Learning the Language: Hotel Reservations 101

Some weeks back, a reader wrote in with a perplexing tale. He’d used an 800 number to book a room at a major chain hotel in Mexico. The price was $120 a night. But when he checked the rate again, this time through a travel agency inside Mexico, the figure was $60.

Was this an isolated incident or part of a larger problem? I decided to conduct a small experiment at half a dozen hotels in Mexico.

I picked six chain hotels in popular Mexican vacation destinations, and chose a weekend--Dec. 13 to 15--for a hypothetical visit. Then, in the space of 24 hours, I got price quotes through four different methods. In every case, I requested rates for a standard double room.

First I asked in English via the hotel chain’s 800 number. Then I asked in English via the hotel’s local number in Mexico. Then I enlisted travel agent Gloria Hensley (born in El Salvador) to pose as a Spanish-speaking customer and dial the hotels’ local numbers. (We found that these hotels are so American-oriented that most quote rates in U.S. dollars even when asked in Spanish with a Central American accent.) Finally, Hensley and I called up the hotels’ rates on Sabre, the computerized reservation system used by thousands of travel agents.

In an equitable, tidy world--a world that many hotel guests imagine exists--I would have received the same price quote four times from each hotel.

Instead, the six hotels gave me a total of 18 different rates, some closely grouped, some not close at all. Only one hotel--the Camino Real in Puerto Vallarta--quoted the same prices across the board. The whole experience was something like a stroll through a used-car lot, and the most scattered results came from some of the most familiar names in the hotel trade.

* At the Best Western Hotel Fenix, Guadalajara, my 800 call yielded a rate of $45, continental breakfast included. My call to the local number yielded a rate of $60 nightly. Our local call in Spanish yielded a quote of 285 new pesos (about $36.50 at the bank exchange rate that credit-card users pay). And the computer search yielded a rate of $40. (A spokeswoman later said “there is a natural level of variance,” depending on type of room and constantly changing availability.

* At the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, Mazatlan, my 800 call at first yielded a rate of $75.20 (565 new pesos) per night. But when I asked if breakfast was included, the reservationist disclosed a special nightly rate of $53.24 (400 new pesos), continental breakfast included. My local call yielded a rate of $70, with no mention of breakfast, as did our local call in Spanish. Our computer search brought up a rate of $67.63. (A spokesman said that as occupancy forecasts are adjusted, rates can fluctuate substantially in short periods.)

* At the Hyatt Regency Acapulco, my 800 call yielded a “great deal” rate of $105 per night. My local call yielded a “rack rate” of $128 per night. Our local call in Spanish yielded a rate of $89. And our computer search yielded a rate of $81. (A spokesman said the $81 rate was for rooms beneath the sixth floor, $89 for rooms above, $105 for breakfast included, $128 for when demand was at a peak.)

* At the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel & Towers in Mexico City, my 800 call yielded a rate of $145. My local call brought a quote of $105. Our local call in Spanish first prompted a question (“Foreign or local reservations?”), and when we said “local” we were quoted a rate of $105. Then, when we searched via computer, the first quoted rate ballooned to $245. (A Sheraton spokeswoman, acknowledging that all three rates exist in its system, said $245 is the peak rate, $145 is the weekend rate and $105 is the holiday season rate. In the computer search, she said, we should have been able to “page down” to find the $105 rate. (We didn’t see it.)

The two chains that performed most consistently were both Mexico-based. At the Camino Real Puerto Vallarta, one in a 17-hotel chain throughout the country, every approach yielded a quote of $91. The Fiesta Americana Cancun quoted $132 three times, but $140 on its computer reservation system. When I asked for explanations later, hotel representatives went into deep spin mode, citing factors noted above and various others, as well. The largest factor, they acknowledged, could be that unless you specifically ask for “the lowest possible price,” the operator won’t quote you the lowest possible price, but will offer something higher and wait to see if you haggle. This is called “upselling” and it’s standard practice in the hotel trade.

The representatives also mentioned the complexity of reservations systems these days, in part because hotels have adopted aspects of the “yield management” system created by U.S. airlines to maximize revenues by varying prices according to subtleties of supply and demand.

Only one marketing department, at Hyatt hotels, directly acknowledged these inconsistencies as a problem that needed fixing. “Where as an industry we have to improve,” said Hyatt marketing vice president John Wallis, “is in explaining the difference between the various rates.”

Until something changes, hoteliers can hardly blame guests for being skeptical. I’ve heard theories that hotel chains’ U.S.-based 800 numbers often quote higher rates than are offered by reservationists at the hotels themselves; theories that some Mexican hotels quote higher prices to English-speaking guests than they do to Spanish speakers; theories that computerized reservation systems used by travel agents turn up better prices than hotel reservationists will quote on the phone.

The test results here are too scattered to conclusively support any of these theories, although local hotel phone numbers did seem to produce lower rates overall than 800 numbers. And speaking Spanish helped.

But there is a moral to this story: No matter how familiar the brand name of the hotel you choose in Mexico and no matter how you contact that hotel, you’d better think twice before trusting the first price you hear. And, ask a lot of questions.

Reynolds travels anonymously at the newspaper’s expense, accepting no special discounts or subsidized trips. He welcomes comments and suggestions, but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 or e-mail chris.reynolds@latimes.com.