Duration ladder: one hour to a full night in your suite

Hotels in Amsterdam publish a rack rate and then depart from it daily: a suite costs more during a trade fair, a canal view more than a courtyard, a Saturday more than a Tuesday. The ladder is the opposite discipline. It is a brief schedule of lengths, each carrying one price, and the figure a guest reads before writing is the figure the reservation carries.

The rungs

• The first rung: sixty minutes at EUR 180.
• The second: ninety minutes at EUR 270.
• The third: a two-hour session at EUR 360.
• The fourth: a three-hour session at EUR 540.
• Beyond that, each added hour at EUR 180.
• At the far end, the eight-hour overnight at EUR 1,250, for one therapist only.
• Alongside the rungs, two therapists together, billed at EUR 360 for each hour they spend with the guest (a two-hour pair is EUR 720; a three-hour pair, EUR 1,080).

What leaves the price untouched

The category of room makes no difference, nor does the zone of the city, the hour of the night, the technique requested or the currency in the guest's wallet. A junior suite on the canal ring and a standard double beside the RAI are quoted identically. Peak dates do not lift the figure either, although they do bring the deposit into play.

Reading the ladder for payment

Each rung also indicates how the reservation is confirmed. From three hours upward, half is sent ahead: EUR 270 against three hours with one therapist, EUR 540 against three hours with a pair. Two hours reserved for tomorrow afternoon are confirmed with EUR 180 of the EUR 360. The rungs from one hour to two hours are paid wholly in the room only when the guest is already known to the house and wants the session today; a first reservation of ninety minutes is confirmed with EUR 135 and the other EUR 135 follows at the door.

The balance on arrival entry explains the second payment, the overnight entry covers the longest rung, and the price page keeps the ladder current.