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When Did In-Room Movies Get So Expensive?

February 27, 2012 at 10:25 AM | by | Comments (2)

With all the hubub leading up to the Oscars last night, we can't help but have movies on the brain. But since this is HotelChatter and not MovieChatter, we'll have to keep our film discussions to either movies filmed in hotels or watching movies in hotels. So we decided to go with the latter. More specifically, we want to talk about how expensive in-room movies are these days.

During our weekend trip to Scottdale a few weeks ago, we found ourselves perusing the in-room movies just for kicks. (Ok, and maybe because we were a little too tired to take on the town.) After we got over the novelty of perusing "still in the theater" movies, we were flabbergasted by how much these movies cost.

While there were some older (and not very good) movies available for $4.99, most of the newer releases were going for $16.99 plus tax. Some were even going for $19.99. Take a look at the movie options we encountered in the gallery below.

We remember the days when an in-room movie was $8. But the last time we probably ordered a movie was when it was somewhere around $12. But now, $17 dollars for a movie? That's crazy!

We get that hotels need to recoup the losses from phone calls (thanks to smartphones and internet connections) but offering movies for more than the price of a 24-hour internet connection seems counter-intuitive. Then again, $17 is still less than what you'd pay to go see a movie in the theaters.

What do you think? Are in-room hotel movies a total rip-off or are you willing to pay the price for a new release in the comfort of your hotel bed? Let us know in comments below!

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Its been years since I ordered an In-Room Movie

I want to know the Theater you go to that charges over $17! Most I have ever paid for a regular ticket is $11-12.

With the likes of Netflix, Redbox and other less legitimate ways to watch Hollywood's Latest and Greatest  - along people bringing their own laptops/tablets - The fact is In-Room Movies are going the way of making phone calls from the room, and just like the charges for those calls, the hotels/providers are going to fleece you for as much as they can get away with.

The one thing I will say that has improved is the choice, when it was just $8 I remember you got a choice of maybe 15-20 titles, these days it is hundreds of titles. Still won't pay the prices though.

David Ferner on February 27, 2012 at 10:44 AM #Permalink

It's the studios

It's not the Hotel nor the providers rasing the fees, it's the studios who make providers pay millions of dollars in 'minimum guarantees'. before any revenue get's shared, providers need to guarantee a certain amount per studio per annum

With VOD takes in decline there is no other ways around it for these companies to generate the revenues they need. So 'Hotels and providers do not fleece you for as much as they can get away with' they need to generate a certain amount to be able to pay the studios

It's only a matter of time before traditional VOD will cease to exist and direct streaming to he big screen will be the method of delivery. This will drop the cost of pay per view content, but will increase the cost of bandwidth even further. And how will Hotels pay for that? Indeed by charging for internet access be this direct, indirect or through tiers but free is not sustainable

ariemers on February 27, 2012 at 11:36 AM #Permalink

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