June 06, 2009 at 05:34am by Gus
Are you planning a trip to Miami?
There has never been a better time to book a hotel room. Most of the nicer hotels on South Beach are cutting room rates back to the levels reached in 1985.
Room rates are unlikely to increase anytime soon, said several hotel companies this week at New York University’s International Hospitality Conference.
Noble Investment Group CEO Mitesh Shah, who operates hotels under Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt and InterContinental Hotel Group, has seen hotel buyers push to lower rates, and they will have the ability to dictate pricing for a while, he said.
They understand that if they are traveling, they’re one of the very few traveling, so they’ve gotten very aggressive,” Shah said. “That’s not going to change until demand starts increasing.”
NYU Hospitality Conference: Upscale CEOs Decry Rate Reductions
Thank you, Mr. Shah. Hearing you say, “hotel buyers dictating pricing” is like music to our ears.
Crazy Low Prices At The Art Deco Boutique Hotels!!
Sounds too good to be true, right? Take a look at the screenshot below:
I started noticing the reductions when the South Beach Hotel Group lowered room rates at Whitelaw to $46 and the Catalina to $59.
A $46 a night room in South Beach is unheard of!
And it’s not just the smaller hotels reducing prices.
The Oceanfront Resorts Are Lowering Rates, Too
The Royal Palm has rooms starting at $128 and the National 4-star hotel is $139.
If finding travel bargains is your thing, paying $139 a night for a 4-star, oceanfront resort in South Beach is a total score, especially when the property next door (The Sagamore) is $235 a night.
How Do I Choose Where To Stay?
With so many hotels jumping on the price slashing bandwagon, it’s getting to be harder to choose the right hotel. So, allow me to offer you my two favorite picks.
Right now, the best deal I see is at Casa Grade all suites hotel for $99. The Casa Grande has been one of my favorite hotels, ever since an Executive from Hotel.com told me it was here favorite place to stay in South Beach.
My second pick is, Hotel Nash for $73. Over the years, I’ve had tons of people tell me how much they like the Nash.
Please note: hotel rates in South beach change day to day.
The thought of a hotel price war is exciting, don’t you think?
Are You Planning A Vacation?
Expect more good deals through summer. If you have a question about where to stay, post it in the comments below.
 | Gus Moore heads up Miami Beach 411 as site administrator, where he has been helping people understand how Miami works for over a decade. See more articles by Gus > |
