Originally Posted by
mikew99
That's the way it should be! ^
For me, the "guaranteed" availability benefit is a specious one. Either one of the following happens:
(1) They want to charge rack rate, which I would be willing to pay only if I were truly desperate for a room during the Superbowl, snowstorm, or during some other "period of extraordinary demand" when every other hotel in town is full.
(2) They deny the "guaranteed" benefit, ostensibly because it's during the Superbowl, snowstorm, or during some other "period of extraordinary demand" when every other hotel in town is full.
If the hotel would actually
guarantee availability at some known good rate (such as my corporate rate), it would be a truly valuable benefit. But as it stands, I don't imagine ever being able to take advantage of this benefit.
I see that you're in SJC; the hotel I mention is in the bay area.
It is once again becoming not uncommon to find all lower-upscale (CP-level) hotels sold out from Fremont all the way around to SFO airport a week or even 2 weeks ahead. Not nearly as bad as 2000-1, but as bad as any time since. There are other markets where similar things happen periodically.
In such situations, paying ~$250 rack for a CP would still beat the alternatives - especially when an HI or equivalent can be charging $150-200 (or a Westin ~$500).
Being able to get my usual (~20 nts/yr) CP at the usual rate is gravy.