Do You Feel Hotel Rates Are Too High?

[NewRVLady]

wow-Heather-those are GREAT rates!

 

[Julylady]

No, I don't agree that hotel rates are too high. If they were too high, people wouldn't pay them and they would need to lower their rates to remain competitive. If you were a Hilton stock holder, would you think the rates were too high?

The question is "Are the rates too high for YOU to pay?" Each person must answer that question for their own family. I will pay up to about $325 a night at a top notch resort with a lot of amenities (like a 4 star resort with a great pool for a water park). I will also pay more for a strategic location such as a hotel adjacent to the theater in a big city. I will not pay that much for a one night stay on our way to somewhere else.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

DH and I just got back from a 2-week vacation to Florida. We stayed in 2 Hampton Inns on the way down, and 3 on the way back - all on DH's Hilton Honors points. But, to pay cash it would have been over $200/night. There was only one that we thought that would be justified in paying that amount, as we were upgraded in Chattanooga from a regular room to a suite with balcony and it was a very, very nice room with a lot of space. But the others were just normal hotel rooms. And it was kind of shocking to us how much they charged.

Gosh, I remember when I was a teenager and stayed at a Days Inn with my Mom and grandparents on our way to Florida and it was $12.00 for the night!

It just seems like, to me, that hotels are getting a little too high in their rates. Does anyone else think so?

Also, I priced out 3 nights in Nashville (downtown, near Broadway) in the summer and those rates were $300/$400 per night. I can maybe see spending that much at an all-inclusive resort, but just for a regular hotel room, where you're not going to be spending any time there except to sleep and shower, not so much. Do people really pay these rates?

It is all in where you stay and what is going on when you stay there. For instance, you mentioned Nashville. Well downtown rates on season are high and when the festival is in town, even higher. . But you can stay about 20 miles away in Mt. Juliet or Smyrna or Goodlettsville for $60 or so most of the time and for $120-$150 or so during peak times.

 

[jen0610]

The reason I won't stay in anything but budget is because all I want is a bed and toilet. The rest (incl. TV) are just things that happen to be in the rooms anyway but if it were possible to cut costs by having with or without a TV, hairdryer etc I would do that. I want to sleep and to have a bathroom, that's it. Budget hotels are always suitable for me.

For the most part this is us. DD18 competitive dances, so we have weekends where she and I are spending 1 or 2 nights in a hotel/motel. Most of the time, the competition has a place that is the preferred partner. You get the discounted rate of $88.00 per night plus taxes and fees. For both DD and I, we're of the thought, that's nice, but we check in Friday around 3, drop our one suitcase off and set the heat/air, then run to the competition site, perform, and get back to the room 11-12. Hit the hay, then back up and out of the room by 6am, spend all day at the competition, to just get back to the room again around 11-12 and rinse and repeat. So all the perks don't entice us. We will stay cheap.

This way, we can spurge on the years when there are nationals. Like this year. Disney here we come, BUT even with that, we aren't staying on site. The competition is during the busy summer season, so rates are higher. And the fact that we won't be in the room much at all, let alone the parks, no need to stay on site. So, will are staying off site, but spending more than normal, so that if we do get an off day to enjoy perks, we have perks to enjoy.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Just for laughs, I looked up rates at Hilton branded hotels, including Hampton Inns, for during the NCAA basketball Final Four in Houston and for the Kentucky Derby in Louisville. About 80% were already sold out for the dates, but for those that still had vacancies, Hamptons were a low of about $210 35 miles from Houston to a high of $375 in the Louisville suburbs.

I personally never paid more than about $150 for a Hampton Inn, and I thought that was a bit high.

 

[emma'smom]

We stayed at a roadside Holiday Inn in the middle of nowhere Indiana and it was 99.00 a night (which I thought was high given that we checked in at 10pm on the spur of the moment and there were plenty of rooms). However, it was clean and had a good breakfast and was available when we needed it--so I guess it was good! When we finally got to Chicago, we stayed at the Hilton Chicago for 149. per night...so that's a interesting contrast. However, the parking was 57. bucks per night!

 

[dhardawa]

I just booked a four star hotel in Manhattan for $120 a night (and there were tons to choose from under $180 a night). I'd have an issue paying $200 for a Hampton Inn.

 

[cijay]

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.

That's different though. That's one of those "it's all about meeee" holidays where it's for you, by you, to suit you. The year I took my mum's ashes back to the UK, I emptied out our travel slush fund to do this and really treated myself. 6 Nights in a hotel in London plus three plays and NY Eve on the embankment. Pour the bubble bath and pass the bonbons, I am the princess this week!

 

[MIGrandma]

We stayed at a roadside Holiday Inn in the middle of nowhere Indiana and it was 99.00 a night (which I thought was high given that we checked in at 10pm on the spur of the moment and there were plenty of rooms). However, it was clean and had a good breakfast and was available when we needed it--so I guess it was good! When we finally got to Chicago, we stayed at the Hilton Chicago for 149. per night...so that's a interesting contrast. However, the parking was 57. bucks per night!

I hate paying for parking. At the Hampton in Chattanooga they had a parking area right next to the hotel, that you had to use your room key card to access. We thought that was nice and convenient. However when we got the e-mail checkout receipt the room was free on points but there was an $8 and some odd cents "charge" for parking. Now it was in parenthasis so maybe we weren't actually charged for it, I don't know. We'll have to wait until we get the credit card bill to find out. However, at check-in they did not mention a charge at all for parking so I'm just not sure. In comparison to the $57 per night that YOU had to pay for parking, I realize that $8 is a drop in the bucket but I still hate paying for parking.

We stayed in the French Quarter of New Orleans a few years ago, 3 nights at Le Richlieu and did have to pay $20/night but at least they had on-site parking so we appreciated that. Most other hotels you had to valet park and pay, and they took your car to a lot somewhere else.

 

[NewRVLady]

I hate paying for parking. At the Hampton in Chattanooga they had a parking area right next to the hotel, that you had to use your room key card to access. We thought that was nice and convenient. However when we got the e-mail checkout receipt the room was free on points but there was an $8 and some odd cents "charge" for parking. Now it was in parenthasis so maybe we weren't actually charged for it, I don't know. We'll have to wait until we get the credit card bill to find out. However, at check-in they did not mention a charge at all for parking so I'm just not sure. In comparison to the $57 per night that YOU had to pay for parking, I realize that $8 is a drop in the bucket but I still hate paying for parking.

We stayed in the French Quarter of New Orleans a few years ago, 3 nights at Le Richlieu and did have to pay $20/night but at least they had on-site parking so we appreciated that. Most other hotels you had to valet park and pay, and they took your car to a lot somewhere else.

what???!!!!
I have stayed in 2 Hampton INNs there.....one at Lookout Mountain and one at the new Mall-Hamilton place?-never saw that charge!!!
edited-you must have stayed Downtown? Often those are more expensive due to businessmen-try staying on outskirts of big cities-I travel a lot and we often stay near a mall for more Food options

 

[gwynne]

I hate paying for parking. At the Hampton in Chattanooga they had a parking area right next to the hotel, that you had to use your room key card to access. We thought that was nice and convenient. However when we got the e-mail checkout receipt the room was free on points but there was an $8 and some odd cents "charge" for parking. Now it was in parenthasis so maybe we weren't actually charged for it, I don't know. We'll have to wait until we get the credit card bill to find out. However, at check-in they did not mention a charge at all for parking so I'm just not sure. In comparison to the $57 per night that YOU had to pay for parking, I realize that $8 is a drop in the bucket but I still hate paying for parking.

We stayed in the French Quarter of New Orleans a few years ago, 3 nights at Le Richlieu and did have to pay $20/night but at least they had on-site parking so we appreciated that. Most other hotels you had to valet park and pay, and they took your car to a lot somewhere else.

Parking charges are listed on the very first web page of the specific Hampton Inn, left hand side under Hotel Information. I looked up a Hampton Inn in Chattanooga, they list an 8.00 a night charge.
I do agree some of these fees can be annoying. I've had to pay them now and then.

 

[MIGrandma]

what???!!!!
I have stayed in 2 Hampton INNs there.....one at Lookout Mountain and one at the new Mall-Hamilton place?-never saw that charge!!!
edited-you must have stayed Downtown? Often those are more expensive due to businessmen-try staying on outskirts of big cities-I travel a lot and we often stay near a mall for more Food options

Yes, we stayed at the Chattanooga downtown Hampton.

Parking charges are listed on the very first web page of the specific Hampton Inn, left hand side under Hotel Information. I looked up a Hampton Inn in Chattanooga, they list an 8.00 a night charge.
I do agree some of these fees can be annoying. I've had to pay them now and then.

We didn't go to the website to make our reservations, DH called the reservation number so we didn't see anything about the charge. And we weren't told anything about it when we checked in. Since we stayed free on points we won't squawk about the $8 charge, but it would be nice if they told you about it up-front, or even when you call to make the reservation. We're just not used to having to pay for parking at all. Hotels around here have plenty of free parking, as do others that we've stayed in when traveling (except for New Orleans, but we knew about the charge when we reserved).