What Are the Most Popular Hotel Offers?
We frequently get asked what are the most popular hotel offers. While we could have relied on educated guesses from client and team member feedback, we opted to dive into the data for concrete answers.
Our analysis of rate plan categories across our entire portfolio revealed some fascinating insights.
- Loyalty is gold
Outside of the standard BAR (best available rate), rates categorized under loyalty were the most commonly booked across our portfolio. We defined loyalty as any rate code booked as part of a loyalty/signup program such as email, SMS, or via member program rates like iPrefer, Stash Rewards, and Guestbook. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 5-star luxury resort or a smaller 2-star boutique hotel; these offer types drive bookings. Make sure you’re nurturing your most loyal customers and members, as well as finding ways to grow those lists - including incentives to sign up.
- Resort guests want to Stay & Play
We work with a lot of resort properties that feature amenities such as spas, dining, golf, and more. The 2nd most common rate type booked fell into a category we named “Stay & Play”. These offers included lodging plus credits to use at other outlets around the resorts. If your hotel has multiple entities or amenities on site, craft a package that entices the guests to enjoy them. It also helps advertising campaigns paint an experiential picture of how the potential guest can enjoy their time on the property.
- Consumers are swayed by discount deals
While we don’t think this is very surprising news, discount offers also topped the list for most commonly booked across our portfolio of clients. The most commonly booked being 25% off, followed by 35% and then 30% off. Our data shows these types of offers are less common at the 5-star luxury level, but used sparingly they can help drive bookings during need periods for all levels of hotels.
- We all want guests to linger longer
Who doesn’t love some great alliteration? Linger Longer, X night free, extend your stay - no matter what it’s called, it’s all centered around the same goal. This common goal that many hotel clients come to us with is trying to increase their average length of stay among guests. This is a big driver behind the widespread popularity of length of stay focused offers. These can include offering a free night when a guest books 3, 4, or more nights or focusing on a % discount when they book a certain number of nights. Play around with both approaches to see what resonates best with your guests.
- Seasonal Offers + Flash Sales
Consumers are conditioned to look for seasonal offers during holidays. In response, hotels are frequently offering discounts and other flash sales to capitalize on these periods when consumers are primed to purchase. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 5-star luxury resort or a 2-star hotel - these offer types are used across the board. These types of offers such as summer specials, 72 flash sales and Cyber promotions round out our top list of most commonly used and booked hotel offers.
Honorable mentions and other hotel offer ideas
Outside of the most commonly booked hotel offers from our portfolio. We also wanted to give a nod to some other great hotel offers that can help move the needle and produce stays during hotel need periods.
- Resident/Local rates
We see states like Florida lead the charge when it comes to deals for locals, but any hotel can capitalize on this type of offer. We saw staycations spike during the COVID era but they are still wildly popular. These can especially be helpful during off-season months as ways to fill your hotel or resort.
- Bed & Breakfast packages
Maybe it’s because consumers are motivated by their stomachs or maybe it’s because they want the ease of waking up and not having to hunt down breakfast options - but whichever the reason, this type of offer seems to be a mainstay in the industry. If you have on-site dining and the ability to package breakfast with a lodging rate, make sure to include this on your website offerings.
- AAA/AARP
AAA has a whopping 60 million members, while AARP claims 38 million members. This huge database of consumers is conditioned to seek out hotels that offer them discounts. A deep dive into the data shows that across our entire portfolio, these remain one of the most commonly booked rate types across every type of property, from large resorts to luxury properties and boutique hotels.
These are just a sampling of hotel offers and package types to inspire you as you craft the perfect package and offer strategy for your hotel based on the unique needs and amenities of your hotel. Please reach out if you are interested in diving deeper into your own GA4 data for custom insights and recommendations.
