Rate change during stay
 

OK, so I know hotel inventory management is a complex beast, but I've really got to scratch my head at some of the rates they come up with sometimes...

Trying to book a hotel in Germany for 4 nights in a few weeks time. If I look for 4 nights, I get a rate of "101*" Euro per night, where the * tells me that the rate changes during the stay. Looking at the breakdown, it's :

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...862aefe7cd.png

So then I tried to break it up. Trying with the first night only I get the exact same room type for 110 Euro:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...18d0d915e0.png

So basically if I'm staying for 1 night only they are happy to charge me 110 for that room, but if I'm staying more they up the price for that night to 152 euro - not very customer friendly. If I then try and book the remaining 3 nights as a single stay, the price for them jumps from the 84/night above up to 93/night, giving a total for all 4 nights of 389 Euro - 15 euro less than what I was getting as a single booking.

Next I tried breaking it as 2 nights/2 nights. That gives me an average 104 for the first 2 nights (127 + 81), and 84 for the next 2 nights (84+84) for a total of 376 euro - a further 13 euro saved!

So then I tried 3 nights/1 night. Suddenly I'm down to an average of 75 euro for the first 3 nights (93 + 67 + 67), and back up to 101 for the last night, or a total of 328 euro for the entire stay!

Whilst I have seen this type of behavior before when specific room types weren't available for part of the stay, in this case ALL of the rates were for a "Twin Guest Room"

Interestingly, hotels.com seem to pick up on this. They are showing a rate that is even lower than is available on Hilton's website, but when you look at the cancellation policy it shows :

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...62a51ee435.png

So they are seemingly making 2 different bookings for you - one for 3 nights, and the second for the last night which is the same mix I found above for the cheapest overall rate.

I usually check each day's rate (and sometimes have 5 consecutive one night reservations), but I've never thought to group nights into several tranches.

Yes, this is often the case. To know you have the best rate, you must try every possible grouping and make separate reservations as needed.

+1.
I do this often. I played around two weeks ago for 7 nights at the Hilton Barbados (wonderful resort BTW) and eventually found a way to break it up for the lowest total. Front desk staff there were very familiar with the strategy.

With Hilton, I always have to search for the full stay and for individual nights and for different groupings of days. I always manage to get cheaper rates than for the full stay.

With Marriott, their website is very good at giving me the correct price for each night even when I do the booking for the full stay.

Most Hiltons, when I book individual nights in a full stay, they usually have no problem letting me stay in the same room. Some Hiltons, it's automatic, some Hiltons they want me to go to the front desk to redo my key (but I never had to change room).

With Marriott, obviously it's seamless since it's one booking.

With Hilton, if the difference is $10-$20 I usually give in and book the full stay. But many times the difference is way higher.

That's what I found odd here.

I'm used to getting different rates when looking for different periods, but I've never that that occur in conjunction with a "rate change during stay". The fact it was charging me $X for the first night, and less for subsequent nights gives the impression that $X is the best rate for that night - not that booking that one night by itself would give an even cheaper rate!

(And again, this was the same room type for the entire stay - obviously things are different when the same room isn't available all the way through)

I am baffled by the pricing on the website. I have been traveling to the SF Bay area all year, and I stay two weeks at a time. If I try to book a 7 night stay and a 6 night stay, the overall cost is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than if I book a 13 might stay. When I ask the hotel staff why this is, they shrug their shoulders and change the subject.

This has been going on with Hilton for many years. I remember back in 2008 booking multiple reservations for a single hotel in London because of the pricing issues. They know it exists, yet they won't do anything to address it.

Only once did I have an issue with having multiple reservations. Despite calling and emailing ahead, and letting them know when I checked-in, the Hilton Barcelona Diagonal del Mar checked me out and I had to raise a fuss to get back in my room (they hadn't touched anything, the cleaning was a normal service).

The agents at the properties pretend like it is the first time they are dealing with this, yet I've done it at even the same properties a few times.

Yes, I always alert the front desk to the follow-up reservation to make sure I can keep the same room with no hassle. And this has always worked just fine, except once when I tried to pull a fast one: I broke up a three-night stay into two reservations, one day first for a suite with balcony, then the second for two nights in a basic room. When I checked in, I told them I had the second reservation and asked if I could keep the same room. (I'm Diamond so my request could have been seen as a request for an upgrade, and wouldn't be out of line.) Nope. I'd have to pay $100 for each of the two additional nights.

I never try to book different room types for the different nights of a long stay. I usually book a standard King room but if a King room is not available every night of the full stay, I do book a Double room for each individual night.

But, one time in Boston, the agent upgraded me to a suite for the first night since he thought that I was staying only one night. That's when I broke the news to him that I had a second reservation for 4 nights. He looked floored but managed to give me the suite for the 5 nights. For free!

I've done this a few times - always due to room availability and not to try and force an upgrade for the later nights. In most cases they've been happy to give me the better room for all nights. On one occasion they told me I would have to move due to availability, at which point I asked if I could be downgraded to a standard room for the first night, which they happily did to allow me to stay in the same room.

I often review these options with the intent of using points for the day that is high priced. Often helpful in NYC or other big cities where I have done plenty of mix and match trips