I'm guessing that an awful lot of travelers that use 'bid' sites wonder why everyone doesn't do this. They may even think hotels discourage use of these sites or dislike people who use them. In reality, smart hotels are not fearful of discount bidding sites for two compelling reasons.
Hotel and motel operators already know what many people have found out the hard way - that when you make a low-ball bid (like ) for a hotel in a major city, you probably wind up at a pretty low grade motel. And then you end up writing this in a review, found on TripAdvisor for a San Francisco airport hotel:
PRICELINE
"I got the room from Priceline for a night. Dirt cheap.It is a very convenient location. But the rooms are in a terrible condition.If you want a cheap place to stay and are not concerned with amenities, then this is the place. Personally, I now regret not staying at one of the hostels. They are just as cheap and much higher in quality than this place."
Another reviewer said the following about a hotel in Portland, Oregon:
"I actually bid on a 1 star hotel on Priceline and got this. It was beyond horrible."
Mid to high tier hotels know that most of the bids coming through bid sites are super low bids. They know many people will be unhappy when they see what they booked and in fact may never again use a bid site to reserve a room, even a cheap room. At the least, they may increase their budget and bid a decent amount to get a better hotel the next time.
This is one reason why they do not mind these bid sites. Another reason is that the hotel controls the rate they will accept and the amount of inventory they will sell at that rate. If they don't need the discount rate to fill up, they won't offer any availability that night. Plus, most large hotels will book tour groups or repetitive organizations that stay 4-5 times per year (think: "Art Auction this weekend at the XXX Hotel") for the same rate they offer the bid rooms at, so they aren't exactly giving away the house anyway. And if they are facing 200-300 rooms being vacant and staff costs to cover, they are glad to get the last minute revenue.
Smaller but higher quality hotels and motels will NOT have those same costs and are much less likely to accept bids. They know only the super cheap motels, which usually charge that price range anyway to anybody who walks in, will accept bids. The better properties also know that every once in a while, Mr. Last Minute bidder will find the area sold out and because they waited too long, they now may have to pay five to ten TIMES what they would have bidded just to get a room. It only takes once to wipe out a years worth of 'savings' from using bid sites as a regular policy.
In the end, the higher quality properties know that after having to stay at just one 'dump' one time, people will likely be thinking the following, also found on TripAdvisor:
"By the time we paid for the room, Priceline's fee, and for a very ordinary breakfast for 2 adults and 1 child, it would have been less expensive to stay somewhere else like a Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express where breakfast is included."
Why Hotels Are Not Afraid of "Bidding" Sites PRICELINE
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