Answers · Hotels · 10 questions
Updated 25 Oct 2026 · Reviewed by Mohammad Shakir, Co-founder & CEO
Every revenue decision starts with knowing what the hotels around you are charging. These answers cover the mechanics of tracking competitor rates across OTAs and metasearch: choosing channels and a comp set, setting a schedule and horizon, matching rooms fairly, and getting the data somewhere you can use it.
Pick 5–10 true competitors, choose the channels your guests book on, and check the same stay dates, occupancy and room type on a fixed schedule. Do it manually for a handful of dates, and use a rate shopper once it becomes a daily job.
A competitor is a hotel your guest compares you with, not simply the nearest one. Fix length of stay, guests, room type, meal plan and cancellation policy first, because most "price gaps" are really differences in these parameters. Manual checks break down on coverage and consistency: dates 60–90 days out, several channels, every day.
Include the channels that drive your bookings and the ones your comp set leans on. For most Indian hotels that means MakeMyTrip, Booking.com, Agoda, Goibibo and Google Hotels, with Expedia and others added by source mix.
Look at your own channel mix first; shopping a channel that gives you 1% of bookings tells you little. Metasearch matters because it shows the price a guest sees before choosing a channel.
Daily for the next 30–60 days, less often for far dates, and more often when demand spikes around events and holidays. Near dates move fastest, so check them most.
A practical pattern is near dates several times a day, mid-range dates daily and far dates every few days.
Most hotels look 60–90 days ahead, and up to a year for groups and peak seasons. Short-lead leisure properties can focus on the next 30–45 days.
Match the horizon to your booking window. A city business hotel books closer in than a hill resort.
Choose hotels your guests compare you with on star level, location, price point and target guest. Ask your front desk, check the "similar properties" the OTAs show, and keep it between 5 and 10.
Review it each season, since openings and renovations change who competes with you. Use a primary set for pricing decisions and a wider market set for context.
Many OTAs show app-only or mobile-only offers, and prices can differ by device. A single desktop check can therefore misstate what a guest actually sees.
If most of your guests book on mobile, shop mobile as well.
Yes. Many hotels track the lowest available rate per competitor and add specific room types only where the comparison matters.
"Cheapest available" is a good alert signal and cheaper to collect. Use room-level shopping where your inventory is complex, such as suites or villas.
Map each competitor room to your equivalent by size, view, bed type and inclusions. Compare like for like, and flag rooms with no match.
Automated matching helps but needs a human check at first setup. Wrong mapping is the commonest reason a rate report looks off.
Yes. Most rate shoppers export to CSV, and API-based providers can feed a sheet or BI tool automatically.
A scheduled export is the simplest start; an API gives you control over format and timing as you grow.
Spot-check a sample against the live site every week, on the dates and channels you care about. Ask the provider how it validates results and how failures are flagged.
Check taxes, room match and the conditions behind each price. Gaps and failed checks should be visible, not silently filled.
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