The 4 Best Rate Plans for Hotels

FOR YOUR HOTEL

THE 4 BEST

RATE PLANS

How do you design a successful rate plan for your hotel?

Why are some rate plans

more successful than others?

EVERY RATE PLAN HAS PURPOSE. HOWEVER, NOT EVERY RATE PLAN HAS

A VALID PURPOSE. 

  Is the rate plan there to, for example, keep your chef happy that you’re promoting the

restaurant, or is there a real financial value for the hotel in having it there?

When you create rate plans, try and tap

into your inner hotel shopper psyche.

Business or pleasure?

What are their expectations?

What do your site images promise?

Here are 4 examples of

hotels typically offer, along with a breakdown of why they’re valuable and

how to use them.

THE MOST PROFITABLE

RATE PLANS

ROOM ONLYBOOK DIRECT TO FIND THE

BEST AVAILABLE RATE

Offer a room only rate with a Best Rate Guarantee on your own website.

No matter the scenario, guarantee for guests that the

best rate for your hotel will always be when they book

direct.

A W O R D O F W A R N I N G :

Offering this rate plan to

third party channels

opens up the chance for

them to margin test

your rate, to secure

bookings through their

own site.

Margin testing: when an OTA tests the margins of the rate you give them, usually by taking 2-4% off the rate online. They take the hit in commission, and the hotel receives the correct rate. However, it's a strong incentive for you to keep these rates only for your own site.

BED & BREAKFAST

SAVE $5.00 WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR STAY WITH BREAKFAST ONLINE

BED & BREAKFAST RATES ARE THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO UPSELL YOUR GUESTS, SO BE

CREATIVE!

Be descriptive when you tell your guests what

is included.

Make sure to incentivize guests to book

Bed & Breakfast instead of Room Only.

This can be achieved by having a lower

breakfast supplement as part of the package.

For example, you might sell your breakfast as

part of the package at only €10.00, instead of

the usual €15.00. Make sure to let the guest

know in the description what the saving is.

Depending on your hotel’s location

(city centre? airport?) the rate plan

including breakfast and savings may

be all the more important.

Make sure you’ve got ‘Breakfast’ in

the headline.

ONE NIGHT

ESCAPEDINNER, BED & BREAKFAST -ENJOY A WELCOME DRINK

ON US!

EVERY HOTEL WANTS GUESTS IN THEIR RESTAURANT.

Guests in your restaurant also come with the

potential of indirect revenue spend in the bar

before or after their meal – but how do you

evaluate this?

A busy bar means other guests & walk-ins will come

in to share in the good atmosphere and order a

nightcap.

Offering that free welcome drink gets people in for their

first, and the savings and atmosphere may convince them to stay for a second.

WHY SHOULD GUESTS BOOK THE DINNER PACKAGE?

Again, it's down to incentive. If they've stayed before, they'll likely know if you aren't offering an overall discount on the dinner supplement.

If you don't wish to offer a dinner discount, a

free welcome drink or spa credit is a good way to offset that.

ADVANCED

PURCHASE

PAY NOW AND SAVE 10% - EXCLUSIVE HOTEL WEBSITE

OFFER

Advanced purchase rate plans are, of course,

an extremely popular rate plan across all

hotels. However, there are certain aspects you

must identify and focus on if you are offering

this package, or planning to.

1. If offering Room Only rate plans on all your

distribution channels, try applying the

Advance Purchase discount to the Room Only

rate plan on your website.

This reinforces the idea that guests can only secure the best

rate guarantee by booking direct.

If Room Only is only available on your own website, consider

applying the Advance Purchase to the Bed and Breakfast Rate

instead.

2. What are your property’s lead times for

bookings? 

If you tend to get long lead bookings – 50+ days –

have a minimum booking window of 60 days for an

Advanced Purchase option. If it’s shorter, e.g. 30 days,

put in something more like a 7 day Advanced

Purchase option.

3. Become a trend setter in your market and

offer two options:

Offer a 15% discount for bookings 60+ days out, and

10% discount at 30 days.

REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF RATE PLAN, THE NAME IS

PARAMOUNT.

Be as descriptive as possible - guests on a mobile device might not even be able to see the

description, just the title.

THE RATE PLANS ABOVE ARE STRONG MESSAGES FOR WHY A GUEST SHOULD BOOK DIRECT.

 Reinforce this message throughout all your online advertising, and even on your home page

with a call-out box or a different feature to draw attention.

A T N E T A F F I N I T Y , W E ' R E E X P E R T S I N H O T E L

T E C H N O L O G Y A N D C O N V E R S I O N R A T E G R O W T H F O R

H O T E L S . I F Y O U ' V E G O T Q U E S T I O N S , E M A I L U S A T

S A L E S @ N E T A F F I N I T Y . C O M

THANKS FOR

READING!