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!!

Cherry Blossom Festival always does this...

Washington has it's seasons...

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?

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.

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.

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

or go directly to the hotel site?

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!!

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).

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.

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

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.

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.  

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

same in philly too

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

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...

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.

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

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?