Can Hotels Charge Pet Fees in Mississippi? What the Law Really Says

Can hotels charge pet fees in Mississippi? For most travelers with a family dog or cat, the answer is yes—nearly every pet-friendly hotel in the state adds some kind of charge to the bill. But that answer changes completely the moment a service animal is involved, and it gets murkier still for emotional support animals.

Understanding which category your animal falls into can save you money, prevent an awkward front-desk argument, and help you know your rights if a hotel oversteps the law. This breakdown covers what Mississippi and federal law actually say about pet fees, deposits, and the animals that are legally exempt from both.

Can Hotels Charge Regular Pet Fees in Mississippi

Mississippi does not have a state law that caps or bans pet fees charged by hotels for ordinary pets. This mirrors the state’s broader hands-off approach to non-refundable charges: there is no Mississippi law forbidding non-refundable fees or limiting the amount that landlords can charge in rental housing, and no comparable statute exists specifically for short-term lodging either. That leaves hotels free to set their own pet policies as private businesses.

In practice, fees vary widely by property. Listings across the state show properties like Devereaux Shields House welcomes two dogs of any size in designated rooms for an additional fee of $15 per pet, per night, while Steele Cottage welcomes pets of any size in designated rooms for an additional fee of $25 per pet, per night. Chain hotels often cap the total: La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Oxford allows 2 pets up to 75 lbs for an additional fee of $25 per night, not to exceed $75 per stay.

Whatever a property quotes at booking is generally what you’ll be charged. Booking platforms note that the pet fee charged by the hotel will not exceed the amount quoted on your reservation confirmation, so it’s worth saving that confirmation as a reference if a front desk tries to add extra charges later. If you’re bringing a dog anywhere in the state, it also helps to review Mississippi’s dog leash laws before you travel, since many hotels require pets to be leashed in shared outdoor spaces.

Service Animals: Why Hotels Cannot Charge a Fee

Service animals are the one clear exception to hotel pet fee policies, and the rule is not optional. Under federal regulations, if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by patrons with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals. This applies to hotels, motels, and every other place of public accommodation in Mississippi, regardless of how the property normally handles pets.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal narrowly. 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. Because they aren’t classified as pets, no hotel pet policy—including fee schedules—legally applies to them.

Mississippi’s own law backs this up. The Mississippi Support Animal Law protects the rights of people with some types of disabilities to bring their support animals with them in all hotels, lodgings, and businesses open to the public and that sell goods or services. And under federal law, the ADA prohibits public accommodations from charging a special admission fee or requiring you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you.

Pro Tip: Hotel staff can only ask two questions about a service animal: whether it’s required because of a disability, and what task it’s trained to perform. They cannot demand certification papers, ask about your specific condition, or require the dog to demonstrate its training.

The exemption isn’t unlimited, though. If a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal. Waived fees cover the animal’s presence—not chewed furniture or stained carpet.

Enforcement is real. The Department of Justice has pursued cases where hotels refused to honor these protections, including one Texas property where staff turned away a disabled veteran traveling with his service dog and refused to refund his stay, prompting a federal settlement. The Department of Justice’s press release on the case makes clear that public accommodations must modify no-pet policies to permit service animals, and that documentation cannot be demanded as a condition of entry.

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

Emotional support animals sit in a different legal category entirely, and Mississippi’s law doesn’t close the gap the way many owners hope. Although the Mississippi Support Animal Act includes “comfort animals” in its definition of support animals, the state law doesn’t give you the right to have an emotional support animal in public accommodations, and under the ADA, owners of public accommodations in Mississippi aren’t required to admit ESAs, only service animals.

That distinction has direct financial consequences at check-in. Hotels can charge pet fees for emotional support animals because the FHA covers housing, not hotels. In other words, the same federal law that bars landlords from charging ESA fees on an apartment lease doesn’t extend to a two-night hotel stay. If a hotel has a general policy of charging guests for bringing pets, those same rules can apply to guests with emotional support animals, and charges can include pet fees, deposits, or cleaning costs, with no federal law preventing this in the hotel setting.

There is one notable gray area. For extended stays, some temporary housing—including hotels or short-term rentals—may be considered a “dwelling” under the Fair Housing Act, and in these cases hotels could be required to make reasonable accommodations, potentially waiving pet fees for ESAs. If you’re booking a multi-week extended-stay hotel rather than an overnight room, it’s worth asking the property directly whether it treats your reservation as housing under the FHA. Traveling with any dog in Mississippi also means planning around the state’s seasonal conditions—if your ESA or family pet has sensitivities, it helps to check seasonal dog allergy triggers in Mississippi before a spring trip.

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

Hotels use two different terms interchangeably, but they aren’t the same thing legally. A pet fee is typically non-refundable and covers the general cost of hosting an animal—extra cleaning, wear on furnishings, and staff time. A pet deposit is refundable and is meant to cover documented damage, similar to a security deposit on an apartment.

Charge Type	Refundable?	Purpose	Applies to Service Animals?
Pet Fee	No	General cost of accommodating a pet	No—must be waived
Pet Deposit	Yes, minus damage	Covers documented property damage	No—must be waived
Damage Charge	N/A (billed after)	Repairs actual damage caused	Yes—can still be billed

Federal law treats both fee types the same way when a service animal is involved: if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by patrons with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals. Neither label lets a hotel sidestep that requirement.

For regular pets, Mississippi gives hotels wide latitude on how they structure either charge. This echoes the same pattern seen in the state’s rental market, where non-refundable fees such as pet fees are not prohibited, and there is no Mississippi law forbidding non-refundable fees or limiting the amount that landlords can charge.

Definitions of “pet” can also matter more than travelers expect. If you’re bringing an unconventional animal, don’t assume a standard hotel pet policy automatically covers it—properties often exclude exotic species outright. Mississippi’s own hedgehog ownership laws and backyard chicken regulations illustrate how differently the state treats non-traditional pets compared to dogs and cats, and hotels tend to follow that same logic when deciding what qualifies for their pet policy versus what gets turned away entirely.

Important Note: No search result found a Mississippi statute specifically regulating hotel pet fees (as opposed to residential rental pet fees). Hotel pet fee amounts are set by individual properties, so always confirm the exact charge directly with the hotel before booking.

Are There Limits on How Much Hotels Can Charge in Mississippi

There’s no dollar cap written into Mississippi law for hotel pet fees, which means the market—not a statute—sets the going rate. Fees at Mississippi properties documented on booking platforms range from $15 to $25 per pet per night, with some chains capping the total at $75 per stay rather than charging nightly indefinitely, as seen at the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Oxford, which charges $25 per night not to exceed $75 per stay.

Not every hotel charges a fee at all. Some economy chains waive it entirely as a competitive perk: La Quinta by Wyndham Vicksburg welcomes two pets of any size for no additional fee, and La Quinta by Wyndham Tupelo allows two pets up to 75 lbs for no additional fee. Comparing a few properties before booking can mean the difference between a free stay with your dog and a $75 add-on.

• Ask for the pet fee amount in writing or confirm it appears on your reservation confirmation before arrival.
• Check whether the fee is per pet, per night, or a flat per-stay charge—these structures change the total significantly for longer trips.
• Confirm weight and breed restrictions, since some Mississippi properties cap pets at 75 pounds or limit the number allowed per room.
• Review the hotel’s leash and common-area rules; Mississippi’s general leash law requirements often inform how properties enforce their own pet policies in lobbies and outdoor areas.

Because the amount is entirely up to the property, comparison shopping is the only real leverage travelers have. Booking sites that guarantee the quoted fee, as BringFido does for its Mississippi listings, offer some protection against last-minute surprises at check-in.

What to Do If a Hotel Charges You Illegally in Mississippi

What counts as “illegal” depends heavily on which category your animal falls into. Charging a fee for a documented service dog is a federal violation. Charging a fee for a family pet or an emotional support animal, however uncomfortable, generally is not—because no law in Mississippi bars it.

If you believe a hotel wrongly charged a fee for your service animal, take these steps:

1. Document the charge. Get an itemized receipt or screenshot showing the pet fee line item, along with proof your animal is a trained service dog if you volunteered that information.
2. Raise it with hotel management first. Many charges get reversed once a manager understands the animal is a service dog rather than a pet, since front-desk staff sometimes apply pet policies by default.
3. Dispute the charge with your card issuer if the hotel refuses to refund it after you’ve explained the ADA requirement.
4. File a formal complaint if the property still won’t budge. For public accommodations discrimination, you can file a complaint through the ADA online or via mail or fax.

Extended-stay situations involving emotional support animals follow a different path, since they may fall under housing law rather than public accommodation law. If you believe your ESA housing rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with HUD within one year of the alleged discrimination by visiting hud.gov or calling 1-800-669-9777.

For a standard overnight or weekend stay with a regular pet or an ESA, your recourse is more limited since the fee itself is usually lawful. In those cases, your best options are negotiating directly with the property, choosing a different hotel next time, or leaving a detailed review noting the fee structure so other travelers aren’t caught off guard.

Pro Tip: Keep a copy of your reservation confirmation showing the quoted pet fee. If a hotel tries to charge more at checkout, that confirmation is your strongest evidence for getting the difference refunded.

Whether you’re traveling with a certified service dog, an emotional support animal, or the family Labrador, the safest approach is calling the hotel directly before you book to confirm exactly which charges apply to your situation. Mississippi law gives hotels broad freedom to set their own pet fee policies, but it also backs the federal protections that keep those fees off the table entirely for service animals.