Tokyo Hotels Accused Of Exchanging Insider Info, Possibly Price Fixing

Well, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

This is happening across the board in the airline and hotel industry. CEO's are talking to one another and competition is being paid attention to. Algorithms play a part in pricing for sure, but sharing inside knowledge is a key part of business. Hell, it happens inside of almost every government.

There's definitely more hotels in on this. I'll bet the Grand Hyatt Tokyo is also in on this. And probably the Hyatt Centric Ginza.

No shot those hotels should be able to command $1k/night price tags, for an otherwise very generic and mid experience.

And $450-500/night for the Hyatt Regency Tokyo and Sheraton Miyako. It's mindblowing that they go for so much. I had a similar room with breakfast at the Sheraton Grand Hiroshima for $200/night in 2022 during peak fall color season. As much as there's some western hotels in Tokyo that I really, really love, prices are getting to where I couldn't justify not staying in a cheaper basic Japanese chain hotel or non-chain ryokan unless I'm using points.

I hear you. The Hyatt Centric Kanazawa is a better hotel than the Ginza and goes for as little as 1/5 to 1/10 of their price (around $100 to $150/night). I only stay at Tokyo Hyatts on points these days because I can't be spending $3500 for a 3 night stay with all the crazy fees and taxes that also add up.

Definitely location matters. Hiroshima and Kanazawa are not Tokyo. That being said, the premium for being in Tokyo should not be a 5x to 10x upcharge, perhaps 1.5 to 2x at most.

I would argue very single Hyatt in Tokyo except for Tokyo Bay are in on this. Every single one had nearly identical cash prices (to each other as well as Hilton/Marriott) when I was looking to go. 2-3x the prices from my last two visits pre and post COVID.

Plain and easy I stoped going at all and haven’t been back in 6 years now
Hotel seemed to double in price
The Hyatts and well as others have been robbing customers for years claiming high occupancy year round
We all know the truth
Collusion and price fixing

Hyatt and Hilton price creep in Tokyo has been bonkers. Last trip to Japan was on points, I could not justify the cash rates. 1k a night for Hyatt centric and Conrad is crazy.

When traveling for work, I noticed certain chain hotels have crazy public prices ($1000+) but very reasonable contracted corporate rates. It makes me suspect these hotels are truly targeting corporate travelers to fill up their rooms, and only accepting the general public if they pay irrational prices.

I've seen the same thing.

So is with intercontinental, the GE price is 1/3 book rate

So they're just barely avoiding the "cartel" label by fixing prices, but I have to admit this behaviour is something very, very close. Hopefully the shame of being publicly exposed in the international media will cause a rethink. Tokyo hotel prices have become absolutely scandalous of late, no doubt milking the tourism boom for all it's worth.

So couple of questions
1. How is this that different from STR given what is going on here
2. If this is cartel behavior this seems to have been very very ineffective for 13 of those 15 years...

Airlines get fined for colluding they should too. What’s this crap about fair warning.

Oh, please, such meetings happen across most industries. When C-suite members meet at a conference or at any other venue, do you think they just talk about golf and soccer? Jezzz.

Unless the public was informed and invited it sounds like a gathering of mob bosses.

Hey Lucky, given that the Andaz wasn’t a part of this, it seems unfair to use a photo from their hotel, right under a comment passing (very fair) judgement about the situation.

US has prosecuted for less. Embarrassing look for Japan’s FTC

This really doesn't surprise me. The price the Grand Hyatt Tokyo commands is _insane_ compared to the quality of the product. Centric Ginza always puzzled me too. Yes it's a popular market, but so is New York. And you'd expect to see more differences in pricing. Andaz/Centric/GH all seem to be able to price the same

Price fixing is not only in Japan where they have been caught.
Have travelled to Paris, Rome and London for years, frequently, it appears the hotel legion have gotten together to raise their prices, maintaining them. Paris and Rome have hit the sky.

So lets see if Japan is going to trigger investigations in these countries. I believe it was Hyatt in Japan that triggered it.
Friends have mentioned the same happening in the USA.

They cannot possibly rig a market with thousands of hotels. If you decide to limit your options to what's offered by 1-2 chains, there's nobody else to blame for the consequences of that decision.

Many industries are using algorithmic pricing that uses software to collude without any meetings. This is especially true with the high end hotel market and the DOJ and FTC have started to look into it in America. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/03/ftc-doj-file-statement-interest-hotel-room-algorithmic-price-fixing-case

I'm sure some of you have been to Tokyo enough times to get what I'm trying to say: These hotels vary greatly in their business conditions, as well as ability to get business. Keio Plaza and its 1800 rooms are probably doing way better than Cerulean Tokyu which in spite of its location, is most famous for being used to shoot gay pr0n. And Asakusa View (plus maybe Metropolitan) is probably never in the same class as Okura or Otani? Is 4-star colluding with 5-star a thing?

The cheapest inflexible rate for one night in the cheapest room in the Hyatt Centric in Madrid for 6th May is €632. The most flexible rate for the most expensive suite available (admittedly it's a junior one) at the nearby NH Collection Paseo Del Prado is €150 cheaper than that. No collusion, no price-fixing, just a way of offering fake corporate discounts and milking foreigners wedded to loyalty programmes.