Posh NY hotel jacks rates for those looking for Irene shelter
In the annals of bad business history, how do we tell the worse from the worst?
How do we say, definitely, that BP leaking 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, then wringing its hands over who was at fault, is worse than, say, Walmart, which has faced every allegation from sexual discrimination to the idea it sets fire to every community it touches?
Indeed, perhaps ranking poor business behaviour isn’t for us to say. But one thing’s for sure: we know it when we see it.
And this, we’re seeing with eyes wide open.
By a new report out of the Big Apple, just days after people were forced to flee their homes for fear of Hurricane Irene’s wrath, one trendy Brooklyn hotel decided to gouge those looking for shelter.
*Bing: See pics from Irene's billion-dollar damage
According to the New York Daily News, the posh Hotel Le Bleu was caught charging storm refugees $999 for a room. That’s up from its typical rate of $250 a night.
“It was just because of high demand,” an anonymous employee of the hotel said. “A lot of hotels did that.”
Well, at least one didn’t – another hotel 10 blocks away left its $240 a night fee unchanged during Irene, the Daily News found – but how can we really blast the Hotel Le Blue?
Said another employee, “If you can pay, then it’s on you.”
Well, then.
In any case, bad business or not, plenty of legitimate companies stand to profit big from Irene, too.
As the Caribbean and East Coast clean up the hurricane’s estimated $3 billion in damage, Bloomberg suspects Lowe’s and Home Depot will see a major boost in sales from storm fixer-uppers.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: me | Sep 2, 2021 9:24:24 AM
do hotel rates go up during the american superbowl football game, if they do it is because of the law of supply and demand, same as for the hurricane.
Posted by: RalphsWife | Sep 3, 2021 7:16:17 PM
Dear Me: People CHOOSE to attend the superbowl, and CHOOSE to absorb the costs associated with the game - such as hotel costs, tickets, etc. I doubt very much that anybody CHOSE to have to flee their home, or CHOSE to move out of their existing residence in order to pay 4 times the regular room rates at a local hotel! That particular analogy was stupid, to say the very least..... Supply & demand is one thing, but gouging & being opportunistic on a sleazy level is quite another.
Posted by: Jack | Sep 7, 2021 5:05:12 AM
@RalphsWife ... Yes, but it is still supply and demand, no matter the circumstance or how you dress it up (or down) with words. Life isn't fair, and why should it be?