Budget Travel - Cheap Kuala Lumpur accommodation - from RM9.99 per night!

Just noticed a new hotel chain opening up in KL, being run by Tony Fernandes, the same guy behind AirAsia. You can book online at http://www.tunehotels.com/index.asp - for RM9.99 a night if you get in early it definitely beats getting a bed in a dorm room in a seedy hostel somewhere! ^

Thanks for sharing. Tony is taking his yield-managed pricing to this, so there could be a real variety of prices paid based on demand levels. Would rate the location only so-so.

I think the most controversial thing is to try to charge air-con separately. KL is definitely a hot/humid place a lot of the time. Existing hotels might offer air-con/non air-con rooms and they usually have key-activation systems to try to ensure the air-con is off when the room isn't occupied. But this goes further by not including it in the rate and charging people separately; I think the anxiety factor over having something like that racking up on you will be a major negative. You can play divide-and-conquer and say it's not fair to low-using guests to subsidize high-using ones, but you could say that same thing about any number of things related to hotels.

No TVs in the room also goes a bit far, and a number of 'em are inside ones with no windows (startin' to look a bit guesthousey, but for the ensuite bath).

I think his toughest competition is the older places starting around RM50 or so right near the Bukit Bintang intersection.

Interesting - no doubt Tony has done some careful homework and good luck to him.

But the pricing is nothing special. There are three star hotels such as the Radius International Hotel in Changkat , Bukit Bintang for around $41

For distribution he'll have to go direct as there's not much margin - but with a red and white painted eyesore he's bound to attract some attention. There's also an issue with capacity when compared to a volume offering which can disguise the product somewhat, like RyanAir in Europe.