To usher in 2015, Tim Ratliff booked a four-star hotel in Boston for half its typical price. He did not, however, know which one it was.
Mr. Ratliff, an air traffic controller from Ann Arbor, Mich., paid in full for a three-night stay at an unspecified hotel, advertised as having Frette bathrobes, an indoor pool, a private balcony off his suite and proximity to Boston Common. He bought it through Jetsetter, a travel site that sells so-called secret stays at high-end hotels, introduced with clues about their location, amenities and design.
While blind bookings have been around since the late 1990s — when Priceline pioneered them by encouraging consumers to “name your own price” — Jetsetter is among a growing number of sites that have focused exclusively on high-end properties.
With sales that include tantalizing hints about the mystery venues, consumers are increasingly willing to take what they see as a limited risk in return for a lower price.
For hotels, the sites offer the chance to recruit new potentially loyal customers while increasing occupancy rates — without broadcasting discounts to travelers accustomed to paying full price.
“Hoteliers have been very suspicious of these new channels,” said Patrick Bosworth, co-founder of Duetto, a hospitality revenue strategy firm in San Francisco. “But, these days, it’s very difficult for them to justify not participating.”
Brands including Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and selective boutique properties ranging from the Standard in New York to the Ventana Inn in Big Sur, Calif., have sold rooms at discounted rates — sometimes listed anonymously, sometimes identified to registered users of shopping communities — through sites like Jetsetter, Secret Escapes and Tablet Hotels.
Mr. Ratliff of Ann Arbor wound up staying at the Revere in Boston, whose identity he learned 72 hours after he booked. At the time, the least expensive rooms listed on the hotel’s site were about twice the $130 a night he paid. “I had a two-bed suite with a great view of the city,” he said, noting that his friends stayed nearby, at the Park Plaza hotel, and paid double what he did for a smaller space.
“I wasn’t that worried about it,” Mr. Ratliff said of booking the room. “I knew I wasn’t going to be staying at a Motel 6.”
Though he had never been to Boston, he said, he researched hotels near the park with indoor pools and balconies and narrowed the candidates before buying.
“Our customers are taking informed risks,” said Sean Murphy, editor in chief of Jetsetter, which also produces an online magazine.
For higher-stakes occasions, some consumers have hit the “checkout” button based on educated guesses. Megan Feffer, a publicist from Washington, reserved a hotel room for her honeymoon from Jetsetter in 2013. She purchased five nights at an unidentified resort in Kapalua, Hawaii, on Maui; it turned out to be the Ritz-Carlton. For a room overlooking the golf course, she paid $300 a night, between 50 and 70 percent less than the property’s advertised rates at the time for comparable rooms.
“We figured out which hotel it was before we bought,” she said, having figured out its identity based on the mileage given from the airport.
She and her husband stayed at the property in August, during the shoulder season, but learned at check-in that the hotel was fully booked.
Allison Sitch, a spokeswoman for the Ritz-Carlton, said the Kapalua property had not participated in such sales recently. “Flash sales don’t figure into our overall revenue strategy,” she said.
Jennifer Kavanagh, director of sales, revenue and Internet management at the Revere in Boston, called secret sales and members-only flash sales important ways for the hotel to fill beds during slower periods. In addition to Jetsetter, the Revere sells rooms through Secret Escapes and Living Social, she said, calling those channels discreet.
Secret Escapes and Tablet Hotels, which name the properties whose rooms they sell, said they thought hotel brands benefited from being identified on their sites.
“We’re selective in curating properties,” said Laurent Vernhes, chief executive and co-founder of Tablet. “For our customers, it’s not all about price. It’s about taste,” he said.
Ms. Kavanagh of the Revere said that even beyond the basic desire to increase occupancy during slower periods, the hotel sought to win over returning business. “These third parties are extensions of our marketing,” she said. “We want people who come in the slow season to come back in the busy season, and book directly through us.”
Some guests, however, may see such sales as more about the sport of sampling properties than a path to regular patronage. Mr. Ratliff, who travels regularly, has also booked through Hotel Tonight, which specializes in last-minute deals. He said he sometimes chose to switch hotels within the same city on the same trip for variety. On a recent visit to New York, he stayed at three hotels in four days.
Mr. Bosworth of Duetto likened today’s online hotel marketplace to the cereal aisle at the grocery store. “We’ve now reached a level of maturity in the market,” he said, “where you have a proliferation of options, and they’re subtly different.”
John Caine, chief product officer at Priceline, said that the site had increased its own offerings, introducing an “express deals” feature in 2013 that allowed customers, in the style of Jetsetter, to see details of a specific property, including its star rating and amenities but not its name, before booking.
“People now have better access to information about properties,” Mr. Caine said. “And they’re very comfortable with taking on a little bit of uncertainty about where they’re staying if it comes with value or a discount.”
In the face of increasing interest, some hotel companies have sought to cut out the middleman altogether. Starwood Hotels began its own flash-sale site, SPG Hot Escapes, in 2013. Each Wednesday, it lists discounted rates for stays within the next six weeks. “Guests like the urgency of booking,” said Maire Griffin, a spokeswoman for Starwood.
The spontaneous booking behavior that flourished during the recession has become the norm, said Mr. Vernhes of Tablet.
Mr. Murphy, of Jetsetter, agreed, saying: “Travelers are more curious and willing to take leaps, and see it as part of the adventure. Everybody wants a unique story that nobody has.”
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