Originally Posted by
writerguyfl
It's also common in other tourist destinations. For example, many hotels close to Disney World and/or Universal Orlando require a deposit for cancelable, changeable reservations.
It's not the only reason hotel require a deposit, but one of the main ones is to discourage speculative bookings.
I just paid Aramark $300+ for first nights deposit at the Yosemite Valley Lodge for a fully refundable until 7 days before reservation next August- it’s the vaguely affordable option in the Yosemite Valley proper that includes such luxuries as en suite bathrooms and no need to store your food in special boxes to keep the bears from eating it (You have to use bear boxes at the Curry Village tent cabins) and consequently demand for rooms there is extremely high so the deposit requirement and discouragement of speculative bookings actually lets more people who want to stay there have a chance at getting a reservation