How to make the most of hotel bidding sites

What are hotel bidding sites?

Hotel bidding sites were online booking platforms that allowed travellers to bid on hotel rooms at a lower price than the hotel’s advertised rate – sort of like a hotel metasearch where the guest names their price. While the term “bidding sites” is still commonly used, today’s platforms primarily operate on fixed-price opaque booking models rather than true guest bidding mechanisms.

Ten years ago hotel bidding sites were a fast-growing phenomenon. Guests would specify their dates and define their minimum expectations regarding things like beds, amenities and ratings, then place a general bid to multiple hotels in an area, who were offered the opportunity to accept or reject.

In more recent times, however, the true bidding model for hotels has largely disappeared from mainstream booking platforms. Great deals still exist, but they’re typically set by the properties. The guest bidding mechanism has been replaced by fixed-price offers that are often presented as secret, opaque or ultra-personalised.

Is there still a place for this type of guest bidding? Read on for the full guide to hotel bidding sites and how they can work for your small accommodation business.

What are the benefits of using the top bidding sites for small hotels?

Using top bidding sites offers your small hotel greater visibility, helping you to compete with larger chains. It’s a great way to understand what guests are willing to pay, because you meet the market where they’re at, which can inform your broader pricing strategy. And by offering private, one-on-one deals, you get the chance to connect with potential guests on a deeper level.

The opportunity presented by hotel bidding sites:

• The global hospitality market was valued at US$4.9 trillion in 2024. 
• Online bookings represent almost 60% of all hotel bookings, so a hotel should explore every avenue to capitalise on this huge market, including bidding sites.

Hotels that fine-tune their bidding tactics via opaque rates and discount fences can earn up to 60% more revenue per booking (versus non‑optimised tactics).

Why would a small, independent hotel use a hotel bidding platform? There are a few good reasons.

Increase occupancy rates, attract more customers

A full room is almost always better than an empty room, and by offering discounted opaque rates through these platforms, you’ll attract more bookings during slow periods.

Exposure to wider audience and users

By joining a hotel bidding site, you can enable your hotel to reach a loyal audience of users. Many travellers exclusively use bidding sites, knowing that this is where they can secure the very best deals.

Potential for high revenue

Sure, cheap hotel bidding sites mean you can’t charge quite as high a nightly rate for your rooms, but the ability to fill gaps in your reservation calendar can be incredible. As a result you can enjoy a serious boost to your hotel revenue.

Flexibility especially on low seasons

While hotel businesses generally take care of themselves during peak season, an independent hotelier needs to be a little more creative during low season. By offering strategic discounts through opaque booking platforms while maintaining control over your minimum rates, you can fill your hotel during the slower periods of the year.

What are examples of the best hotel bidding sites?

Considering capitalising on hotel bidding? Start with this selection of the top hotel bidding sites.

• Priceline: Once the world’s most popular hotel bidding site, Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” feature allowed users to select a location, dates and a minimum star rating, before submitting the price they’re happy to pay. But it was discontinued in 2016, replaced by a more traditional “Express Deals” model where prices are fixed, rather than bid-based. Another feature is ‘Pricebreakers’, which serves up three heavily
• Hotwire: The other major platform in the opaque booking space, Hotwire has always operated differently from Priceline’s historical bidding model—using fixed-price “Hot Rate” deals rather than true guest bidding. Users select their desired neighbourhood, star rating, and amenities, then choose from pre-discounted opaque bookings where the hotel name is revealed only after payment is completed. While some call these “mystery hotels,” they’re negotiated fixed prices, not bids that hotels accept or reject.
• Bidroom: This hotel bidding website flips the concept on its head – rather than getting guests to bid, it gets hotels to bid. As a closed, member-only service, Bidroom sidesteps rate parity agreements, allowing your hotel to deliver enticing discounts based on user needs and wants.

How do hotel bidding sites work?

While the traditional bidding model has evolved, today’s platforms still help hotels and travellers connect on discounted rates. Instead of guests bidding prices for hotels to accept or reject, most platforms now operate on fixed-price models where hotels set discounted opaque rates in advance. The system allows properties to fill unsold rooms quickly while giving guests the chance to secure lower rates.

The best hotel bidding sites offer a range of different bidding approaches. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most common bidding methods.

Name your own price 

A method made famous by Priceline in the early 2000s, ‘name your own price’ was discontinued by major platforms in 2016. This historical model allowed guests to nominate their location, dates, minimum hotel expectations and price, then submit these details to hotels that matched the criteria. Hotels could accept or reject offers, with the first to accept winning the bid. Note that Hotwire never offered this feature since it has always used fixed-price opaque deals rather than guest bidding. The shift away from true bidding occurred because fixed-price models proved more predictable and manageable for both guests and properties.

Express deals 

These days the far more common system is ‘express deals’, which see your hotel offer up a discounted package to the users of a particular site, who can then choose from a selection of such packages that match their criteria.

Blind booking 

Many hotel bidding sites offer ‘blind booking’, which offers users the biggest discounts – up to 60% off. The catch: they don’t learn the name and address of the hotel until after they’ve paid. The Pricebreakers feature on Priceline is perhaps the most famous example. Blind booking is useful for hoteliers who find themselves really struggling to fill rooms.

Auctions

Hotel auctions can work in a number of ways. One of the most common is for your hotel to offer a specific deal, along with a recommended retail price, that travellers are then invited to bid on over a set period. All bids are blind, and the top bid (or the top five, 20 or 50 bids) win the package.

Key takeaways

• Traditional bidding sites saw travellers name a price, and hotels accept, reject or counter based on profitability—though most platforms have now shifted to fixed-price opaque models.
• Bidding models include name your own price, express deals, blind booking and auctions.
• Sites help hotels fill unsold rooms quickly while offering guests significant savings.

How can hotel bidding sites fit into your overall revenue management strategy?

Hotel bidding sites can be viewed as an effective filler or top-up tool for your reservation calendar. Every hotel, no matter its location and reputation, experiences peaks and troughs throughout the year. As an independent hotelier your job is to capitalise on the peaks and manage the troughs as best you can. Hotel bidding sites can help with the latter.

By understanding the break-even point for each of your rooms, you can ensure that you always make money by only ever setting opaque rates or offering deals that sit above that figure.  And by using a channel manager, you can ensure that you don’t accept bids on rooms that guests will be willing to pay full price for.

Make the most out of hotel bidding sites with Little Hotelier

Managing a hotel bidding strategy is only possible if you efficiently manage your hotel and online presence – which is where Little Hotelier comes in.

A simple, streamlined, all-in-one hotel management system, Little Hotelier can save you up to 35 minutes per booking, freeing you up to fill empty rooms with hotel bidding. You may even convert bidding site users into customers who book directly with you, as Little Hotelier’s direct booking engine can drive up to 46% more bookings, 43% more revenue, and deliver an ROI of 63x!

• Integrate or create: Our direct booking engine can be seamlessly integrated into your current hotel website, or you can use the Little Hotelier website builder to create a stunning direct booking site in less than an hour.
• Capitalise on upsell opportunities: By taking control of the booking process you can heighten the guest experience and increase the value of every booking by allowing guests to add extras in a click.
• Offer specials and discounts: Remove the hotel bidding middleman by offering the very best low season deals on your site – our direct booking engine makes it easy.