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Japan gets an unfair bad rep for both hotel and food costs, neither of which is too bad.
I totally agree. I don't know why people claim Japan is expensive. Hotels are like half the price what major US cities charge. I am a solo traveler and it is nice to have those single rooms for $50-60 with private bath, instead overpaying for the rooms with two beds which is the standard in the US. In terms of food, it is not only inexpensive, but also VERY GOOD. Japan is the place where I was most satisfied with food - more than France, Italy or Spain.
The only expensive item is the high speed trains. I bought the 7 day pass.
Honestly I will not pay $200 or even $100 for Indianapolis when I paid $60 for a decent hotel room in Shinjuku Tokyo. I'd rather not go. And this is why people complain "it is too expensive to travel" - well, you can't make $60,000 a year and think you deserve to stay in $200 a night hotels just because it is "nice". A lo of things are "nice" out there.
Just for fun I went to their website to get rate quotes. I'm seeing $259/night for March 27 - March 31 (under the "standard rates" tab). The most expensive option is $309. Are you still seeing $400 somewhere?
On Priceline, the Westin Indy is expensive. North of $400. I see the Hyatt a block away for $124.00 on a prepaid. Who in their right mind would pay $400 to stay in Indianapolis?
Using a few of the well-known corporate discount codes, I see the Marriott and Courtyard for $129 on a regular web reservation (not a prepaid). The Marriott is the next building to the Westin.
On Priceline, the Westin Indy is expensive. North of $400. I see the Hyatt a block away for $124.00 on a prepaid. Who in their right mind would pay $400 to stay in Indianapolis?
Using a few of the well-known corporate discount codes, I see the Marriott and Courtyard for $129 on a regular web reservation (not a prepaid). The Marriott is the next building to the Westin.
Its right across from Lucas Oil Stadium, but I still can't see what about that Hotel is so expensive. Unless they are constantly filled with their convention/event space?
I totally agree. I don't know why people claim Japan is expensive. Hotels are like half the price what major US cities charge. I am a solo traveler and it is nice to have those single rooms for $50-60 with private bath, instead overpaying for the rooms with two beds which is the standard in the US. In terms of food, it is not only inexpensive, but also VERY GOOD. Japan is the place where I was most satisfied with food - more than France, Italy or Spain.
The only expensive item is the high speed trains. I bought the 7 day pass.
Honestly I will not pay $200 or even $100 for Indianapolis when I paid $60 for a decent hotel room in Shinjuku Tokyo. I'd rather not go. And this is why people complain "it is too expensive to travel" - well, you can't make $60,000 a year and think you deserve to stay in $200 a night hotels just because it is "nice". A lo of things are "nice" out there.
Hotels are kind of a rip off in the U.S. in general to be honest. Sometimes they cost more in small cities than in large cities.
They can have 200 rooms open and vacant they still won't lower their prices very much.
I hope stuff like AirBnb keeps getting more popular I would love to see the hotel industry take a hit and have to start doing more to compete. The hotel industry in the U.S. is a pretty big racket it's right up there with the real estate shams and scams.
Maybe your association wants to boost attendance by keeping the speakers a secret? Weird.
There are always reasons for the pricing. They may not suit all people's opinions but there are reasons.
Also 30,000 people are arriving downtown that last week of March for ComicCon.
Also the Weston is pet friendly. I don't think Marriott is. Which is weird to me for a luxury Weston hotel, but ....I guess it's the "family" thing.
Also the Weston has a big blurb on their site about children. The Marriott doesn't.
They say Marriott is branding JW for upscale & business but they're branding Weston as more luxury and "wellness".
Also Marriott seems to have a big monopoly there with several properties and it's the largest property in the world. I bet they got sweet subsidies on that.
Some people are willing to spend more, like, at the Weston for the more personal more upscale-ish.
Sorry, you can probably tell from the thread title that this is a bit of a rant.
I am a college professor and I usually go to 1-2 academic conferences per year. Usually the conferences negotiate "special" rates for the conference, but for one that I'm going to in late March 2018, it's still close to $200/night after you add in the 17% tax (it's in Indianapolis, which clearly has very high hotel taxes!). The sad thing is, I am coming to realize that that is actually a GOOD price for a hotel room!! (The conference rate is $164/night, but that's a bit over $190/night with the taxes.)
Trying to save a bit of money for my employer, I looked online for hotels close to the conference hotel (which is the J. W. Marriott downtown, not to be confused with about half a dozen OTHER Marriott hotels in the vicinity). The nearest hotel was something like $159/night plus taxes, which was not enough to make me go there since the conference hotel is $164/night. But at first, on a map I saw that the Westin in Indianapolis, just a few minutes' walk from the conference hotel, was $115/night. Yippee!!, I thought. But no, that was clearly an Internet error (and a GIGANTIC one!!). When I went to the hotel's site (the CHEAPEST site for its rooms), I saw that the rooms were actually around $400/NIGHT -- for a place to SLEEP!!
Maybe I am completely naive, but I was astonished at this. I guess business travelers pay this (since their corporations are actually paying)? That's the only thing I can think of as I try to understand how anyone in their right mind would spend $400/night on a place to SLEEP. And yes, I know I keep saying that, but seriously, for me that's all a hotel room IS -- a place to sleep. OK, I might watch a bit of ESPN on TV before falling asleep (especially if my favorite team is playing), but otherwise, I will mostly be OUT of the hotel room during the day.
Am I nuts to think that I should be able to get a decent room -- I mean, seriously, a place to SLEEP -- for, say, $150/night?!!
I would... cuz why sleep in a dump when you can sleep in a castle.
I like nice things. I want to be comfortable. I want a comfy bed. I want heat, a/c, wifi. I want to be able to order room service. I want to be able to swim in a pool. I am willing to pay more for those comforts.
I would... cuz why sleep in a dump when you can sleep in a castle.
I like nice things. I want to be comfortable. I want a comfy bed. I want heat, a/c, wifi. I want to be able to order room service. I want to be able to swim in a pool. I am willing to pay more for those comforts.
There's a lot of expensive hotels that aren't very nice. You are usually paying a premium due to location and date/time, not the amenities.
A lot of hotels in downtown areas don't even have a pool.
We love B&B's, and the good ones we have tried have averaged about $300 a night. However, we use those only as part of a total vacation experience. There are MANY B&B's we remember with very fond memories, as well as the room we had. No motel room or chain hotel room we have stayed in has lasted in our memory for more than a week -- unless it was very bad.
However, if we are taking a cross-country road trip and just need a bed and bathroom, we try to stay at a Hampton Inn if it is under $125 a night; otherwise, anything like a Comfort Inn or a Holiday Inn Express will do, as long as the TripAdvisor rating is at least a 3.5 -- and in that case, the less expensive the more likely we are to choose it.
On Priceline, the Westin Indy is expensive. North of $400. I see the Hyatt a block away for $124.00 on a prepaid. Who in their right mind would pay $400 to stay in Indianapolis?
Using a few of the well-known corporate discount codes, I see the Marriott and Courtyard for $129 on a regular web reservation (not a prepaid). The Marriott is the next building to the Westin.
For a minute, I thought OP and I will be attending the same conference but her timetable is different from mine. I wouldn't pay $400 per night to stay in Indianapolis. Stayed there earlier this year downtown for a conference. Company paid, which is not always the case for me because I work as a freelance contractor as well on various jobs. The hotel rate was about $150 or so if I remember correctly. It's a nice American city, with a LOT of steakhouses downtown for some reason. It's a nice city but not mind-blowing and certainly doesn't justify extreme prices for hotels.
I would... cuz why sleep in a dump when you can sleep in a castle.
I like nice things. I want to be comfortable. I want a comfy bed. I want heat, a/c, wifi. I want to be able to order room service. I want to be able to swim in a pool. I am willing to pay more for those comforts.
The conferences that I attend are usually marathons in which I leave the hotel early in the morning 7-8 am and don't return to my hotel until after 10:30 pm or later that night which includes the mixers and evening sessions. Lunch and dinner is eaten at restaurants inside or near the conference location. Getting back to the hotel late at night means showering, a quick glimpse of both CNN and Foxnews (to get polar opposite perspectives) on tv, and then fast sleep to do it all over agan the next day. I never get to use any of the four and five star amenities that the hotel charges me (my employer) for. I've never been to a conference that is 9 am - 5 pm.
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Those are my sentiments
