Cheapest Destinations Blog is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This is SO Wrong: Wishful Thinking on Hotel Doors

What’s up with those ridiculous rates you see posted on hotel room doors?

I once stayed at some crappy roadside motel in Nowheresville, Georgia. The towels were thin, the toiletries the cheapest you can buy, the carpet worn, the bathroom held together by many tubes of caulk.

The room rate listed on the back of the entrance door? $399 per night.

hotel room doors inflated rate

Of course nobody in the history of that motel has ever paid more than 1/4 of the listed price for that room. It’s a total joke.

Here’s a photo of the price at Element Miami Airport I stayed in recently when I had some meetings nearby. It was a fine hotel I’d gladly stay in again, with a great suite layout and a kitchen. When I search various dates for it online, the rate is usually around $150 or so. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say sometimes they’re able to charge double that amount. But here’s what’s on the door.

At another city in Florida, I stayed at an Embassy Suites and the rate listed was $1,299 per night. Who has ever paid that in the whole history of the hotel being open?

Inflated Rates on Hotel Room Doors

I had to figure out why this practice still exists, especially in the internet age when the rate of every hotel is clearly listed online somewhere. We can just pull it up on our phone. Why the need to even put any room price on the door (or closet sometimes) at all?

Apparently, the original idea behind this practice was to keep hotel management or front desk clerks from gouging you. Cities or states required the “rack rate” to be listed on the door as the maximum. If anyone was forced to pay more than what was listed, they could complain and get compensated.

Follow the logic of how hotel owners are going to respond and you know how we got into this silliness. If the hotel must list its maximum rate, the owner/manager is going to pull a ridiculously high number out of thin air and post it as a pipe dream. Nobody ever complains because nobody will ever pay anything close. It’s just a game. 

You won’t see this everywhere. Some U.S. states have quietly abolished the practice and some categories have been exempt (like luxury resorts, for instance) so you won’t see it every time you stay somewhere. But I still see one of these inflated rate signs on a regular basis, the same way you still see a payphone or fax machine around. 

When I go on Kayak.com and search Miami hotel deals, I get more than 150 hotels to choose from in Miami proper (apart from the beach). That’s what keeps prices in check: competition. When people can go on that site and see prices from nearly every booking site out there, do we really need this silly government-mandated system anymore?

The only time the nightly room rate is hidden is if you don’t know the property because it’s some opaque discount deal, like on Hotwire. But you’re getting a better price than what’s listed in public, not worse. 

Getting the Best (Real) Hotel Price

budget hotel

Since you know the rate listed on the hotel door or in the closet is a complete joke, when there is one, how can you be sure you’re getting the best price each time?

Start by using a metasearch engine like Kayak mentioned above or HotelsCombined. This way you’ll see that different sites often show different prices. Sometimes it’s two dollars, sometimes $20 or more. Go to the one that’s the cheapest unless you belong to the loyalty program that gets you perks and free hotel nights. If you book an IHG hotel through the official website, for instance, they have a “best price guarantee.” If you’re part of the loyalty program, there will often be an additional small discount on top. Plus you’ll get points you can apply toward a free stay later. 

One other way to better your odds of getting a good value is to stay at the cheap USA hotel chains that have the best reputation. If you stay at an America’s Best Value Inn, for instance, instead of a Knight’s Inn, you’ll have a much better chance of enjoying a clean room and decent facilities, rather than a place that will make you cringe. You’re better off paying $10 more to be comfortable for the night than taking the worst possible room beside the highway and getting a terrible night’s sleep. 

Wherever you stay, ignore what’s on the hotel room doors…unless you’re looking for the exit stairs map in case of a fire. 

Jill

Saturday 23rd of July 2016

It's a law (at least in California) that these must be posted. It also tells you about a couple laws, like not paying a hotelier is a criminal offense, etc. I work at 5 hotels, and was told we cannot post an amount higher than $999. Someone said it above, it's so we can aim high on those, but if we put the normal rates and someone had to pay more for whatever reason (additional people,etc, this wouldn't make them mad to see those high rates. Now if a hotel does have rooms for over the 999, I believe they can increase what you see on the door. Bottom line is that it's a law. I hope that helps a little.

Karl

Sunday 28th of October 2012

I always thought this was to make sure you check out when you are supposed to. If you insist on staying, then they can charge you that crazy rate.

Perry A.

Wednesday 7th of November 2012

Yeah, I thought so too.