fee dispute ever needs to go further than the front desk.
Whether you’re traveling with a pet that simply costs extra or a service animal that’s legally entitled to stay for free, knowing where South Dakota law draws the line means you won’t get caught off guard at check-in — and you’ll know exactly what to say if a hotel gets it wrong.