5* hotel price increase?

kadison

I stayed at a fab 5* hotel last year in London, I paid £591 for three nights, now the lowest price I can get is £711 for the same hotel. I'm booking at the same time of year, and for the same time of year.

Is £40 increase a reasonable amount to expect for a previously c. £200 room?

paddyrg

Hotels are priced dynamically these days - the day/week/etc is less relevant than the number of rooms sold. The more rooms sell, the pricier they become as the hotel attempts to maximise revenue and get to target occupancy rate (say 85%). If they're not selling, the prices reduce and rooms get shifted through discounts.

Perhaps you actually got a discounted rate last time and this time you're paying closer to full price.

kadison

paddyrg wrote: »

Hotels are priced dynamically these days - the day/week/etc is less relevant than the number of rooms sold. The more rooms sell, the pricier they become as the hotel attempts to maximise revenue and get to target occupancy rate (say 85%). If they're not selling, the prices reduce and rooms get shifted through discounts.

Perhaps you actually got a discounted rate last time and this time you're paying closer to full price.

This is still heavily discounted (apparently), it's a top rate hotel, I was just hoping it would decrease more, seems not and tbh I don't want to risk waiting and missing out on the date/room I want

Perhaps they were lower last year as so many people flocked to London for the Olympics rather than going later in the year as I am?

paddyrg

There's no way to know one way or the other. If you book last minute you might get a bargain, or pay rack rates. On the night of the Olympic Opening ceremony I was working in London and had to suddenly get a hotel. Trivago did the searches for me whilst I stood in the middle of the Thames (the previous evening) and I got a 4* on tower bridge for under 80 quid, usually much more. You never can tell what'll be sold at what price to maximise yield.

Do try trivago though, they aggregate all the other sites, surprising what a range of costs there are for the same room through different bookings agencies.

p00hsticks

paddyrg wrote: »

... whilst I stood in the middle of the Thames ...

You're not Dynamo, by any chance ?

paddyrg

p00hsticks wrote: »

You're not Dynamo, by any chance ?

:-)

I was lucky enough to be working on a boat in the Thames at Tower Bridge during the Beckham torch sequence :-)

kadison

paddyrg wrote: »

There's no way to know one way or the other. If you book last minute you might get a bargain, or pay rack rates. On the night of the Olympic Opening ceremony I was working in London and had to suddenly get a hotel. Trivago did the searches for me whilst I stood in the middle of the Thames (the previous evening) and I got a 4* on tower bridge for under 80 quid, usually much more. You never can tell what'll be sold at what price to maximise yield.

Do try trivago though, they aggregate all the other sites, surprising what a range of costs there are for the same room through different bookings agencies.

I did end up booking through Trivago anyway, used Agoda last time but thought the price could be lower this time, got another £11 a night off from Trivago with free brekkie thrown in!

p00hsticks wrote: »

You're not Dynamo, by any chance ?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: