I'll cite my personal experience. I've paid hundreds of dollars for a hotel night when on an expense account. As a tourist in the same city, I'll pay much less.

I'll cite my personal experience. I've paid hundreds of dollars for a hotel night when on an expense account. As a tourist in the same city, I'll pay much less. The loyalty programs are irrelevant for this issue. There's a bit of cartel behavior going on. So long as no one drops price dramatically, all the "business" hotels can stay roughly equal. The "cereal wars" of the late 1990s show what can happen when an industry competes on price -- demand stays constant and revenues drop. Maybe hotels are different, but I'd suspect that's only for tourism. Business travel is likely inelastic with respect to hotel costs.