#331: How Independent Hotels Should Think About Pricing | with Anurag Verma

In this episode of The Modern Hotelier, David Millili and Steve Carran sit down with Anurag Verma, co-founder of PriceLabs, to explore how data, revenue management, and technology are transforming pricing strategies for independent hotels and alternative accommodations.

Anurag shares his journey from growing up across India and studying mathematical optimization to working in revenue management at United Airlines and eventually co-founding PriceLabs. He explains how lessons from the airline industry, especially the importance of building systems that can handle messy, real-world data, shaped his approach to hospitality technology.

The conversation dives into why relying solely on gut instinct, historical spreadsheets, or competitor pricing can create revenue blind spots. Anurag explains how hoteliers can use market demand, booking trends, events, occupancy data, and their own property performance to make smarter pricing decisions. He also discusses the role of automation and why technology should support human judgment rather than replace it.

You’ll also hear how PriceLabs evolved from a solution for a single Airbnb listing into a global revenue management platform serving short-term rentals, independent hotels, B&Bs, hostels, RV parks, and other lodging businesses.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

The biggest revenue management blind spots for independent hoteliersWhy competitor pricing isn't always the right demand signalHow hotels and short-term rentals can think differently about comp setsHow PriceLabs was founded and evolvedWhy independent and smaller lodging businesses can be powerful early customers for new technologyThis episode is sponsored by PriceLabs: https://hello.pricelabs.co/

Watch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RiaMuqdwTXs

Links:

Anurag on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuragxverma

PriceLabs: https://hello.pricelabs.co/

For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/331

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