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Old 07-21-2016, 12:52 AM
 
6,977 posts, read 5,686,940 times
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Wasn't sure where to stick this post, apologies if its in the wrong section, but i want to bring something up and ask if any of you have had the same experiences.

This seems to be universal from city to city, doesn't matter the star rating of the hotel, i encounter almost the same situations at every hotel i'm in and that situation is this.

I never see anyone in any of the halls, there's rarely lights in the room, the hotels seem deserted and it just seems that there are plenty of empty rooms, i rarely see anyone in the elevators, you can hear pins drop in these places and yet, there are times when i get the 'last room' or the place is 'completely booked'.

Does anyone know what i'm talking about? i'll walk thru hotels and say to myself "there's zero chance that all these rooms are filled". I'll walk outside in the parking lot at a reasonable hour, lets say like 8pm and you look up and every room is dark, there's not a creature stirring and yet, there's 'no rooms left'.

i guess from an economic standpoint, hotels have to give off the impression that theyre sold out, but many of them are not, especially now with the advent of air bnb and couchsurfing where you could lay on someone's couch for free or rent a room for a fraction of the cost of a hotel.

To me, this is one of life's greatest unsolved mysteries, why hotels seem basically empty when the front desk is telling me there's no rooms left.
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Old 07-21-2016, 06:40 AM
 
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I am a shareholder in Marriott Corp so I am aware of their occupancy rates: average about 75%in the US. Marriott properties are well managed so I would guess the industry average is less. In addition rates can vary due to seasons, parts of the country, etc. I know we also have some hotels near where I live that also appear to have very low occupancy year around.
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:01 AM
 
Location: NC
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Perhaps only a smaller number of rooms are available for occupancy. For example, the others might be in the middle of a remodel? Just guessing.
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:06 AM
 
Location: Montgomery County, PA
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The other thing I don't understand is that hotels are willing to let rooms go empty rather than lower their rates. They seem to prefer 100% of nothing rather than 50% of something.
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:28 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,660 posts, read 12,331,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyRider View Post
The other thing I don't understand is that hotels are willing to let rooms go empty rather than lower their rates. They seem to prefer 100% of nothing rather than 50% of something.
Well, at some point it isn't worth feeding you your free breakfast, the soap and shampoo, the water and electricity you use, washing your sheets and towels, the wear and tear on the carpets and beds and everything, and paying someone to clean up after you in the morning.
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Old 07-21-2016, 07:30 AM
 
2,762 posts, read 3,174,886 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyRider View Post
The other thing I don't understand is that hotels are willing to let rooms go empty rather than lower their rates. They seem to prefer 100% of nothing rather than 50% of something.
A lot of businesses do that.

Commercial properties are the same way. They would rather let them sit empty at full price for years instead renting them out at 50% for those same years. They are trying to protect market price, but I bet over the long run it hurts them more.

I have seen used car lots that have had cars sit for years at the same price.

Even people around here do the same thing when selling used items. They will sit on their price forever.

People don't understand cash flow and what they could accomplish with the cash over the time they do nothing but wait.
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Old 07-21-2016, 08:06 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Could be that some are being remodeled, have problems waiting to be repaired, or in the off season, some of the hotel may be shut down to save on staff salaries until it gets busy again. There could also be agreements with the many hotel booking websites to keep a certain number available for them.
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Old 07-21-2016, 08:45 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,798,019 times
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I always assume it was due to staffing (cleaning rooms, etc) and that there wasn't enough staff (because they don't want to pay for more) to have several more rooms available... but they want the rooms if there are large conventions, meetings, etc (at which point it becomes profitable to hire more temporary staff)... aren't most staff outsourced anyways? Like they have a separate company they pay a fixed fee to for the cleaning/cooking staff for X amount of rooms... so they couldn't get more staff without some preparation ahead of time (contracts, etc) so they can't have more rooms... what I am more interested to learn is if hotels that are "completely booked" would allow you to rent a room if you personally called them rather than booking over the internet..
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Old 07-21-2016, 09:11 AM
 
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I've experienced that "no rooms available" situation from time to time when traveling by motorcycle. Front desk clerk sees a bunch of 'biker'-looking types come in and automatically thinks there'll be trouble; or in certain towns the hotel owner has a standing order not to rent rooms to motorcyclists based on previous (bad) experience. Got into the habit of either making reservations in advance, or calling the hotel first rather than walking in.
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Old 07-21-2016, 09:44 AM
 
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It's not really "true". They keep rooms open for VIP and staff. Think if the boss came in, he couldn't get a room?

Also same with selling rooms to companies. Some like airlines always have rooms reserved at nearby airports for pilots/missed flight comps. Or sites like orbitz reserves rooms so they can resell them on their own site.

It's like a sports game, a company could buy out the tickets and the game could be "sold" out, but if the company doesn't fill seats there won't be many in attendance.

Best way is to go through a company that bought a group of rooms and get it through them. Might have to surf around.
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