Do You Feel Hotel Rates Are Too High?

[cijay]

While I agree with you there, I need my WIFI.

I admit that's the first thing I check for if all the rates are comparable! But I don't need wifi to be on a holiday. I work in a store so I can't take work with me and have nobody I need to check up on at home. It's nice to get back to the room and surf, post pictures and chat with friends but if it were a $20/night difference, I'd forfeit the wifi.

 

[aprilgail]

This past summer we stayed in different hotels for 60 nights in a row- everything from nice rooms like the Venetian in Vegas and Gaylord Opryland resort in TN to a motel 6 in SD. It was everything from 39.00- 350.00 LOL- we HATED HATED HATED Motel 6 and will never stay in another one. We tried to stay in the 100-150 range per night. Most nights that was possible but one place we stayed there were only 3 or 4 hotels anyplace near where we were going the next morning and they were all 300 a night for a basic room an spotty wifi- that one killed me but we were only there for the one night. We tried to stick to Marriott brand hotels and since we made Gold along the trip we were able to make use of their concierge lounge for about half the trip and free room upgrades. I have enough Marriott points saved up to cover us for most hotels we need for all the college tours this spring!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I've paid between $0 and $1200 per night before so it really depends, but $200-250 is my comfort zone for "just a room." Prices below that I consider a bargain, above that there needs to be some kind of justification for the price -- Location, amenities, perks.... Something more inclusive than "just a room."

 

[DebbieB]

It's what the market will bear. I stayed at a Doubletree in suburban Dallas last summer for work, $102 per night and included a hot breakfast.

If they are not filling rooms, the price will go down. If they are filling rooms, then the price is right for the market.

 

[Miskey]

Not so much the rates themselves but the parking fees kill me. $45 a night for parking is just ridiculous, and it's not like you can do without it

 

[jdb in AZ]

What bugs me is when the "amenities" aren't working. If I'm paying full price for a room, I expect hot water, a working thermostat, a working t.v., and a fridge that cools. And when I reserve the hotel shuttle to take me back to the airport, I expect the driver to show up, not keep me waiting 20 mins past the scheduled time. (I ended up taking a cab.) After sending an e-mail complaining about all of the above, the only thing the manager said they were working on was improving their restaurant. pffft. And yes, the restaurant was a joke as well.

 

[PigletsPal2]

We haven't paid rack rates for a hotel room in years. As I've mentioned in previous posts, DH is a government contractor who works in Washington DC approximately eight months out of the year. He always stays at the same Staybridge Suites and has negotiated a long-term stay rate with the owner of the hotel. Staybridge Suites are part of the IHG family of hotels, which includes Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Indigp, Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and they have what I consider a very generous rewards program (others may not agree). We've used hotel points for our last six hotel stays, DD#2 uses them for her twice-yearly trips to London, and I've "bought" an average of $600 worth of gift cards for Christmas for the past ten years. Even after this past Christmas' "purchases," DD#2's December London trip and a conference DD#1 and I attended last week, we still have more than 200,000 points in our account. If you stay at a hotel with any frequency at all, it's worth it to join a loyalty or rewards program.

Queen Colleen

 

[DisneyHardin]

For a "just sleeping here while traveling" hotel room, I try to only pay around $100/night. We don't stay in a lot of hotels during the year, but it does kill me to pay that much for somewhere just to sleep.

 

[Squirlz]

I just booked 2 nights in June in a Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Holland MI for $249/night. It's a King balcony room, the least expensive available. It's a brand new hotel right in the middle of a lakeside vacation destination town. Lots of shops and restaurants nearby. This is the weekend of a HUGE European car show so rooms fill up fast and prices everywhere are at the max. I could get 'just a room' out by the highway on the low end of the Tripadvisor ratings and save $100, but I'm excited to experience this place and I think it's fair.

 

[RedAngie]

I wouldn't be surprised by a Hampton Inn costing $200 or more IN Florida in February, but during the drive there and back??? Where, highway exits in Kentucky and Georgia? That seems very high. But Hampton Inns in downtown or resort locations can be very pricey.

I remember cheap Days Inn rates back in the 80s, like $19 per night. Did Motel 6 start as a $6 a night place way back when.

Someone mentioned a Hampton Inn in an iffy area. DH and I reserved one in Hawthorne, California, for the night before our flight back from L.A. in October. We rode by a few days in advance and immediately cancelled the reservation. It was a nice, new looking Hampton Inn, but the surrounding area was, well, not desirable. Cheap by-the-hour motels, sleazy looking bars and liquor stores, run down and boarded up stores, etc. To be fair, it looked like they're trying to revitalize the area. Some other newer buildings and offices were close by. But I wouldn't feel comfortable staying there, even behind the 10 foot high concrete walls and gated entrance which surrounded the property.

 

[mom2rtk]

If the price is too high they hotel will go out of business.

I would not complain about the price of a hotel because it almost always a voluntary expense. Utilities, food, etc...... those are the things I save my indignance for (the things you can't choose to avoid).

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm amazed at the # of $100+ Super 8's we've run across in random, non-destination locations. They don't even offer any perks. We've paid $250 (with a discount code - rack rate $350) at Lake Of The Ozarks, but it was a nice place & it was Summer. Also paid $300 a night for a very average room (albeit at a resort with decent amenities) on the beach. I didn't mind those nearly as much as the $150 Super 8.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

If the price is too high they hotel will go out of business.

I would not complain about the price of a hotel because it almost always a voluntary expense. Utilities, food, etc...... those are the things I save my indignance for (the things you can't choose to avoid).

That's funny, I have the complete opposite mentality. When people are complaining about things like gas prices and electric bills I can't relate. I never pay attention to those things. I have to buy it anyway and complaining about it isn't going to change anything, so why let it get to me? To me it's one of those 'it is what it is' situations.

It's when I want but don't actually need something that the price can get to me. The recent robot vacuum thread has me wanting one but I'm having a hard time justifying it because, "Grrr, why do they have to cost so much?!"

 

[mom2rtk]

That's funny, I have the complete opposite mentality. When people are complaining about things like gas prices and electric bills I can't relate. I never pay attention to those things. I have to buy it anyway and complaining about it isn't going to change anything, so why let it get to me? To me it's one of those 'it is what it is' situations.

It's when I want but don't actually need something that the price can get to me. The recent robot vacuum thread has me wanting one but I'm having a hard time justifying it because, "Grrr, why do they have to cost so much?!"

I guess I just don't follow your line of thought. It's easy to pass on a robot vacuum if it's too expensive. With food and utilities, you can't pass. You can't just choose to pass, regardless of how tight your budget is.

 

[MIGrandma]

I wouldn't be surprised by a Hampton Inn costing $200 or more IN Florida in February, but during the drive there and back??? Where, highway exits in Kentucky and Georgia? That seems very high. But Hampton Inns in downtown or resort locations can be very pricey.

I remember cheap Days Inn rates back in the 80s, like $19 per night. Did Motel 6 start as a $6 a night place way back when.

Someone mentioned a Hampton Inn in an iffy area. DH and I reserved one in Hawthorne, California, for the night before our flight back from L.A. in October. We rode by a few days in advance and immediately cancelled the reservation. It was a nice, new looking Hampton Inn, but the surrounding area was, well, not desirable. Cheap by-the-hour motels, sleazy looking bars and liquor stores, run down and boarded up stores, etc. To be fair, it looked like they're trying to revitalize the area. Some other newer buildings and offices were close by. But I wouldn't feel comfortable staying there, even behind the 10 foot high concrete walls and gated entrance which surrounded the property.

The Hampton Inns we stayed at on this trip to/from our destination in Florida were Chattanooga (downtown) Tennessee, Ocala - Florida, Ellenton - Florida, Savannah - Georgia and Beckley, West Virginia.

 

[MIGrandma]

We haven't paid rack rates for a hotel room in years. As I've mentioned in previous posts, DH is a government contractor who works in Washington DC approximately eight months out of the year. He always stays at the same Staybridge Suites and has negotiated a long-term stay rate with the owner of the hotel. Staybridge Suites are part of the IHG family of hotels, which includes Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Indigp, Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and they have what I consider a very generous rewards program (others may not agree). We've used hotel points for our last six hotel stays, DD#2 uses them for her twice-yearly trips to London, and I've "bought" an average of $600 worth of gift cards for Christmas for the past ten years. Even after this past Christmas' "purchases," DD#2's December London trip and a conference DD#1 and I attended last week, we still have more than 200,000 points in our account. If you stay at a hotel with any frequency at all, it's worth it to join a loyalty or rewards program.

Queen Colleen

I know what you mean about the points. When DH first started getting Hilton Honors points we just let them accumulate, for a few years. He ended up with over 350,000 points so we finally started using them. The first time was at a Doubletree in Port Huron, Michigan. It used to be the Thomas Edison Inn and we had a lovely top floor suite with balcony overlooking the river (loved watching the freighters go by). Then when we had the opportunity to enjoy a condo for a week in Florida last month, we said "hey, let's see if we can use some more of those points." Our rooms were 20,000 - 40,000 points and I think we still have 245,000 points. It's so nice that they don't expire.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I guess I just don't follow your line of thought. It's easy to pass on a robot vacuum if it's too expensive. With food and utilities, you can't pass. You can't just choose to pass, regardless of how tight your budget is.

That's exactly it. I'll have to pay for the necessities regardless so, as I see it, there's no point in letting it bother me. It doesn't matter to me if gas is $2 a gallon or $4. It's out of my control and being upset about it won't do anything but make me cranky.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That's exactly it. I'll have to pay for the necessities regardless so, as I see it, there's no point in letting it bother me. It doesn't matter to me if gas is $2 a gallon or $4. It's out of my control and being upset about it won't do anything but make me cranky.

I wish I could see it that way - the difference in $2 vs $4 gas for me is like getting a $5,000 raise, or not. You're right, nothing I can do about it, but it doesn't stop me from obsessing LOL


Although, I will say high gas prices DO cause me to curtail SOME driving. I do still have to go to work. I don't have to drive to the lake & take the boat out.

 

[sam_gordon]

The Hampton Inns we stayed at on this trip to/from our destination in Florida were Chattanooga (downtown) Tennessee, Ocala - Florida, Ellenton - Florida, Savannah - Georgia and Beckley, West Virginia.

Did you happen to check to see if there were any activities going on that would up the cost? My company puts a group of us up in a hotel in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. Next weekend, it's $70/night. Derby weekend? $300/night with a 3 night minimum. I'm sure Super Bowl, Final Four, etc rooms are the same way. Look at the rates for the hotels you stayed in for next weekend.

 

[NewRVLady]

When we went down to the Keys last Feb hotels in northern fl were in the 125-150 range- once we got below Tampa we were lucky to get at 175- most wer $200
All Hampton Inns- the one on Key Largo was really nice with a tiki bar and beach on the water

Mainly it's because its SNOWBIRDS season

Added- my favorite hotel now is Homewood suites by Hilton...I like the full kitchen and usually the free breakfast is better than Hampton inns - most are newer which is a plus- and usually only $10-15 more a night than Hampton