These are tough times in the hotel industry but I am still amazed that “rate integrity” remains a buzzword. I frequently visit the websites of third party booking engines for hotel rooms and routinely find rooms at 4+ star luxury hotels for rates lower than limited-service hotels in inferior locations with smaller rooms in the same market. This is often the case within the same family of hotels (i.e. Conrad and Hampton Inn). I also very often find rates at significant discounts on third party websites compared with the hotel’s website, and when I call the hotel directly to see if they will match they almost always recommend that I book on the third party website. Does anyone else find this to be the case or am I the exception?