In the last few months, groups like Four Seasons have started to behave as though they were Las Vegas thousand-room monoliths; setting rates daily according to occupancy and season.

I am finding, increasingly, that FS hotels do not even bother to print rack rates anymore. This is also true of other high-end groups, like MO and Peninsula.

The only consistently transparent group appears to be Aman, who publish all their rates online and also in their brochures.

How on earth are you meant to work out a travel itinerary/budget and choose a level of accommodation if they give you no idea of the various rates across the year?