Misleading pricing on Marriott.com
Apr 4, 2018, 4:07 pm
#1
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Misleading pricing on Marriott.com
I don't book Marriott often, so this might be a known "feature" of the website, but I was looking to book 3 or 4 nights in Pittsburgh and found what I thought to be a good deal of $110 per night:
Thought to myself what are the taxes and fees to push the total that high. Turns out two nights are $314:
The website did not quite lie because it said from, but it's very deceitful and disappointing. Needless to say, I won't be booking this property.
Thought to myself what are the taxes and fees to push the total that high. Turns out two nights are $314:
The website did not quite lie because it said from, but it's very deceitful and disappointing. Needless to say, I won't be booking this property.
Apr 4, 2018, 4:52 pm
#2
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Doesn't it say right up front "$839 Total Per Room."
Hotel room rates vary by demand. Seems like a couple of nights are really slow and two nights are busy.
Hotel room rates vary by demand. Seems like a couple of nights are really slow and two nights are busy.
Apr 4, 2018, 4:55 pm
#3
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,731
What's deceitful? The total amount isn't hidden anywhere. It's right there.
Apr 4, 2018, 5:11 pm
#4
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It's been a while, but I believe Hilton displays the average room rate for the stay, not just the first night's rate.
Apr 4, 2018, 5:12 pm
#5
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Before the site was "enhanced" there was a much clearer warning on the first page that "The rate will change on 00/00..." While some might feel what is there now does not rise to the level of deceitful, it is certainly not as clear and gives the impression Marriott is trying to make this information harder to find. That is disappointing.
Apr 4, 2018, 5:17 pm
#6
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Correct, which makes Hilton clearer than Marriott, but Hilton is not as clear as Marriott used to be. Again, I cannot figure out why Marriott would choose to be less clear.
Apr 4, 2018, 5:23 pm
#7
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Just like everything else you must read the fine print and it's frequent room rates change from day to day, which was disclosed. The only deceitful item here is the rates start at $101 and not $110. When I'm booking multiple nights I make a point to check each night and each combination of nights. Often I find better deals available breaking up the stay into multiple rezzies. The hotels are in business to make money and not bend over backwards to save us money. Let's not start on resort/facility fees... 
Apr 4, 2018, 7:48 pm
#8
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In my experience, every hotel booking site in the world does this except marriott.com. It makes it very difficult to compare rates in cities with multiple Marriott family properties.
Apr 4, 2018, 8:00 pm
#9
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Starwood tends to charge the same rate for each night. It makes me wonder whether it would be possible to game their system if the early days of a stay are more expensive by making a longer reservation and then leaving early, even if there is an early departure fee of $50 or so.
Apr 4, 2018, 8:01 pm
#10
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Yes, I find this to misleading click bait as well. You get used to it pretty quickly booking with Marriott, but the first few times it can be a bad surprise (and if you're not paying close attention, the bad surprise can come as late as check-out).
Apr 4, 2018, 9:01 pm
#11
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Definitely misleading
It states "$110 per night" in huge type, which is not true. This would hold even if the "$839 total" for 4 nights were in the same size type. But it isn't: it is in much smaller type.
However, this is incompetence rather than malice. In my experience, when the first night costs much more than the other nights, the site again displays the first night's rate in huge type, rather than showing the lower average rate.
However, this is incompetence rather than malice. In my experience, when the first night costs much more than the other nights, the site again displays the first night's rate in huge type, rather than showing the lower average rate.
Apr 4, 2018, 9:12 pm
#12
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Especially when the lowest rate is $101/night.
And the whole $209.75 avg/night + $117.46 taxes $946.46 subtotal is a mathematical mess. It's (4*209.75)+117.46=946.46 Adding an average rate and a total amount? wth? They'd be better off just leaving that out and only have the line-item listing below.
Iirc, SPG has a challenge in that they show one average rate but never tell you the nightly rates. So you might see 4 nights at $250 = $1,000, not realizng the first 3 nights are $150 and the last is $550.
And the whole $209.75 avg/night + $117.46 taxes $946.46 subtotal is a mathematical mess. It's (4*209.75)+117.46=946.46 Adding an average rate and a total amount? wth? They'd be better off just leaving that out and only have the line-item listing below.
Iirc, SPG has a challenge in that they show one average rate but never tell you the nightly rates. So you might see 4 nights at $250 = $1,000, not realizng the first 3 nights are $150 and the last is $550.
Last edited by CPRich; Apr 4, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Apr 4, 2018, 9:25 pm
#13
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Fwiw, "From" prefixes the $110 on the initial search page, but then is dropped when going to the property-specific list of room types. And searching several dates (this is the RI North Shore?), the "From" rate does indeed seem to be the first night, even if others are cheaper.
4/11 to 4/16 shows "From $169/night" on the initial search, even though the nights are 169, 129, 129, 129, 109, averaging $133.
That's a way to drive away business.
4/11 to 4/16 shows "From $169/night" on the initial search, even though the nights are 169, 129, 129, 129, 109, averaging $133.
That's a way to drive away business.
Apr 4, 2018, 9:50 pm
#14
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I was expected to get crucified a bit more than I did. Interesting that the defenders came out first. Interesting discussion.
Yep, it does. I know they do. It appears so or that they think they can extract more revenue from weekend nights.
The from part. Like I prefaced, I don't book much with Marriott. It sounds like you do.
I did, which is why I thought it was funny how they positioned things in regards to the rates. That's an interesting strategy that I'll have to look into. I appreciate the heads up.
Just like everything else you must read the fine print and it's frequent room rates change from day to day, which was disclosed. The only deceitful item here is the rates start at $101 and not $110. When I'm booking multiple nights I make a point to check each night and each combination of nights. Often I find better deals available breaking up the stay into multiple rezzies. The hotels are in business to make money and not bend over backwards to save us money. Let's not start on resort/facility fees...
Apr 4, 2018, 10:19 pm
#15
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I have been noticing this for a few months and don't like it. Even the '839 total' is the subtotal (pretax), which is confusing and confounds comparison to other hotel results.