Everyone likes hotels that don’t cost and arm and a leg just to spend the night. Everyone likes really nice hotels that are offered at a cheap price. . . .but they are getting harder and harder to find.
The on-line hotel agencies like Trivago, Kayak, Priceline, Hotwire, and Expedia that tout their ability to get really good hotel prices don’t always tell the whole story. Of course since you are not talking to anyone, they don’t always print even part of the story on their site. That’s one of the biggest problems that Christopher Elliott, the travel ombudsman writing in the Dallas Morning news has to deal with each week. In reading about a conversation with a front-line agent at a hotel about how they assign rooms at check-in they typically assign the favorable locations to those who have booked directly with the hotel or through the travel agent consortiums. Those who have booked with the on-line agencies will not generally get the rooms with the better views or quieter room locations.
In addition, the word I heard the other day from a hotelier was that they prefer not to take bookings from the on-line agencies because they have a lesser profit margin than those booked directly or with a reputable travel agent.
The cost of a hotel room, like everything else travel related, is getting more expensive. The average price of a hotel room in San Francisco has risen by almost 40% in the past 5 years. It is not uncommon to encounter a $200+ room night compared to $123 a night five years ago. They credit that to the increased convention business, especially the tech conferences and medical groups. And the city planners seem to indicate that that boom is not going to abate, that there appears to be no end in sight. . .yet.
The same can be said for hotels in convention cities like New York, Boston, Orlando, and New Orleans, not to mention the most popular city in the United States, Las Vegas. Hotel prices there, especially when big conventions are in town, on holiday weekends, and most weekends in the year have been steadily rising over the past two years. Oh, you can still get a $49 night or a $69 night, but it will be on a Monday to Wednesday. It is said that one reason for Las Vegas success is that there is always something new and exciting happening in the city. The important thing about that it is a tourist destination with a rate of 85% repeat visitor count.
Our agency belongs to an agency consortium, vacation.com and in fact, was one of the first ones to sign up back in 2001. Along with that membership we do get discounted rates at some really nice hotels around the country. Try us out the next time you need a hotel and want to be treated like a guest and not a number. Our agents can be reached at 698-1421 or toll-free 800-760-4040.