Mississippi State is charging $829 for the Hampton Inn Saturday Night

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Well they’re sold out. So I guess the price was reasonable.

Still showing availability this morning with a two night minimum. 549 a night.

 

[The Peeper]

Crap hotel, this kind of gouging should be illegal. Should be a cap on holiday or event season.

Tell me you've never read the fine print on the card that hangs on the backside of a hotel door by the peep hole without telling me

 

[The Peeper]

Back in the day like 2000 - 2006ish my parents used to book a room at Herbert hall for like cheap as hell. Maybe like 50 bucks a night. That’s probably not a thing anymore lol

Same at the old alumni house that is the police station now. They still rent those out on the 2nd floor, not sure about game day actually but during the week they do

 

[Maroon13]

The secret to staying in Starkville on football weekends is reserving your room many many months in advance. It still won't be cheap but it will be reasonable. But you'll always pay 2 night minimum.

if you wait to week of, or even a month out from the season, forget about it. Bend over.

 

[Ranchdawg]

We are learning a lot from Alabama and other blue bloods on how to maximize revenue.

 

[HumpDawgy]

Ironically you can get better hotel deals in the actual Hamptons.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Ironically you can get better hotel deals in the actual Hamptons.

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Yeah but how close is that to the stadium?

 

[Perd Hapley]

Pro tip: Book hotel rooms in Starkville with points. Never cash.

 

[Perd Hapley]

View attachment 1417392

That’s cash value of about $615 in points. Still way cheaper than the $829

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

So, we are saying 1300 to 1500 hundred for two nights because, as I learned a few years ago, you have to book both nights now, right? I can not understand it, but then again, living in 042, the drive is not bad at all for me to just come home after a game. Pay 1300 to 1500 hundred to stay five hours because I wouldn't use the Friday night, or drive a little under two hours and be in my own bed? Easy decision, but I get if you live several hours away the calculus for you is different. I told Mr. Strat the other night I would rather light my BGE with 800 bucks before spending it for 5 hours at the Laquinta.

 

[johnson86-1]

Crap hotel, this kind of gouging should be illegal. Should be a cap on holiday or event season. I’ve stayed at other college venues and it is normal to hike prices but 250-350 is usually what you see , not 839 dollars.

It's not gouging. They only have demand for a limited number of weekends. They have to maximize their profits those weekends to cover all the deadtime where their expenses don't go away but revenue is limited.

The problem is they appear to be really bad at it. If this is their last room, sure, take a swing for the fences I guess. But Hotels.com shows two nights at Holiday Inn Express for $581, Far Out Motel for $526, La Quinta for $768. Those are all rated as high or higher than Hampton Inn on Hotels.com. If they have more than one or two rooms available, they are probably pricing themselves out this weekend and leaving money on the table.

I guess the one exception would be if they have a lot of customers this weekend with reservatiosn they can change until 5pm the day before and they paid that much money, it may make sense to wait until after 5pm today to drop prices and try to fill those last few rooms.

 

[patdog]

Still showing availability this morning with a two night minimum. 549 a night.

Ah. I was searching for 1 night only. 2 nights is showing $546 per night. Think I'd be staying in Columbus at $246 per night. Or just drive back to Madison, even though that drive gets later and later the older I get. I swore last time would be the last time. But heck, if the option is drive to Columbus and send over $500 for a 2-night stay, I would just suck it up and get home late.

 

[Villagedawg]

Ironically you can get better hotel deals in the actual Hamptons.

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[Perd Hapley]

It's not gouging. They only have demand for a limited number of weekends. They have to maximize their profits those weekends to cover all the deadtime where their expenses don't go away but revenue is limited.

I agree on the “not gouging” part, but a lot of people way overstate the expenses of running a hotel. Hotels only need about 35-40% occupancy to break even. There aren’t many endeavors out there where you can only operate at 35% efficiency, yet still keep the lights on and keep everyone’s paychecks rolling in.

The problem is they appear to be really bad at it.

Bingo. Even with the big chain name on the outside (Hilton, Marriott, etc.), these are still properties that - in Starkville - are being locally managed by people who largely have no clue what in the hell they are doing, because there’s not enough tourism in the city to generate a healthy competition amongst the properties.

The local hotel management can set cash rates for their property, and choose award stay / points blackout dates, but they have no control whatsoever over award stay points conversion rates. Due to the algorithms used to generate those conversion rates, there are often huge discounts to be had in Starkville when paying with points instead of cash, because the data used in the algorithm is year-long and not just limited to football season. Therefore, you might have a room that’s $550 / night on an SEC weekend, but only 35,000 points per night ($280-$300 cash value) when paying with points.

So if local hotel managers decide to jack up rates, there’s an easy choice to pay with points instead in most cases, and get a huge discount, or just go to another property.

All of the hotel owners in Starkville, Columbus, West Point, etc. would absolutely get eaten alive if they had to run a property in Nashville, Austin, Destin, or any place else that had real tourism and healthy competition.

 

[tbaydog]

It's the free market.

Supply and Demand.

The Invisible Hand spanking your po'asss!

Either you got money for these kind of expenses or you don't. Might not want to telegraph it.

Let's just remember we're all Bulldogs.

Some of have little and some of us have plenty enough. Blessed be the American economy!

Where's the Mayor of NYC when we need him?

 

[The Peeper]

Fake outrage. Looks like they want a 2-night minimum, which is pretty standard. But price $540 or so a night. Can't get one for 1 night.

I mean, it's just the state of things. It's like this everywhere. It's not Mississippi State like you're trying to portray.

Anybody else got a $839 or even $540 Hampton Inn room for 1 bed 2 people 2 nights in MS tomorrow or Saturday night?

I'll help you out: Hilton Rates in MS 9/4-9/6