Hotel costs

[LuvOrlando]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/what-happened-to-the-150-hotel-room/ar-AA1WMKDf

I see why hotels cost so much now, it all makes sense. The businesses have handed off pricing to their third party vendors who price fix in markets so there are no deals to be found, been seeing this more and more. Add this to "custom pricing" and the immovability of prices falls into place

If someone wants to visit town A and the vendor is in town A they will make sure all 5 star rooms in town A cost the same $$$ so you are captive. I've been seeing the same prices across the board but couldn't quite figure out why empty hotels price like they are full to capacity.

Gone are the days of businesses paying any attention to guests. Gonna need a travel alias... I'm pretty sure a credit cards can have a second card named for a nickname.

 

[sam_gordon]

From your article...

hotels jumped from $131.56 in 2019 to $160.49 in 2025.

That's a 2.2% increase in six years. What do expect? No price change for six years?

Obviously some places (NYC, Boston, etc) are going to cost more.

 

[Skippy918]

If you’ve used booking dot com, they have dynamic pricing. The price changes within a few hours. I was comparing hotel prices and then showed my hubby later and the price changed significantly.

 

[Genie+]

From your article...


That's a 2.2% increase in six years. What do expect? No price change for six years?

Obviously some places (NYC, Boston, etc) are going to cost more.

Yeah that doesn’t seem out of line with inflation

 

[Christine]

Apparently it's all inflations, not necessarily price gouging. There was a timely article in the WaPo yesterday which I'll gift here. https://wapo.st/4s27Md5

But from that link, they did provide some tips for booking:

Tricks to finding a midscale hotel​

So how can the midscale traveler stay in their lane and avoid the off-ramp to economy lodgings?

Hotel experts say check the calendar. Avoid high season and dates when special events are rolling through the area, such as the World Cup or Taylor Swift. For destinations popular among leisure travelers, visit during the week; for places frequented by business travelers, go over the weekend.

Sign up for a hotel’s loyalty program, especially the big three: Hilton, Marriott and IHG. Use those discounts for AAA members, seniors or military. Be open to staying in noncentral locations with downscaled amenities.
For reservations, Vanderholm suggested starting your search at least three months out, when hotels will set rates high then slowly drop them if rooms are not selling as anticipated.

Once you book a room, he said to watch for falling prices or cheaper rates at other properties. Depending on the hotel’s policy, you can rebook or cancel within 24 hours of your arrival. If you find a better price through a third-party site, contact the hotel, which should offer a price-match guarantee. Some companies, such as Hilton and Marriott, will add a 25 percent discount to the matched rate.
Vanderholm also recommends booking on a Sunday, when revenue managers are off and a computer algorithm is in charge of setting prices. Come Monday, he said, the staff may push the rates back up.
For day-of bookings, he said to call the hotel directly and tell the reservationist you noticed their competitors were charging $150 or less. Ask them straight out, “Can you cut me a deal?”

 

[SandyinMonterey]

A couple of weeks ago I went to Nashville with my husband. Just 2 nights. The taxes and fees added onto the bill was an extra $100 per night.

 

[Nayan]

We always travel during off-times, book directly with the hotel(s) and will stay out a little further to get a better rate.

 

[Deb]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/what-happened-to-the-150-hotel-room/ar-AA1WMKDf

I see why hotels cost so much now, it all makes sense. The businesses have handed off pricing to their third party vendors who price fix in markets so there are no deals to be found, been seeing this more and more. Add this to "custom pricing" and the immovability of prices falls into place

If someone wants to visit town A and the vendor is in town A they will make sure all 5 star rooms in town A cost the same $$$ so you are captive. I've been seeing the same prices across the board but couldn't quite figure out why empty hotels price like they are full to capacity.

Gone are the days of businesses paying any attention to guests. Gonna need a travel alias... I'm pretty sure a credit cards can have a second card named for a nickname.

as someone who spent decades in the hotel business, I can gty you the last thing they want to do is cede control/push business to the third party booking sites. I was in a market where rates could change multiple times a day and we controled our rates

 

[kanerf]

You have to monitor sales. IHG is having one now, I have gone in and rebooked several stays at a lower rate.

 

[MIGrandma]

We usually stay at Hilton hotels on points from our credit card.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Apparently it's all inflations, not necessarily price gouging. There was a timely article in the WaPo yesterday which I'll gift here. https://wapo.st/4s27Md5

But from that link, they did provide some tips for booking:

Tricks to finding a midscale hotel​

So how can the midscale traveler stay in their lane and avoid the off-ramp to economy lodgings?

Hotel experts say check the calendar. Avoid high season and dates when special events are rolling through the area, such as the World Cup or Taylor Swift. For destinations popular among leisure travelers, visit during the week; for places frequented by business travelers, go over the weekend.

Sign up for a hotel’s loyalty program, especially the big three: Hilton, Marriott and IHG. Use those discounts for AAA members, seniors or military. Be open to staying in noncentral locations with downscaled amenities.
For reservations, Vanderholm suggested starting your search at least three months out, when hotels will set rates high then slowly drop them if rooms are not selling as anticipated.

Once you book a room, he said to watch for falling prices or cheaper rates at other properties. Depending on the hotel’s policy, you can rebook or cancel within 24 hours of your arrival. If you find a better price through a third-party site, contact the hotel, which should offer a price-match guarantee. Some companies, such as Hilton and Marriott, will add a 25 percent discount to the matched rate.
Vanderholm also recommends booking on a Sunday, when revenue managers are off and a computer algorithm is in charge of setting prices. Come Monday, he said, the staff may push the rates back up.
For day-of bookings, he said to call the hotel directly and tell the reservationist you noticed their competitors were charging $150 or less. Ask them straight out, “Can you cut me a deal?”

Thanks, Christine.

 

[barkley]

as someone who spent decades in the hotel business, I can gty you the last thing they want to do is cede control/push business to the third party booking sites. I was in a market where rates could change multiple times a day and we controled our rates

this is why I always reccommend to someone that in addition to looking at whatever booking site and the hotel website that they directly call the location they are interested in b/c some will offer much better rates if you book directly (and in my experience both working inside the industry/booking as a customer-more forthcoming with any discounts/deals that may be available). i'm not a fan in general of the the third party sites b/c if there's an issue you're told that you booked with them and have to deal with it vs. dealing directly with the hotel.

 

[Minnie1222]

If someone wants to visit town A and the vendor is in town A they will make sure all 5 star rooms in town A cost the same $$$ so you are captive. I've been seeing the same prices across the board but couldn't quite figure out why empty hotels price like they are full to capacity.

I believe a 5-star hotel will lose its appeal if it is packed to the brim. People who value their space are more likely to pay a higher price to keep it that way.

 

[barkley]

I believe a 5-star hotel will lose its appeal if it is packed to the brim. People who value their space are more likely to pay a higher price to keep it that way.

most 5 star hotels have a variety of room categories and frankly-they want rooms rented period so a consumer paying out the wazoo for a room isn't going to deter them from doing whatever they can to pack rooms . actually a guest can get a good deal now and again by renting a lower category room b/c if at check in there's a lack of bookings in the higher vs lower categories it's to the hotel's advantage to offer a free or HIGHLY discounted upgrade b/c they are more likely to have a call/walk in looking for your lower cost room (and there's little operational costs difference between categories-in fact unless it's some psycho that makes a god awful mess in a top category room the average guest leaves them in much easier/cost efficient to turnover condition). we've always asked at check-in if an upgrade is available at the handful of 5 stars we've stayed at. more often than not we've been bumped up at least a few categories at no cost-on one occasion for less than $25 per night more we were given the 'presidential suite' that routinely rents for triple what we had booked for (and as we accepted it I saw the desk agent nod to another and overheard them say to someone on the phone 'oh wait madam-we've JUST had a room open up that's now available....' and quote them a higher rate than we had booked it for).

 

[Deb]

I believe a 5-star hotel will lose its appeal if it is packed to the brim. People who value their space are more likely to pay a higher price to keep it that way.

the goal of every hotel is to sell 100% every night. And if you can get above 100% occupancy, even better

 

[Minnie1222]

the goal of every hotel is to sell 100% every night. And if you can get above 100% occupancy, even better

That is fine as long as they have adequate staffing. There are so many hotels, discerning guests will stop coming if their time is not valued (except for Disney of course! They can pack me with as many people as they want).

 

[Deb]

That is fine as long as they have adequate staffing. There are so many hotels, discerning guests will stop coming if their time is not valued (except for Disney of course! They can pack me with as many people as they want).

twice you've said something about being "packed to the brim" typically more expensive, exclusive properties are designed well enough that they will not appear crowdedat 100% occupancy

 

[longboard55]

I own a waikiki condo that rents like a hotel. The costs are extreme, maids make $25+ an hour, how about electricity, everyone goes full AC when it is not their bill, we need exterminators on a regular bases for bed bugs, sheets and towels cleaned every day, front desk, reservation booking costs, 24 hour security, maintenance, advertising, elevator maintenance, rooms need a refresh every 5 years, landscapers, pool maintenance, taxes are off the chart, last minute cancellations, if you are associated with a big name like Hilton they take a cut. There is no way $150 a night will work.

When was the last time anyone built a 5 star hotel. They tend to lose money

 

[Minnie1222]

I think hoteliers can charge whatever they want. If the price is out of my reach, I'll stay somewhere else. I don't need to question or shame their decisions.

 

[barkley]

twice you've said something about being "packed to the brim" typically more expensive, exclusive properties are designed well enough that they will not appear crowdedat 100% occupancy

one design element being elevators programmed to only permit guests to access the floors they have rooms booked on so that there's the appearance on individual lodging levels of fewer guests. a higher level room might also have access to a 'special' lounge for beverages/snacks so those guests don't frequently utililize the common areas that other guests access for the same-again providing the appearance of a less crowded experience.

I own a waikiki condo that rents like a hotel. The costs are extreme, maids make $25+ an hour, how about electricity, everyone goes full AC when it is not their bill, we need exterminators on a regular bases for bed bugs, sheets and towels cleaned every day, front desk, reservation booking costs, 24 hour security, maintenance, advertising, elevator maintenance, rooms need a refresh every 5 years, landscapers, pool maintenance, taxes are off the chart, last minute cancellations, if you are associated with a big name like Hilton they take a cut. There is no way $150 a night will work.

When was the last time anyone built a 5 star hotel. They tend to lose money

they are still being built and they will cost more to stay at b/c some communities in popular destinations are pushing back at the cost/toll it takes on their infrastructure. my home town just enacted a 3 year implementation that will increase the cost of hotel construction fees 10x, increasing from $9 to $100 per square foot. this is in addition to further increasing the hotel occupancy tax which I believe is now at 15.3%. despite the cost the tourists continue to flood in.