Inflation!

[Arks]

Has anybody done any calculating on what the inflation is costing us,for supplies, and I suppose utilities and everything else. Right now I'm absorbing it all myself, but at some point I'll have to raise my rates and pass it along to the guests. I just don't know when that point is!

I watch the base rate at the local Days Inn. It's up about $10/night over a year ago. I guess I'll monitor and let that guide me as I consider raising my own rates.

 

[Generic]

I put up all my rates for this summer. And when I booked so much, I put them up again. So that's $20 a night, so far. And on holiday weekends, much more than that... and they are still booking.

 

[JimBoone]

Have raised slightly for summer, maybe $5, likely could raise more to avoid being too cheap, I'd have to take out a mortgage to pay the rates I see some around here asking. Of course, I remember when my favorite place in our area went from $10 to $13 and I thought it was awful.

 

[Morticia]

Our electricity rate went up 83% in January. I’ve started shopping for meat at the farmers market because it’s cheaper. (Something that’s never been true before.) The difference in gas prices across the state is sometimes an astonishing twenty cents/gallon.

It’s pretty much come down to my having to die two years earlier to not outlive my retirement funds.

But, yes, raise your prices to cover expenses. You can be magnanimous and lower them later on if your costs go down.

 

[Arks]

You can be magnanimous and lower them later on if your costs go down.

Ha ha ha! Oh, you were serious?
I doubt our costs will go down now that they are up, but they might eventually level off and return to the 3%/year inflation rate we were used to.

 

[FHI2426]

We raised prices 20% at start of year because of demand and raised up weekends even more, all the big hotels in town have increased so much, it more than covers any inflation. And booking better than last year....

Looking at our costs, RE taxes are same, interest rates same, cleaners we pay them same (but very well and they do great on tip envelopes), credit card fees are same %, cable & water same/small increase, electric same, nat gas up a bit but thats only winter, so it's really food, some supplies...we dont have to drive much either, It's maybe a few dollars per room night in total .... Inflation is bad for the average citizen but I suspect most inns, it's not all that severe....

 

[Silverspoon]

The rate of inflation was set at 7.2%when we posted our rates in January so that is the increase we went with. Since we have only been taking weekly reservations from returning guests and filled up by March, we could easily justify our increase. If we were taking new guests now we might be tempted to increase 10% to see what the market could bear.

 

[Jay Curci]

We looked at our competitors and tried to align our rates to Market Demand?? I guess if your spending 200+ at Quality Inn we are a bargain. Better breakfasts, Cleaner rooms and great atmosphere to enjoy. Get the increases when you can and try not to cut yourselves short. We can probably get more but are trying to maintain a reasonable rate and balance. Have a great summer!! J

 

[Momma Smurf]

Use Trip Advisor or Google Local to see what rates your competitors are offering for seasonal dates. We have raised prices $30-$40 a night and likely more once the summer season demand begins. Use dynamic pricing and keep raising based upon weekly/daily availability. Yes, if Best Western several miles from the ocean vs us 500 yards from the sea with a full breakfast, etc is charging $250 a night, you betcha we are going to up our rates accordingly.