Data

Rate Radar provides comprehensive competitive intelligence by collecting, processing, and presenting hotel rate data from Booking.com.

This guide explains how Rate Radar gathers data, ensures accuracy, and allows you to export information for further analysis.

How Rate Radar Collects Data

Rate Radar collects real-time hotel pricing, availability, and rate data directly from Booking.com, the world's largest online travel agency. This ensures you're seeing the same rates your guests see when shopping for accommodation online.

What Data Is Collected

For each property in your comp set, Rate Radar tracks:

  • Pricing Information

    • Current rates across different room types.

    • Rate variations by occupancy level (1 or 2 guests).

    • Meal inclusion pricing (room only, breakfast included).

    • Rate type differences (lowest available, non-refundable, free cancellation).

  • Availability Data

    • Room availability status.

    • Low availability indicators.

    • Sold out properties.

    • Availability by room type.

  • Rate Conditions

    • Cancellation policies.

    • Booking restrictions.

    • Meal inclusions.

    • Special offers and promotions.

  • Historical Data

    • Up to 30 days of pricing history.

    • Rate change tracking.

    • Price movement patterns.

  • Future Visibility

    • Rates for up to 365 days ahead.

How Often Rate Radar Updates Competitor Prices

Rate Radar uses a combination of automatic and manual update mechanisms to ensure you always have access to current competitive intelligence.

Automatic Hourly Updates

Rate Radar automatically refreshes competitor pricing data every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means:

  • Fresh data is collected 24 times per day for each property.

  • You always have recent competitive intelligence

  • Rate changes are detected quickly

  • No manual effort required to maintain current data

The automatic update cycle runs continuously in the background, ensuring your dashboard always reflects recent market conditions.

When Automatic Updates Occur

Automatic updates happen every hour.

This consistent schedule means you can rely on having data that's never more than one hour old when you check your dashboard.

Update Status Display

In the Calendar and Detail views, you'll see timing information at the top of the page:

  • Last updated: Shows when rates were last refreshed (e.g., "Last updated 14:00")

  • Next update: Shows when the next automatic update will occur (e.g., "Next update 15:00")

This transparency helps you understand exactly how current your data is at any given moment.

Unlimited Manual Updates

In addition to automatic hourly updates, Rate Radar provides unlimited manual updates that you can trigger whenever you need the absolute latest information.

Trigger a manual update when:

  • You're making same-day pricing decisions and need current data immediately.

  • You know or suspect competitors have just changed their rates.

  • You want to verify rate changes before an important meeting or call.

  • You're responding to a sudden market change or event.

  • You need the most up-to-date information between automatic hourly updates.

How to Trigger Manual Updates

  • In Overview: Click the "Update prices" button at the top right of the page to refresh all visible data.

  • In Calendar: Click "Update month's prices" to refresh all rates for the currently displayed month.

  • In Detail: Click "Update month's prices" to refresh the data table and line chart for the visible month.

Manual updates provide immediate access to current rates without waiting for the next automatic hourly refresh.

Why Hourly Updates Matter

Hotel rates can change frequently, especially:

  • During high-demand periods.

  • As dates approach (last-minute pricing adjustments).

  • In response to competitive moves.

  • During special events or local circumstances.

  • On weekends and holidays.

Hourly updates ensure you're never making decisions based on stale data. You can trust that your competitive intelligence reflects what guests are seeing when they search online.

How Rate Radar Detects and Sanitises Hidden Deals

One of Rate Radar's key features is its ability to detect and sanitise hidden OTA deals, ensuring you're always comparing real, publicly available competitor rates.

What Are Hidden Deals?

Hidden deals are discounted rates that aren't available to all guests equally. These include:

  • Geo-Targeted Discounts

    Rates that vary based on the searcher's location. For example, a guest searching from France might see different rates than someone searching from the UK, even for the same dates and room type.

  • Member-Only Pricing

    Special rates available only to loyalty programme members or customers who are logged into their OTA account. These "Genius" or "VIP" rates aren't accessible to the general public.

  • Device-Specific Offers

    Discounts that only appear when searching from a mobile app versus desktop website.

  • First-Time Booking Discounts

    Special rates offered to new customers that returning guests wouldn't see.

  • Retargeting Offers

    Personalised discounts shown to guests who previously visited a property but didn't book.

Why Hidden Deals Matter

Hidden deals create problems for competitive analysis:

  • They skew comparisons

  • If one property appears to have much lower rates due to a hidden deal, you might lower your rates unnecessarily to compete with pricing that most guests can't actually access.

  • They're not representative

    Hidden deals don't reflect the true market rate that the majority of your target guests will see when shopping.

  • They can mislead strategy

    Making pricing decisions based on hidden deals can result in revenue loss as you compete against rates that don't represent real market conditions.

What This Means for You

When you view competitor rates in Rate Radar, you can be confident that:

  • All rates are publicly accessible to typical guests

  • Comparisons are fair and representative

  • Your pricing decisions are based on real market conditions

  • You're not reacting to artificial or restricted pricing

This data quality ensures your competitive intelligence is accurate and actionable, leading to better revenue management decisions.

Exporting Rate Data

Rate Radar allows you to export competitive data from multiple views, enabling you to create custom reports, share insights with colleagues, and perform additional analysis in spreadsheet applications.

Export File Format

Rate Radar exports data in a spreadsheet-compatible format (CSV).

How to Export Data

  1. Navigate to the View

    Go to the view containing the data you want to export (Overview, Calendar, Detail, or date detail popup).

  2. Set Your Filters

    If you're in Calendar or Detail view, adjust filters to show exactly what you want to export.

  3. Click Apply

    If you've changed filters, click the "Apply" button to refresh the view with your selections.

  4. Click Export

    Click the "Export" button at the top right of the view.

  5. Download the File

    Your browser will download the export file. The filename typically includes the date and view type for easy identification.

Common Export Use Cases

  • Weekly Revenue Meeting Reports

    Export Calendar view with 7-day comparison to show:

    • How rates moved during the week

    • Current competitive positioning

    • Upcoming opportunities and threats

  • Monthly Strategy Planning

    Export Detail view for the next month to:

    • Plan pricing strategy date by date

    • Identify high-demand periods

    • Spot promotional opportunities

  • Budget and Forecast Validation

    Export 12-month outlook data to:

    • Compare forecast assumptions to current competitive rates

    • Validate seasonal pricing strategies

    • Adjust future projections

  • Specific Room Category Analysis

    Export filtered data for specific room types:

    • Suite category competitive positioning

    • Family room pricing strategy

    • Luxury segment analysis

  • Response to Sudden Market Changes

    Export current data when events occur:

    • Competitor rate drops

    • Unexpected demand surges

    • Local events or circumstances

Export Limitations

  • Data reflects point in time

    Exports capture data at the moment you download them. Rates may change after export, so note the export date/time on your reports.

  • Filter dependencies

    Only filtered data is exported. If you want comprehensive data, you may need to export multiple times with different filter settings.

  • Historical data limits

    Exports show up to 30 days of historical rate changes based on your "Change since" filter selection.

Data Accuracy and Reliability

Rate Radar is committed to providing accurate, reliable, competitive intelligence:

  • Direct Source

    Data comes directly from Booking.com, the world's largest OTA, ensuring authenticity.

  • Frequent Updates

    Hourly automatic updates plus unlimited manual updates keep data current.

  • Hidden Deal Sanitisation

    Removal of geo-targeted and member-only pricing ensures fair comparisons.

  • Consistent Methodology

    All properties collected using the same approach for apples-to-apples comparisons.

Getting Help

If you have questions about Rate Radar, email: [email protected]