Accor Hotel Dynamic Pricing: A Case Study

I always thought that calling in might get you the best hotel room rates. 

However, that is not what my research findings has accorded me. 

I even read an article that says that the best time to make a hotel room booking for the same day should be after 4pm... well, that's not very true, as you will read in this post. 

I was keeping track of the prices of the rooms for Pullman KLCC for the past two weeks. 

My research included calling the hotel two weeks prior and asking the reservations team what the Saver Rate (no cancellation allowed) and flexible rates. 

When I called the Reservation Teams on 28/01/2023, this is the price I received for rates on 6 or 7th February 2023. I believe this rate is for Accor members but no Accor Plus discount applied. 

FROM CALL IN RESERVATION:  
Premium King Flexible Rate: 

RM488.50 (without breakfast) 

RM579.13 (with breakfast) 

Premium King: Saver Rate

RM415.19 (without breakfast) 

RM505.82 (without breakfast) 

FROM WEBSITE: 

This is the rate on the same day, gleaned from the Accor App (with Accor Plus discount) 

Deluxe Twin Room/Double (Saver Rate without breakfast) 

RM398.87 nett

Premium King (Saver Rate without breakfast) 

RM439.65 nett

Premium Grand King (Saver Rate without breakfast) 

RM464.12 nett. 

As the date approaches close to the date (two days prior), the system changes to no cancellation, effectively rendering it as a Saver Rate.

If anyone is planning to do last minute staycation, this is the data that my research journaling has rendered. .

The Accor system algorithm plays with the hotel rooms' prices depending on the time of the day. Dynamic pricing seems to be the system that Accor hotel is using to set its hotel prices. 

TODAY'S RATE: 

So I decided to just check the algorithm for the pricing for today, just to see how the price will fare on a the same check in date.  

When I checked the prices for Pullman KL this morning for today, the price had gone down at 10.41am. I believe this is because a lot of guests are checking out by 9am as they have to go to work, so there are a lot of vacant rooms, and the reservation system detects it.

I check the price again around 2.10pm- surprise, surprise.

As more people start to check in (and not cancel rooms) the prices start going up at this time of the day.

The same Deluxe room that was Rm352 nett, is now RM371 nett

Premium King was RM394 is now RM416 nett

Premium Grand was 399 is now RM443.18 nett

Executive Club Lounge was RM558.23 is now RM633.50 nett.


SUMMARY AND TAKEAWAY NOTES: 

1) If there are Red Hot Rooms (only applies for Accor Plus members), and you need to plan a holiday, just take whatever room is available. 

2) If you are planning a last-minute staycation, and booking with ACCOR, do your booking in the morning after the guests have checked out for the morning. 

3) the prices will still remain stable the day before, but they will drop a bit nonetheless. 

4) If any hotel is utilizing the Dynamic Pricing system for their hotel bookings, do your booking in the morning of the same. Don't call in at 4pm, unless its one of those hotel brands that cant afford Dynamic Pricing, then you can wrench and negotiate your hotel prices. 

5) of course, if you know the General Manager, you can always pick up the phone and ask them for a better room rate.