A mention in USA Today newspaper

I was interviewed by Barbara De Lollis, and got a "small quote" in the USA Today newspaper today...

As hotel rates rise, travelers seek aid

By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY

The steep run-up in hotel room rates and occupancies in the USA's biggest cities is slowing as discouraged travelers seek alternatives to high-priced stays.

Business traveler Jason Womack of Ojai, Calif., for example, recently stayed with a colleague for his fifth night on a trip to New York City, saving more than $400.

When Jim Hibbard of Portland, Maine, saw $350-a-night rates at Marriotts and Hiltons in Washington, D.C., he instead stayed at a bed-and-breakfast on the edge of downtown for half the price. Paul Tamburelli of Phoenix is shortening stays and staying in out-of-the-way locations to beat big city prices.

"Rates have gotten completely out of hand over the past four to five months," Tamburelli says.

Don't expect hotels to give you a break anytime soon. Industry forecasters such as Smith Travel Research expect rates to jump again next year. But there is some good news: Demand for rooms is stabilizing, so hotels won't be able to boost rates as much as this year.

"It's going to be interesting in 2007 to see how much rate leverage (hotels are) going to be able to retain," says Brad Garner of Smith Travel Research.

Growing resistance from consumers indicates that hotels are nearing "that magic ceiling" for rates, he says. In Manhattan, the USA's most expensive hotel market, the average daily rate reached a record $304 in September, the most recent month for which Smith has numbers.

Howard Solomon, who manages the 131-room Comfort Inn near the Empire State Building, says visitors have various strategies for avoiding high rates. Among them: staying in budget-priced hotels such as his or staying in New Jersey, where they can save $100 or more on a night's stay. Solomon's hotel is seeing its best performance in 10 years: 95% occupied at around $200 a night, on average.

"As long as the bigger hotels are still $100 or $200 more than me, I can keep raising the rates, because we're still a bargain for New York," he says.

Comments

[Michael Sampson]

Kewl, well done. But why doesn't the article render properly? Does it all show for you? The text above is partially hidden for me.

[Jason]

Michael,

Great question! Let me dig around, and see if I can get it right...

[Edward Vielmetti]

Last time I traveled I stayed with a friend, got them a free pass to the conference I was speaking at, and as an added bonus saw Seattle through the eyes of a native. Hotels are a distant second choice to staying with friends and family when I travel.

[Michael Sampson]

Great, thanks Jason. Works fine now.