Straight Answers on Hotel Pricing
The methods, the arithmetic, and the evidence — written for the people who actually set the rates.
How to Price a 40-Room Hotel Without Software
A step-by-step pricing method for small hotels, with real numbers: set a floor, build occupancy tiers, check your comp set, and adjust on pace.
2026-07-31 · 6 min read · 1,283 words
The Hotel Pricing Words Nobody Explained to You
A plain-English decoder for ADR, RevPAR, MPI, ARI, RGI, pace, pickup, MLOS and the rest — with the formula, the sentence, and why each one matters.
2026-07-30 · 7 min read
Metrics & ReportingOccupancy, ADR, or RevPAR — Which One Should You Chase?
Work the 100-rooms-at-$150 versus 50-rooms-at-$200 argument through, and see why RevPAR wins the debate but still misses what the booking cost you.
2026-07-29 · 6 min read
Revenue ManagementWhy Cutting Your Rate to Fill Rooms Loses Money
Cornell's 67,008-observation dataset: hotels priced 20–30% below comp set filled 15% more rooms and earned 12% less RevPAR. The evidence, and exceptions.
2026-07-28 · 6 min read
Revenue ManagementHow to Tell If Last Weekend Was Priced Right
A five-check post-mortem for a past date: when you sold out, what the last rooms went for, the shape of your pickup curve, and what your comp set did.
2026-07-27 · 7 min read
Revenue ManagementBooking Pace vs Pickup, in Plain English
Pickup is the net change between two snapshots. Pace is how fast a date fills against a benchmark. Both formulas, and the rule for using them together.
2026-07-26 · 6 min read
Revenue ManagementWhen Dynamic Pricing Doesn't Work
Automated pricing needs demand history, real variation, and enough bookings to learn from. The property types where it underperforms, and what to do.
2026-07-25 · 7 min read
Market IntelligenceHow to Choose the Hotels You Compare Yourself To
Your comp set decides every benchmark number you will ever read, and you pick it yourself. The selection criteria, the right size, and a worked example.
2026-07-24 · 7 min read
Market IntelligenceThe Free Competitor Rate Report You Already Have
You can rate-shop your comp set without buying anything. What Expedia Partner Central gives you, how to check OTAs honestly, and where free methods stop.
2026-07-23 · 7 min read
Market IntelligenceHow to Price Around a Concert, Game, or Conference
A handful of nights a year carry most of your rate upside. How to find events early, judge the demand they really bring, and price the shoulder nights.
2026-07-22 · 7 min read
Revenue ManagementMinimum-Stay Rules Without Killing Your Bookings
MLOS, MaxLOS, CTA, CTD and stay-through in plain English — what each does, when it earns money, and the stay-mix homework to do before setting any of them.
2026-07-21 · 7 min read
Distribution & OTAsWhat OTA Commission Actually Costs You
The real cost of an OTA booking is commission plus payment fees plus the cancellation gap — often more than 20% of the rate. Here is the full arithmetic.
2026-07-20 · 7 min read
Distribution & OTAsWhy Your OTA Commission Is Partly a Marketing Bill
Cornell's billboard-effect study found that listing on an OTA raised direct bookings — 26% at the one independent hotel tested. Where the evidence stops.
2026-07-19 · 7 min read
Distribution & OTAsHow to Win Direct Bookings Without Breaking Parity
Rate parity restricts the price you publish, not the value you offer. What it means, what the Digital Markets Act changed in the EEA, and what stays open.
2026-07-18 · 7 min read
Tools & BuyingThe Five Boxes in a Hotel Tech Stack
PMS, channel manager, booking engine, rate shopper, RMS — what each does, what breaks without it, and which ones a 20 to 60 room property needs on day one.
2026-07-17 · 7 min read
Tools & BuyingWhat Hotel Revenue Software Really Costs
Nobody publishes hotel revenue software prices. Here are the structures that exist, what drives the number, and a worksheet that makes quotes comparable.
2026-07-16 · 8 min read
Metrics & ReportingYour Rate Floor: What a Room Actually Costs You
Your rate floor is the lowest rate worth accepting: cost per occupied room, plus the commission on that booking, plus a margin. Here is the arithmetic.
2026-07-15 · 7 min read
Pricing BasicsHow to Price a Room With No Booking History
With no history, anchor to the comp set. Position by quality tier, use your market's percentile bands, open slightly high, and let pace correct you.
2026-07-14 · 8 min read
Pricing BasicsOff-Season: Hold Your Rate or Drop It?
In a soft market, hold. Cornell measured lodging price elasticity at −0.14 — discounting rarely creates demand. Drop only close to arrival, and fence it.
2026-07-13 · 8 min read
Metrics & ReportingYour Owner Wants a Higher ADR. Here's the RevPAR Case
A one-page script for the ADR-versus-RevPAR conversation, built on RevPAR = ADR × Occupancy and the RGI = (MPI × ARI)/100 rate-and-volume split.
2026-07-12 · 10 min read
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