During MWC week the city is plagued by street crime. I should know, I had my wallet stolen on day one of the show back in 2011. I’ll be attending again this year and I’m preparing myself to robbed once again, just in a more “legitimate” manner.

Finding suitable accommodation in the city during MWC week is an annual challenge and I’ve been hunting around for a suitable hotel. Now, I’m not naïve to the concept of supply and demand, but how a company prices its services and “presents” them to consumers can have a real impact on the brand.

With upwards of 50,000 delegates hitting the city you expect rooms to be at a premium, but when you run a hotel availability search and see the price deltas you can’t help but be floored.

The screen grab below is from a rather nice hotel in a central location. From an average nightly rate of 160 euros in February, the rate jumps to 2500 euros per night during MWC. That’s a price increase of 1,462%.

I may be on business but I am still a consumer and I don’t want the price delta to be presented to me like this. It just makes me mad. I can’t help but feel that the hotel is profiteering above and beyond the basic principles of supply and demand.

Good luck to you Barcelona. London hotels got too greedy during the 2012 Olympics and guess what…many fo the rooms remained empty.