Luxury hotel announces rooms auction plan

A luxury hotel in Dubai is to give people the chance to bid for rooms in an online auction, it emerged on Sunday.

The five-star Monarch hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road has announced plans to launch the “name your price for luxury” auction in July, with rooms, meals and spa treatments on offer.

Arshad Hussain, director of business development at The Monarch said the hotel was reluctant to keep dropping its rates and enter a price war with its competitors to attract guests.

“In a recession, it’s a very easy thing for hoteliers to keep discounting rates,” Hussain said in comments published by UAE daily The National.

“Very soon they’ll be selling at cost price, or below your break-even point.”

Revenue per available room (REVPAR) in Dubai fell by more than 40 percent in Dubai last month, compared to the same month last year, according to data from STR Global, the paper reported.

Occupancy levels also fell to 67 percent, the report added.

The Monarch has also signed up to Facebook, which Hussain said was proving effective.

He said people would even have the chance to bid for the hotel’s ultra-luxury suite, The Monarch Suite, which this month hosted Paris Hilton and normally carries a price tag of AED49,000 a night.

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