Can Hotels Charge Pet Fees in Illinois? What the Law Actually Says

You booked a pet-friendly hotel in Chicago, packed your dog’s bed, and then got hit with a $75 “pet fee” at check-in that wasn’t mentioned when you reserved the room. Is that legal? For a regular pet, usually yes. For a service animal, almost never. Illinois hotel guests traveling with animals fall into three very different legal categories, and knowing which one applies to you determines whether that surprise charge is a normal business practice or an outright ADA violation.

This breakdown covers what Illinois hotels can charge for pets, why service animals are exempt under federal law, where emotional support animals fit into the picture, and what steps to take if a property charges you a fee it isn’t allowed to collect.

Can Hotels Charge Regular Pet Fees in Illinois

For an ordinary household pet, a dog or cat with no disability-related job to perform, Illinois hotels are free to charge whatever fee they want. There is no state statute capping pet fees at hotels, and the amounts vary widely by property and length of stay.

Real-world examples from Illinois lodging listings show just how much that range can swing. A $25 (+ tax) per pet per night for the first 6 nights and $10 (+ tax) per pet per night after that, payable at check-in. Other properties structure it differently: a 1-4 night stay runs $50, a 5+ night stay runs $75, with a maximum of 2 pets allowed per room. Some upscale properties charge more: a pet fee up to $75 for 1 to 6 nights and up to $150 for over six nights, with each pet weighing less than 80 lbs.

Because these charges are set by individual hotel policy rather than Illinois law, always confirm the exact fee, whether it’s refundable, and any weight or breed limits before you book. If you’re traveling with a specific breed, it’s worth checking dog breed restrictions in Illinois first, since some properties layer their own breed limits on top of standard pet fees.

Pro Tip: Ask the front desk to confirm the pet fee in writing or by email before you arrive. Verbal quotes given over the phone sometimes don’t match what’s charged at checkout.

Service Animals: Why Hotels Cannot Charge a Fee

Service animals occupy a completely different legal category than pets, and Illinois hotels cannot treat them the same way. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, beginning on March 15, 2011, only dogs are recognized as service animals under titles II and III of the ADA, and a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.

That distinction matters because it removes service dogs from the “pet” category entirely. According to Illinois Legal Aid Online, businesses that charge pet fees, like hotels, are not allowed to charge these fees to owners of service animals, and hotels also cannot restrict service animals to pet-friendly rooms. The federal ADA.gov service animal guidance reinforces this: people with disabilities who use service animals cannot be isolated from other patrons, treated less favorably, or charged fees that are not charged to other patrons without animals, and if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by patrons with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals.

Illinois adds its own layer of protection on top of the federal rule. Under Illinois law, places of public accommodation, including restaurants, stores, hotels, transportation services, and government buildings, must allow individuals with disabilities to be accompanied by their service animals, protecting against discrimination and ensuring equal access.

Hotel staff also can’t ask for paperwork before waiving the fee. As the Animal Legal & Historical Center notes regarding Illinois service animal rules, the service animal does not have to wear identification or a vest, staff are not allowed to request any documentation, staff cannot require that the animal perform a task, staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, and staff may ask only two specific questions: whether the animal is a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform.

There’s one important exception: damage. If a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may also be charged for damage caused by himself or his service animal. A torn comforter or a stained carpet can still result in a legitimate charge, it just can’t be a blanket “pet fee” applied automatically at check-in.

This same logic applies regardless of the dog’s breed, which is worth knowing if you’re researching pit bull laws in Illinois before a trip, since breed restrictions don’t override ADA protections for a properly trained service dog.

Emotional Support Animals: Do Illinois’s Laws Offer Extra Protection

This is where a lot of travelers get tripped up. Illinois has real, meaningful legal protections for emotional support animals, but those protections were built for housing, not hotel stays, and the difference matters enormously.

The state’s dedicated ESA statute, the Assistance Animal Integrity Act, defines the term narrowly. Per the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, “Assistance animal” means an emotional support or service animal that qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act. Notice that both qualifying laws referenced there govern housing, not places of public accommodation like hotels.

Legal analysts confirm this gap directly. According to LegalClarity’s breakdown of Illinois ESA law, Illinois protects emotional support animals primarily in housing, through both the federal Fair Housing Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act, and these protections apply to rentals, condominiums, and housing governed by homeowners associations, but they do not extend to workplaces, restaurants, or other public spaces. A hotel room booked for a weekend falls into that “other public spaces” category, not the housing category the ESA statute was written to cover.

Industry sources confirm hotels can legally treat ESAs like ordinary pets. Emotional support animals occupy different legal territory: ESAs receive protection under the Fair Housing Act for residential housing but have no access rights to hotels under the ADA, so hotels may treat ESAs as pets, applying standard pet fees and policies. Many properties choose to waive fees for ESAs as a business practice, but federal law doesn’t require it.

Factor	Service Animal (ADA)	Emotional Support Animal (ESA)
Covered species	Dogs only	Varies (any species allowed by hotel)
Fee at Illinois hotels	Cannot be charged	Hotel may charge standard pet fee
Documentation required	None; only 2 verbal questions allowed	Hotel policy dependent; no federal mandate
Denied access allowed?	Only if out of control or a direct threat	Yes, hotel can treat as a pet or refuse per policy

Some hotels still choose to waive fees for ESAs as a courtesy, but that’s a business decision, not a legal requirement, since unlike service animals, ESAs don’t have guaranteed access to public accommodations, and hotel policies can vary dramatically, meaning that if a hotel has a general policy of charging guests for bringing pets, those same rules can apply to guests with emotional support animals. Confirm ESA policy directly with the property before booking rather than assuming Illinois’s housing-focused ESA protections will transfer to your hotel stay.

Pet Fee vs. Pet Deposit: What’s Legal in Illinois

Hotels use two different charge structures, and understanding which one you’re being asked to pay affects whether you’ll ever see that money again.

• Pet fee: A flat, typically non-refundable charge for allowing the animal in the room, meant to cover general wear, extra cleaning, or odor mitigation.
• Pet deposit: A refundable amount held against the room and returned at checkout if no damage occurred, similar in concept to a security deposit.

Illinois doesn’t have a statute specifically regulating hotel pet fees the way some states regulate rental housing deposits. There is legislative activity in the residential rental space worth knowing about for context: a bill introduced in the Illinois General Assembly, defines a “pet fee” as a one-time non-refundable payment at the start of tenancy and “pet rent” as a recurring non-refundable payment, and would restrict landlords to charging either a pet fee or pet rent, but not both, with pet fees capped at $500 and pet rent limited to $25 for small animals and $50 for large animals per pet. That proposal applies to residential leases under the Illinois Landlord and Tenant Act, not to transient hotel stays, so it doesn’t set a ceiling on what a hotel can charge for a night or a week.

Important Note: The rental-housing pet fee caps discussed in Illinois legislative proposals apply to apartment leases and long-term rentals, not overnight or short-stay hotel bookings. Always check a hotel’s individual policy for its actual pet fee and deposit terms.

Because hotels set their own terms, always ask two specific questions before booking: is the fee refundable, and is there a separate damage deposit on top of it? A property might advertise a $30 nightly pet fee and still hold a separate $150 refundable deposit against damage, so read the fine print rather than assuming one number covers everything.

Are There Limits on How Much Hotels Can Charge in Illinois

Unlike several states that have passed consumer protection laws capping certain lodging fees, Illinois has no statewide statute limiting how much a hotel can charge for a pet fee on a standard reservation. The amount is left entirely to the property.

That’s evident in the range of real fees charged across Illinois hotels. Some properties charge as little as $25 per night for a small domestic animal, while others charge $30 per pet, per night, and higher-tier properties charge $75 for a 1-4 night stay and $125 for a 5+ night stay, with a maximum of 2 pets. That’s a wide spread for what’s ultimately the same basic accommodation.

The one hard limit that does exist applies only to service animals: the fee has to be zero. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, hotels are not allowed to charge extra fees or deposits for guests with service animals, including service dogs. Everything else, including ESA fees, pet deposits, weight limits, and breed restrictions, is set at the hotel’s discretion in Illinois.

If you’re comparing lodging costs across a multi-stop road trip, the math adds up fast. As one service-dog advocacy resource points out when discussing the financial impact of illegal fees, the financial distinction matters for handlers on tight budgets: a family road trip might budget $50 per night for lodging, and if three hotels along the route each charge a $75 pet fee, that’s $225 in illegal charges, potentially pricing the trip out of reach. That’s the scenario the ADA’s fee ban was written to prevent.

What to Do If a Hotel Charges You Illegally in Illinois

If a hotel bills you a pet fee for a legitimate service animal, or refuses to waive a deposit after you’ve answered the two permitted questions, you have real options. Work through these steps in order:

1. Raise it at the front desk first. Politely explain that the animal is a service animal under the ADA and that federal law prohibits charging fees for it. Many front-line staff simply haven’t been trained on the distinction and will reverse the charge on the spot.
2. Ask for a manager if the desk staff won’t budge. Reference the ADA by name. Staff who work in guest relations are more likely to know the rule and authorize a refund.
3. Get everything in writing. Save the receipt showing the fee, screenshot the booking confirmation, and note the names of any staff you spoke with along with the date and time.
4. Dispute the charge with your card issuer if the hotel won’t reverse it directly. A documented ADA violation is strong grounds for a chargeback.
5. File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces Title III of the ADA for public accommodations like hotels, motels, and inns.
6. Contact the Illinois Department of Human Rights if the situation involves an extended-stay property that may function more like housing, since the Illinois Department of Human Rights continues to enforce these housing protections on its own authority even as federal ESA enforcement guidance has shifted.

Keep in mind that the two-question rule cuts both ways: a hotel can lawfully ask what task your dog performs, but it cannot demand a certificate, ID card, or vest as a condition of waiving the fee, and you’re under no obligation to disclose your specific disability to get the charge removed.

Pro Tip: Keep a copy of the ADA’s two-question rule saved on your phone before you travel. Showing it to front-desk staff in the moment resolves most fee disputes faster than a phone call to corporate.

Traveling through Illinois with any animal, whether it’s a working service dog, an emotional support companion, or the family dog, goes more smoothly when you know which rules actually apply to your situation. Regular pets are subject to whatever fee a hotel sets, service dogs are legally exempt from those fees under both federal and Illinois public accommodation law, and ESAs sit in a gray zone where hotels are allowed, but not required, to charge standard pet rates. Before you book your next stay, confirm the property’s specific policy in writing, and if you’re bringing a pet across state lines for the trip, it’s also worth reviewing pet import laws in Illinois so paperwork and vaccination requirements don’t catch you off guard at check-in.