Occupancy rate and late reservations
Is it reasonable to assume that because you're travelling off season, occupancy rates will necessarily be lower thus saving the need to reserve accommodation ahead of time?
What I'm trying to do is allow greater travel flexibility, I'd like to be able to decide where and how long I'm staying when I'm there. Booking ahead of time will guarantee you a spot at the cost of fixing your travel dates but I'm willing to take some risk with pricing to gain the flexibility.
Best Answer
Generally yes, but you need to be aware that the local definition of "Off Season" can vary quite a bit. Most places have really busy times that you may not be aware off. Boston, for example, has "Marathon" in mid April and "College Graduation" in mid to end May where it's almost impossible to get a room and where rooms are quite expensive.
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What affects occupancy rate?
Things that impact occupancy rate Many other factors can affect your occupancy rate, including room rates, the guest experience, your online reputation, room cleanliness and the quality and availability of your facilities.What is the formula for occupancy rate?
Occupancy rate is the percentage of occupied rooms in your property at a given time. It is one of the most high-level indicators of success and is calculated by dividing the total number of rooms occupied, by the total number of rooms available, times 100, creating a percentage such as 75% occupancy.How do you calculate RevPAR with occupancy and ADR?
RevPAR calculation It's quite easy to calculate RevPAR. Simply multiply your average daily rate (ADR) by your occupancy rate. For example if your hotel is occupied at 70% with an ADR of $100, your RevPAR will be $70.What does the occupancy rate indicate?
The occupancy rate measures the ratio of occupied to total usable rental space. This rate helps analyst understand changes in the residential and commercial real estate markets and is often used in evaluating hotel and resort properties.Occupancy Rate
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Answer 2
This doesn't directly answer the question, but it's too long for a comment. If it's out of place, feel free to delete.
As others have said, off-season rooms are usually available without a reservation (and often below normal/advertised rates, through sites like booking.com, priceline, etc). But one strategy you might consider employing is taking advantage of the free cancelation policy of many hotels, if you cancel 24-48 hours in advance.
First, many hotels extend their free cancellation policy to the duration of your stay, meaning that you can cancel mid-reservation, as long as you give notice 24-48 hours before you intend to vacate the room.
Example: With a reservation from July 1 - July 8, you can inform the hotel on July 3 that you intend to leave July 5, and you won't be charged for July 5-8. Of course, this varies by hotel (and perhaps by booking site), so read the fine print before counting on this strategy!
For hotels that don't allow mid-reservation cancellations, you can make two separate reservations, as long as the second has a free cancellation policy.
- Make a reservation for July 1-4 at Hotel A.
- Make a second reservation for July 5-8 at Hotel B.
- If you decide not to stay in the city, simply cancel your reservation at Hotel B on or before July 3.
This doesn't provide perfect flexibility, but it provides some.
Using either strategy, you may also have the option to look for a cheaper/nicer/cooler/hipper/better hotel after arriving in the city, and change hotels after you've arrived (even if you do stay in the city).
Answer 3
"Trust but verify."
If you're traveling during a "real" off season, occupancy rates will be lower than usual. But there may be something peculiar to that location (a conference, sports event, etc.) that nullifies this.
The "safe" way to play this game is to monitor the hotel vacancy rates for your target dates over the internet in advance. If somehow, rooms are filling up fast for your dates, you need to make a quick decision about what to do.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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