For $19, you'll get nothing, and like it — because you bought the “Survivor Package”:
The Rancho Bernardo Inn, a luxury resort with three pools, two restaurants, a spa and a golf course, is offering rooms this summer for as little as $19 a night.There’s just one catch. The room comes without pillows, sheets, towels, toiletries — or a bed.
From Aug. 16 to 31, the Rancho Bernardo Inn is offering steep discounts to customers willing to bring their own toilet paper and sleep on the floor.
Under the unusual pricing scheme called the “Survivor Package,” guests can lower the standard $219 room rate with each amenity they give up. Going without breakfast, the honor bar, air-conditioning and pillows saves $80. Bringing your own sheets saves an additional $20, while the room rate drops $20 more if you also give up lights.
The lowest price is $19, which buys a room that’s had the headboard unscrewed from the wall and the mattress carted away by hotel staff, though they will leave behind a small tent.
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It takes about 90 minutes for hotel staff to disassemble a room for a $19-a-night guest.
I guess they’ve succeeded in generating marketing buzz. It does make you think about costs versus benefits in a hotel room though.
(Hat tip to Yana.)