London Hotels milk commuters
Discussion
Supply and demand. Not saying it's right but it's commercial reality and these are businesses. Its not the first time things like this have happened, I remember working on the Marchoness disaster and we had to be accomodated very close to the scene in a hotel, the rates we paid were inflated massively as they were for all of the rescue/salvage teams, it stunk but we just wrote it off against expenses in the same way that alot of last night commuters will have.
Woah there. Before you go condemning the hotels first have a think.
1) Hotels in most big cities have a "rack rate" - its usually quite high.
2) To sell the rooms they discount. As the hotel gets fuller and fuller they discount less and less.
3) The person on the end of the phone has *no control* (often) of the price. Its done using a Computer System that automatically increases prices up to the rack rate taking into account how full the hotel is, an allowance for walk-up etc.
So what happened is that last night they got an unprecedented level of walk-up. The algorithm just did what it was told to. I would be ASTONISHED if anyone can come up with concrete evidence of a hotel charging ABOVE their rack rate.
What I WILL say is that they lost an opportunity to be seen as the good guys by offering all stranded people their best discounted rate - would have been a PR coup. Instead they showed that collectively they couldn't really respond to a changing, unprecedented situation very well at all.
Maybe some hotels did stoop to rank profiteering - but I believe they did nothing actually wrong - and will continue to do so until I see EVIDENCE.
1) Hotels in most big cities have a "rack rate" - its usually quite high.
2) To sell the rooms they discount. As the hotel gets fuller and fuller they discount less and less.
3) The person on the end of the phone has *no control* (often) of the price. Its done using a Computer System that automatically increases prices up to the rack rate taking into account how full the hotel is, an allowance for walk-up etc.
So what happened is that last night they got an unprecedented level of walk-up. The algorithm just did what it was told to. I would be ASTONISHED if anyone can come up with concrete evidence of a hotel charging ABOVE their rack rate.
What I WILL say is that they lost an opportunity to be seen as the good guys by offering all stranded people their best discounted rate - would have been a PR coup. Instead they showed that collectively they couldn't really respond to a changing, unprecedented situation very well at all.
Maybe some hotels did stoop to rank profiteering - but I believe they did nothing actually wrong - and will continue to do so until I see EVIDENCE.
Don said:
Woah there. Before you go condemning the hotels first have a think.
1) Hotels in most big cities have a "rack rate" - its usually quite high.
2) To sell the rooms they discount. As the hotel gets fuller and fuller they discount less and less.
3) The person on the end of the phone has *no control* (often) of the price. Its done using a Computer System that automatically increases prices up to the rack rate taking into account how full the hotel is, an allowance for walk-up etc.
So what happened is that last night they got an unprecedented level of walk-up. The algorithm just did what it was told to. I would be ASTONISHED if anyone can come up with concrete evidence of a hotel charging ABOVE their rack rate.
What I WILL say is that they lost an opportunity to be seen as the good guys by offering all stranded people their best discounted rate - would have been a PR coup. Instead they showed that collectively they couldn't really respond to a changing, unprecedented situation very well at all.
Maybe some hotels did stoop to rank profiteering - but I believe they did nothing actually wrong - and will continue to do so until I see EVIDENCE.
Hmmm. Interesting but..
Do you remember a reality Tv show from a while ago about the Adelphi hotel in Liverpool. The cameras were there the day the IRA threatened the Grand national and it was postponed. The woman on reception was bartering with two families, to see just how badly they wanted the room, and told the other "they want to pay me £xxxx. What will you pay?"
Disgusting and not fair. Still, at least she got a good bonus that month
for a night is just shocking!!! Was the congestion charge cancelled yesterday due to the lack of available public transport ?
Was the congestion charge cancelled today to enable the workforce to get into London ?
I have just checked and found that it was....
>> Edited by nutskie.. on Friday 8th July 14:00
>> Edited by nutskie.. on Friday 8th July 14:01
Was the congestion charge cancelled today to enable the workforce to get into London ?
I have just checked and found that it was....
>> Edited by nutskie.. on Friday 8th July 14:00
>> Edited by nutskie.. on Friday 8th July 14:01
In other news, my brother in law's company went to great efforts to ascertain which members of staff would have trouble travelling home yesterday and booked hotels for them all (good on 'em). I guess if enough companies did similar things, there'd not have been a great deal of slack in the system for walk-ups.
Raify said:
According to this one hotel charged £270 for a £65 room. That's a hefty rack!
Funny how they're not willing to say which one, eh. Terrible piece of journalism. No indication as to whether or not that was the rack rate - a £250 rack rate isn't unusual in London. Sure - sometimes the room will sell for £80. Sometimes it will sell for £250.
No evidence. Lots of huffing and puffing. Once spurious example they're not willing to identify.
If there is a basis in fact for this story surely it would be somewhere in that article. Its not. The most concrete accusation is in the "Have You Say" bit (unmoderated shite) as "a hotel in Baker St".
Where's the EVIDENCE?
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