When supply and demand becomes gouge and pilfer

by Scott Carmichael on

January 20th will be a pretty big day for any business in the Washington DC area. It probably doesn’t matter whether you are selling doughnuts or special inauguration plates, people will be heading to DC in the millions ready to buy whatever it is you are selling.

With that many people, it is only logical that many of them will plan to stay the night, so naturally that drives the price of accommodations up a little. However, it appears that most hotels in the area have taken “a little” to a whole new level, way beyond what they usually do for special events.

Take for example the Crown Plaza Hamilton, a fairly basic 3 1/2 star hotel in the downtown area. This hotel normally charges between $85 and $100 for a standard room. Care to guess what they want for a night in a standard room during the inauguration?

That’s right, $1000 bucks. And not just anyone can get that rate, you’ll need to reserve at least 3 nights to get that “special rate”.

In their defense, they are by far not the only ones cashing in on this event, even suburban 1 star hotels are charging a staggering $699 a night (compared to their usual $59 rate).

Women-Only Hotel Room Floor and a Poll

by Jamie Rhein on

Martha recently wrote a post about women-only airplane bathrooms, but how about paying extra money for a “women-only floor” in a hotel? The hitch is that you have to be a woman and willing to spend $30 more head to this exclusive floor of X chromosome only slumber at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. The extra money pays for more security and perks like flowers and chocolate.

Well, as you can imagine, the idea is not loved by everyone and is praised by others. The naysayers aren’t pleased with the segregation idea for a few reasons. If women want an all women floor, than why won’t men demand men-only floor? And since men are more often the decision makers in companies, women have yet another way to be left out of the loop while on a business trip. Others wonder if you could end up segregating people for other reasons too. (Think race)

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Those that love the all-women floor idea say phewey on the race point–that’s nonsense–and that women feel safer and are more comfortable with business travel if they have a place to retreat from the male business traveler fray. This women-only floor sounds to me a bit like a women-only dorm on a college campus. I remember guys yelling outside of the windows of my female-only dorm when I was a freshman, “Throw down your panties.”

You can read more about the discussion in this article published in yesterday’s Columbus Dispatch—although the link actually goes to the same article published in the Toldedo Blade earlier this summer. (As a note, the article has misinformation about the JW Marriot, unless the Marriot has since changed its mind. There had been a “women-only” floor planned for the JW Marriott opening this month in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The plan was tabled, however, according to this article on Fox New’s Web site.

(The photo of the all women floor hallway is from the candid shots section of the Crowne Plaza at Trip Advisor. There is also a thumbs up review of the floor.)