Do Hotels Reduce Prices at Last Hour?

pennypincher3562

Hi

I could really do with a break within the UK, and have been watching hotel prices closely in major cities like Edinburgh, and London to see if I could spot any major price reductions.

I was wondering do hotels ever reduce their prices at the last hour e.g. after 11pm, if they have rooms left? To me, it would make sense to do so, but I've not spotted any 'last minute' reductions so far.

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

redpete

Or do they keep the prices high because by that time of night people are likely to be desperate.

pennypincher3562

Yeah, good point. I have read that they do indeed rely on the 'desperation' factor. It must be a bit of a gamble though for hotels to keep rooms at full price , once the clock passes 2300. I personally have never booked a hotel at such a late hour, even when 'desperate.'

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

joerugby

Last time I went to Edinburgh the Ibis had reduced its rate by £15 for walk-ins as it had empty rooms

We were a bit miffed as we had paid full price but were non-refundable (they did give us one free breakfast to compensate though!)

pennypincher3562

Hi JoeRugby

That is a really interesting bit of info - thanks. Do you know if these prices were on the website, or just if you literally 'walked in the door'?

What time of year was this? Do you know roughly at what time of day did they reduce the price?

I've been to the Edinburgh Ibis hotel, and was very happy with it. I normally booked in mid-winter (due to reduced prices), but the lowest could get the price down to, was about £60.

Thanks
PennyPincher3562

joerugby

I don't know if the reduced price was on the web. It was available when we arrived at about 3pm. It was a Friday night in April

InsideInsurance

couple of times when I've booked at 10pm or 1am the price hasnt been reduced

pogofish

I've known of a few hotels that charged by the hour but I don't think a good night's sleep was high on the guests list of priorities

InsideInsurance

pogofish wrote: »

I've known of a few hotels that charged by the hour but I don't think a good night's sleep was high on the guests list of priorities

Do you get a refund if you finish earlier than you thought you would?

paddyrg

It's a gamble. If there's only one or two rooms left and it's a busy night elsewhere in town, they may hold the rooms in case another hotel overbooks and needs to place a guest last-minute at top-dollar. If there are 30 empty rooms, they are far more likely to discount as it'll mean town is quiet, they're unlikely to get 30 walk-ups.

Hotel rooms are perishable, they have a use-by date much like raw chicken or spinach - if you don't sell them by then, they're waste - so if you can get anything for it, it's worth it.

pogofish

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Do you get a refund if you finish earlier than you thought you would?

I wouldn't know a thing about that...!