Washington DC

It can be good or bad...
OldTraveler 40 Reviews 350 reads
posted

It depends on you, how you act when you are there, how active you are, what kind/number of clients you have--and most importantly the hotel management.

Most the hotels I frequent often (as the other poster said, they tend to be Ritz-Carltons, Kimptons, higher end Marriotts, etc.), the management really doesn't care so long as you are quiet, discrete, etc.  Many know that I have overnight lady guests.  Some are very "repeat visitors" and they know what she likes for wine, snacks, etc., as well as they know my preferences.  In some cases the lady is treated better than I am because she can flirt and wrap any guy around her finger!  ;)  In a couple cases they have discretely asked if I needed some recommendations for a dinner companion when I asked for a bottle of red wine--they know "she" drinks white.

I am certainly not recommending this is the norm--but if you already are known there, you treat the staff with respect, you are professional and discrete, I do not think there is any concern at most quality hotels.

I do admit it is different for a guy in one way--I don't have multiple overnight guests in any stay (3-5 days typically).  They also can't know if it is a paid date or not; for most the ladies the finances are taken care of long before she arrives.

What the heck is going on to make the hotel rates downtown triple what they normally area? this is messing my whole plans and week up!!

lanier53574 reads

Cherry Blossom Festival always does this...

Posted By: naughtinikki
What the heck is going on to make the hotel rates downtown triple what they normally area? this is messing my whole plans and week up!!

Posted By: naughtinikki
What the heck is going on to make the hotel rates downtown triple what they normally area? this is messing my whole plans and week up!!

I always use Kayak or Priceline and usually get 3 star or higher hotels for no more than $120 per night. I just feel some type of way paying so much that I have to do appointments for free to come out on top.

Same thing happened a month before the superbowl I pricined the rates for that area and they came back with an "express deal" of a 1* at $450. That totally turned me off from working up there then. Unfortunately the weekend of I pricelined the rates and they were back to normal. Greedy ass bitches could have filled every hotel rom had they not tried to rape everybody on prices. I know i woulda been there  

I usually try the name your own price options first. Once I've exhausted all the otions I've willing to throw in and their counteroffer isn't satisfactory I'll go back and go with an express deal that meets my needs.  

2 wee;s ago i gota 3star for less than $100 with tax, in dupont circle!

there's another site called betterbidding.com that you can use in cunjunction with travelocity & pricelines hidden deals and it makes it a lot easier to narrow down where you will end up.  

But this week I guess something big is going on cuz there's nada, look for yourself lovey!

Posted By: naughtinikki
What the heck is going on to make the hotel rates downtown triple what they normally area? this is messing my whole plans and week up!!

Like when a lady works her way up from being a $300 an hour gal to a $800 an hour gal.
She does because she can.
If demand for rooms doubles or triples, why shouldn't a hotel charge more?
If demand for housing went up, would you not look for the market price of your home when selling?  Would that be "greedy" of you?

hotel normal rate of $100 goes to $400 because of high demand. does it go to $20 because of low demand? No it doesnt.

if normal home prices in an area are $200k and high demand bring is to $400k do all homes go up to $2M if ONE house  sells for $2M?

Posted By: Jstgttnstrtd
Like when a lady works her way up from being a $300 an hour gal to a $800 an hour gal.  
 She does because she can.  
 If demand for rooms doubles or triples, why shouldn't a hotel charge more?  
 If demand for housing went up, would you not look for the market price of your home when selling?  Would that be "greedy" of you?

just like all hotel rooms are not the same.
if a luxury penthouse suite triples in cost, that is more than if a regular room triples in cost.
But since these are not the exact same product, their demand won't necessarily go up the same as the demand for overall rooms.  Questions like, what type of people come to town for the Cherry blossoms are also relevant.
For homes, they are not all the same obviously, their demand won't all go up by the same percent, much less to one fixed value (they are not all at one fixed value now).

The point was to illustrate how people are biased in making the "greed" judgement.  If I were to sell my house, it would be triple what I paid for it with me not having lifted a finger (no major improvements).  Yet very few would label me as greedy.  A hotel looks to survive on thin margins, and really needs the big event weekends, etc. to make the income they need for the year.  And yes, of course they lower their prices when demand goes down.  That is what a lot of special deals are about, and Priceline, etc.  Would they ever go down to $20?  I doubt it - wouldn't make economic sense to.

People need to remove the "moral" type of judgements when doing economic analysis.  Individuals of all stripes may be greedy or not.  That is an individual thing, a "motive" thing which is subjective thing, which I'm not going to judge

well maybe, but you can just do it with your wallet.

and i dont have to care about a hotels margins. Remember we all pursue our own self-interest.  

Posted By: Jstgttnstrtd
just like all hotel rooms are not the same.  
 if a luxury penthouse suite triples in cost, that is more than if a regular room triples in cost.  
 But since these are not the exact same product, their demand won't necessarily go up the same as the demand for overall rooms.  Questions like, what type of people come to town for the Cherry blossoms are also relevant.  
 For homes, they are not all the same obviously, their demand won't all go up by the same percent, much less to one fixed value (they are not all at one fixed value now).  
   
 The point was to illustrate how people are biased in making the "greed" judgement.  If I were to sell my house, it would be triple what I paid for it with me not having lifted a finger (no major improvements).  Yet very few would label me as greedy.  A hotel looks to survive on thin margins, and really needs the big event weekends, etc. to make the income they need for the year.  And yes, of course they lower their prices when demand goes down.  That is what a lot of special deals are about, and Priceline, etc.  Would they ever go down to $20?  I doubt it - wouldn't make economic sense to.  
   
 People need to remove the "moral" type of judgements when doing economic analysis.  Individuals of all stripes may be greedy or not.  That is an individual thing, a "motive" thing which is subjective thing, which I'm not going to judge.  
   
 

We all pursue our own self interest.
And for better or worse, the trillions of self-interested decisions made every day, little and small, set the prices...

So by your logic, on a day when a provider has no clients, she should drop her rates to rock bottom, otherwise she is greedy?

I was wondering the same thing on Friday for NoVA hotels; definitely a 50% markup compared to regular weekend rates. Next weekend didn't look to be much better...

...all in and around DC this week.

   Please keep in mind, that most streets around the IMF/World Bank will close towards the end of this week.  

Hugs and Kisses,
Kelly

Yes, it is this time of the year, when a lot of tourists from different states and even from outside the US, visit the DC area for the Cherry Blossom Festival and other events...
You can always try nearby places such as Silver Spring or Rockville.

or go directly to the hotel site?

I usually always use priceline, but in situations like this I'll chose one of the sites that I have a loyalty program with (that I very rarely use but hey I know I'll get points from it) and see if there rates are any different.  

This week a big fat negative.

I was recomended to kimpton hotel chain, and they are sold out in DC as are  a lot of others.

so screw it if i am going to honor my commitments I'm going to pay for it, and if I'm going to be paying that damn much I'm going to be staying at the best of the best. I've only visited 5 star hotels on private vacations and never for work, and if i'm going to pay that much out of pocket I might as well get something extra for it out of it, right?

God with all this stuff in town I assume there will be some bored lonely gentlemen, i at least need to make back the money i spent on these rooms!!

a lot of school systems plus the Cherry Blossom Festival & other events bring the tourists & drive the demand (& thus the prices) way up.  Hotels basically charge what they can get; at slow times (late January/February, 2nd half of August, etc.) there are bargains galore, when demand peaks so do prices.  I once saw a provider in a medium range hotel in NW DC in early January & she was paying around 100/night; she asked & that same room the week of the Presidential Inauguration was around 850/night!!

Posted By: vamikey
a lot of school systems plus the Cherry Blossom Festival & other events bring the tourists & drive the demand (& thus the prices) way up.  Hotels basically charge what they can get; at slow times (late January/February, 2nd half of August, etc.) there are bargains galore, when demand peaks so do prices.  I once saw a provider in a medium range hotel in NW DC in early January & she was paying around 100/night; she asked & that same room the week of the Presidential Inauguration was around 850/night!!

Have you used that hotel or chain before???  If you have used that hotel before call the gm and say hi I really would like to to stay at your hotel  and have used it my previous trips to DC but I notice the rate went up substantially! Is there anything you can for little old me. Now if you dont feel comfortable doing this because of your profession I understand but it never hurts to schmooze the GM of the hotel a little.
If you have dropped serious coin there in the past chances are he or she can work you a deal. I have never had issues with Marriott, Ritz and 4 Season establishments when I try this.

Motel 6 and chains in that price range good luck trying this but the top tier and next level its easy to do.

manager, just wonder if that is wise for a provider?

Posted By: oversteerer
Have you used that hotel or chain before???  If you have used that hotel before call the gm and say hi I really would like to to stay at your hotel  and have used it my previous trips to DC but I notice the rate went up substantially! Is there anything you can for little old me. Now if you dont feel comfortable doing this because of your profession I understand but it never hurts to schmooze the GM of the hotel a little.  
 If you have dropped serious coin there in the past chances are he or she can work you a deal. I have never had issues with Marriott, Ritz and 4 Season establishments when I try this.  
   
 Motel 6 and chains in that price range good luck trying this but the top tier and next level its easy to do.

Ive schmoozed the gm before. Never an issue. Say I rotate for modeling, and pull up the pro pix I have if asked.

It depends on you, how you act when you are there, how active you are, what kind/number of clients you have--and most importantly the hotel management.

Most the hotels I frequent often (as the other poster said, they tend to be Ritz-Carltons, Kimptons, higher end Marriotts, etc.), the management really doesn't care so long as you are quiet, discrete, etc.  Many know that I have overnight lady guests.  Some are very "repeat visitors" and they know what she likes for wine, snacks, etc., as well as they know my preferences.  In some cases the lady is treated better than I am because she can flirt and wrap any guy around her finger!  ;)  In a couple cases they have discretely asked if I needed some recommendations for a dinner companion when I asked for a bottle of red wine--they know "she" drinks white.

I am certainly not recommending this is the norm--but if you already are known there, you treat the staff with respect, you are professional and discrete, I do not think there is any concern at most quality hotels.

I do admit it is different for a guy in one way--I don't have multiple overnight guests in any stay (3-5 days typically).  They also can't know if it is a paid date or not; for most the ladies the finances are taken care of long before she arrives.

I was averaging around 200 a night in NoVa and closer to 400 a night in Crystal city after valet and tax. I just ended my first tour on 4/5 so I don't know if the rates went up this week though. Definitely good to book at least 2 weeks in advance for better rates though.
Good luck

Barbie

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