Budget hotels discussion

[Baxenden Bank]

Ever more keen to upsell from a base headline rate, I noticed this new one on the Premier Inn website:

Room type:
Standard room with a view

Info:
Room views may vary and are subject to availability.

FAQ:
Do you have rooms with a view at this hotel?
Some of our rooms have a fantastic view. Room views may vary and are subject to availability.

The hotel in question is in Blackburn town centre. Adjacent to the cathedral, a modern office block, railway station and youth zone. Distant views of Lancashire hills might just be possible. A bit like the sea view from Fawlty Towers. I struggle to imagine a 'fantastic view'!

Rates are £12 extra per night compared to a standard room. Having stayed there several times, I can't imagine the view from any of the rooms is that much different.

 

[bspahh]

Ever more keen to upsell from a base headline rate, I noticed this new one on the Premier Inn website:



The hotel in question is in Blackburn town centre. Adjacent to the cathedral, a modern office block, railway station and youth zone. Distant views of Lancashire hills might just be possible. A bit like the sea view from Fawlty Towers. I struggle to imagine a 'fantastic view'!

Rates are £12 extra per night compared to a standard room. Having stayed there several times, I can't imagine the view from any of the rooms is that much different.

This is from Google Maps



https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en has these definitions for fantastic:

1. extraordinarily good or attractive.
2. imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality.

 

[Cletus]

Stayed at the Ealing Travelodge twice and both times out of the window the view has been a close up of a blank wall

 

[takno]

This is from Google Maps

View attachment 167275

https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en has these definitions for fantastic:

1. extraordinarily good or attractive.
2. imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality.

With/without a view is just a standard category in booking systems, so it's a handy way to let people pay you a tenner or so more than they need to out of curiosity

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Stayed at the Ealing Travelodge twice and both times out of the window the view has been a close up of a blank wall

It's a view! Of particular interest to fans of walls I suppose.
I stayed in an Ibis in Glasgow with a similar thing. So bad I couldn't even tell what the weather was outside.

With/without a view is just a standard category in booking systems, so it's a handy way to let people pay you a tenner or so more than they need to out of curiosity

I hadn't come across it on the Premier Inn site until this morning though. As per the recent introduction of car parking charges where it was previously free - milk the punter dry with 'extras'. If you take the headline cost of the room (various levels of flexibility available), an upgrade to plus standard (or now 'with a view'), car parking, breakfast or evening meal/breakfast deal they are getting expensive for what they offer.

 

[Andyh82]

I wonder, if few/no customers chose the rooms with a view, and the hotel is not full, do they deliberately put customers in the rooms with a rubbish view?

 

[dangie]

Stayed at the Ealing Travelodge twice and both times out of the window the view has been a close up of a blank wall

A couple of years ago we stayed in a hotel in Cornwall where the window had a poster of a yacht on the sea stuck over it. That was the view. Peering behind the poster revealed a blank wall & drainpipe.

 

[takno]

I wonder, if few/no customers chose the rooms with a view, and the hotel is not full, do they deliberately put customers in the rooms with a rubbish view?

Assuming that they can remember which rooms have a view and which don't, they will and should probably still just distribute the non-view customers around in whichever way suits housekeeping best.

 

[route101]

I wonder, if few/no customers chose the rooms with a view, and the hotel is not full, do they deliberately put customers in the rooms with a rubbish view?

I used to think if you booked last minute or booked a cheap room you would get the inferior room.

A lot of hotels allow you to check out as late as 12pm, I often find the cleaners beat you to that time and you are often out earlier.

 

[takno]

I used to think if you booked last minute or booked a cheap room you would get the inferior room.

A lot of hotels allow you to check out as late as 12pm, I often find the cleaners beat you to that time and you are often out earlier.

Do you mean you just leave if the cleaners come round before checkout time? They won't mind if you tell them to come back, they just need to do some of the rooms before last checkout, and don't always know which rooms have checked out

 

[route101]

Do you mean you just leave if the cleaners come round before checkout time? They won't mind if you tell them to come back, they just need to do some of the rooms before last checkout, and don't always know which rooms have checked out

Yes, happened a few times now and often when I am in the bathroom!

 

[takno]

Yes, happened a few times now and often when I am in the bathroom!

Fwiw they quite often come round even if you've requested a late checkout. Mostly they just go round all the rooms in order, and mark off the ones they've done so that they know which ones to go back to later

 

[sprunt]

I wonder, if few/no customers chose the rooms with a view, and the hotel is not full, do they deliberately put customers in the rooms with a rubbish view?

They probably put people in the type of room they've booked, yes - they'd want to keep the more expensive rooms free for any walk-ups.

 

[eyebrook1961]

HI, my better half and I regularly use Premier, Holiday Inn Express and, occasionally, Leonardo or Travelodge when visiting the two children who are currently at University (York and Middlesbrough)

In people's experience, when is the optimum time to obtain the best (cheapest) priced rooms in the world of dynamic pricing - or is it really the luck of the draw?

Thanks for any responses

 

[Baxenden Bank]

In general terms, prices for Travelodge and Premier Inn are cheaper the further ahead you book. There are exceptions to this but they are the minority of occasions. Partly it depends on the level of flexibility required.

At present all bookings at both TL and PI can be moved to another date, at the same hotel, for the same length of stay, within the same rate band ie Standard, Advance, Semi-Flex and Flex at PI. TL will charge you £10 to do this for a Saver booking, PI is free. You will have to pay any difference in the rate between the current and amended booking. Both refund you if it is cheaper. If you want the ability to cancel and refund then avoid Saver at TL and Advance at PI. The difference between the less-flexible and totally refundable rates at Travelodge is not that much, I find it cheaper to book at the flexible rate knowing that some will be cancelled rather than pay the cheaper Saver rate and pay £10 when I need to amend a booking and hope I can find a suitable future date. At PI the difference between rates is much greater, you really pay for the ability to fully refund (or save biggly on the Standard rate to quote President Elect Trump). The top rate at PI is 'Flex' being the most flexible, refundable up to 1300 on the day of stay. That rate does not vary a great deal from way ahead to just before, but can do so eg if a big event is announced and bookings take off. I guess that is how it works with airline tickets too. The Advance rate (cheapest) does vary considerably.

This year, out of over 30 hotel stays at TL / PI, on only one occasion would it have been cheaper to book the day before travel, rather than when I actually booked.

 

[Mojo]

In general terms, prices for Travelodge and Premier Inn are cheaper the further ahead you book. There are exceptions to this but they are the minority of occasions. Partly it depends on the level of flexibility required.

l don't know this is the rare exception you had in mind or if this is common amongst them all, but the Premier lnn near me, when the rooms first go on sale (1 year in advance) only offers the more expensive 'Flex' and 'Advance' rates, with the cheaper 'Standard' rate not going on sale until 6 months before.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

l don't know this is the rare exception you had in mind or if this is common amongst them all, but the Premier lnn near me, when the rooms first go on sale (1 year in advance) only offers the more expensive 'Flex' and 'Advance' rates, with the cheaper 'Standard' rate not going on sale until 6 months before.

My table:

	non-flex	standard	advance	semi-flex	flex
immediate to +5 days	yes	yes			yes
+6 days to +59 days		yes		yes	yes	advance / semi-flex much the same price when available together
+60 days to +149 days		yes	yes		yes	255 days ahead in September 2024
+150 days and beyond			yes		yes
pay	on booking	on booking	on booking	on booking	on arrival
cancellation period	none	none	up to 28 days	up to to 3 days	up to to 1300
amendment period	none	up to to 1300	up to to 1300	up to to 1300	up to to 1300

The availability of standard is 'not resolved to my satisfaction'. I looked early in 2024 and it seemed always to be 149 days ahead. In September I was looking to move some autumn 2024 standard bookings to a date when the weather might be nice next year. At that point standard was available 255 days ahead (to 16 May 2025) but that date did not roll forward ie it became 254 days, then 253 days.

As an addition to my previous post:
Travelodge rates change on a daily basis. Amazon also does this with prices in my 'saved for later' list.
Premier Inn seem to update weekly, possibly Tuesday.

stay date	location (Sheffield)	viewed online date	Saver	Flex	Plus room Saver	Plus room Flex
30/09/2024​	travelodge	04/09/2024​	£ 31.99	£ 34.99	£ 36.99	£ 40.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	05/09/2024​	£ 37.99	£ 41.99	£ 42.99	£ 46.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	06/09/2024​	£ 37.99	£ 41.99	£ 42.99	£ 46.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	07/09/2024​	£ 37.99	£ 41.99	£ 42.99	£ 46.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	08/09/2024​	£ 37.99	£ 41.99	£ 42.99	£ 46.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	10/09/2024​	£ 32.99	£ 35.99	£ 37.99	£ 41.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	11/09/2024​	£ 32.99	£ 35.99	£ 37.99	£ 41.99
30/09/2024​	travelodge	12/09/2024​	£ 31.99	£ 34.99	£ 36.99	£ 40.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	05/09/2024	£ 34.99	£ 38.99	£ 39.99	£ 43.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	06/09/2024	£ 39.99	£ 43.99	£ 44.99	£ 49.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	07/09/2024	£ 39.99	£ 43.99	£ 44.99	£ 49.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	08/09/2024	£ 33.99	£ 36.99	£38.99	£42.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	10/09/2024	£ 41.99	£ 45.99	£ 46.99	£ 51.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	11/09/2024	£ 34.99	£ 38.99	£ 39.99	£ 43.99
21/10/2024	travelodge	12/09/2024	£ 34.99	£ 38.99	£ 39.99	£ 43.99

 

[eyebrook1961]

Thanks very much for the info - all appreciated

 

[ChrisC]

Has anyone else noticed how expensive it is to stay in even budget hotels these next few weeks in city centres where there are popular Christmas markets. It’s not just weekends but throughout the week. Prices in Birmingham are very high with many nights even in the Premier Inns being in excess of £100. If I decide to have any short breaks away in the next few weeks I intend to avoid these popular city locations.

 

[Mojo]

l often stay in suburban towns connected by rail that are near these locations. When l went to the Birmingham Christmas market the other year for example l booked Travelodge Walsall.

 

[ChrisC]

l often stay in suburban towns connected by rail that are near these locations. When l went to the Birmingham Christmas market the other year for example l booked Travelodge Walsall.

I stayed at the Premier Inn in Solihull a few years ago in late November. That’s a nice one, only a few minutes walk from the station with some good eating places and a pleasant town centre with some good shops just around the corner.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Has anyone else noticed how expensive it is to stay in even budget hotels these next few weeks in city centres where there are popular Christmas markets. It’s not just weekends but throughout the week. Prices in Birmingham are very high with many nights even in the Premier Inns being in excess of £100. If I decide to have any short breaks away in the next few weeks I intend to avoid these popular city locations.

Are these generally high prices not simply a result of supply versus demand, given that supply has been considerably reduced by the increasing number of hotels being requisitioned by the Government in the last few years...?

 

[route101]

Has anyone else noticed how expensive it is to stay in even budget hotels these next few weeks in city centres where there are popular Christmas markets. It’s not just weekends but throughout the week. Prices in Birmingham are very high with many nights even in the Premier Inns being in excess of £100. If I decide to have any short breaks away in the next few weeks I intend to avoid these popular city locations.

Yes, Friday and Saturday nights can expensive or sold out but has that always been the case?

Some places lack budget options like Northern Ireland/Ireland.

 

[jon0844]

With/without a view is just a standard category in booking systems, so it's a handy way to let people pay you a tenner or so more than they need to out of curiosity

Offer people an extra pillow for their room for £5 per night? Coffee sachets for the kettle? Heck, why not charge for the kettle. Then towels, then the air con, then lights that go above xx% brightness....

I get that hotels have reserved rooms with a view for some time, but usually not low cost hotels - but I guess we're in an era where they want to keep the headline price down, so will seek to introduce charges for everything you once got for free.

What next? Resort fees?

Has anyone else noticed how expensive it is to stay in even budget hotels these next few weeks in city centres where there are popular Christmas markets. It’s not just weekends but throughout the week. Prices in Birmingham are very high with many nights even in the Premier Inns being in excess of £100. If I decide to have any short breaks away in the next few weeks I intend to avoid these popular city locations.

I'm sure prices go up simply as people do more searches, and with Christmas coming up there might be more checks for city breaks. I am sure it's all automated. Uber mastered this for taxi bookings - with prices surging as soon as a lot of people looked for taxis in an area, thus automatically covering events Uber might not have already known about, or dealing with unexpected demand (say trains being disrupted and loads of people deciding to get cabs at their own expense from the station).

 

[Kite159]

..

Offer people an extra pillow for their room for £5 per night?

Don't give some hotel chains ideas, provide a single pillow flatter than a pancake with the option to paying an extra fiver to hire more luxurious pillows to make the stay more comfortable (if you are the sort who uses multiple pillows).

Give it time and I reckon free coffee sachets etc will disappear from the rooms, available on request from reception.

 

[jon0844]

It's absolutely going to go that way. The airlines showed how you can keep headline (advertised) prices low, yet find ways to make almost everyone pay more, convinced that the extras don't really count as part of the price.

Travelling as a family, the cost of reserving seats and taking a case can massively increase the cost but still people will likely tell others they got a deal for just £30 each way and how much cheaper is than the train, but also paid £40 each way for a case and £30 each way to sit together... Or they paid for a more flexible ticket to get some extra perks but at twice the cost.

Hotels in the US introduced the resort fee. Initially it was optional but now I believe it's compulsory.

 

[ChrisC]

I'm sure prices go up simply as people do more searches, and with Christmas coming up there might be more checks for city breaks. I am sure it's all automated.

Much more reasonable prices, at peak times and in popular locations, can often be found at independent hotels which are not part of the large chains. These hotels don’t usually use dynamic pricing but just use a set price for their rooms. You can sometimes get a room in a hotel of a much higher standard than a budget hotel at a lower price. It’s also good to support smaller independent businesses, especially if they are local to the area.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Travelling as a family, the cost of reserving seats and taking a case can massively increase the cost but still people will likely tell others they got a deal for just £30 each way

It's great for advertising for the reasons you say. Here people will tell you that EasyJet are cheap for getting on and off the island and that Loganair are insanely expensive. For a single flight with a 15kg suitcase the "cheap" price on EasyJet is £65 and the "insanely expensive" price on Loganair is £70. But the headline fare on EastJet is £30 and that's what people remember.

Give it time and I reckon free coffee sachets etc will disappear from the rooms, available on request from receptio

Some hotels are already getting rid of tea and coffee facilities in rooms. Holiday Inn's new Niu brand has done just that; they provide a bean-to-cup coffee machine in the hotel lobby for people to use free of charge. I imagine it saves them a fortune compared to providing 200 kettles and the attendant paperwork (PATs and what not) as well as the cost of all those sachets of crap Kenco instant coffee.

 

[takno]

It's great for advertising for the reasons you say. Here people will tell you that EasyJet are cheap for getting on and off the island and that Loganair are insanely expensive. For a single flight with a 15kg suitcase the "cheap" price on EasyJet is £65 and the "insanely expensive" price on Loganair is £70. But the headline fare on EastJet is £30 and that's what people remember.

As somebody who travels almost exclusively without baggage, the comparison for me is 30 quid vs 70 quid. I'm not really quite sure why Loganair still persist in pricing like it's still last century, and even providing a fussy little coffee and a biscuit on a short flight, but we are where are.

Since most of my hotel stays are abroad I've largely given up on the idea of a useful kettle in the room - nobody else ever supplies real milk, and whitener is awful. Getting decent free coffee in the lobby is far preferable.

 

[brad465]

Something that's often puzzled me is why Sunday nights are usually the cheapest nights to stay anywhere (except for Bank Holiday weekends), when one could take a Monday off work as easily as a Friday, where Friday nights are among the most expensive as one would expect. I'd certainly have thought Sunday night would be more expensive that Monday or Tuesday nights.

I've certainly taken advantage for certain trips, particularly going to Bath (my Uni city) while I was still primarily Kent-based, Sunday allowed me to see most of who I wanted to, then took Monday off.