Nobody's mentioning a secret word at all.

Sure, if the demand is there, then hotels charge whatever they like - if Taylor Swift is performing, or if it's a Champions League final, or a convention is on, for example - but for evenings of high availability, there's an understanding that businesses can't justify ridiculous expenditure.

Certainly with my last few employers - one of which had their own travel cell, and otherwise used outsourced travel providers likes the Hogg Robinson Group - each country had a maximum rate you could charge back to the employer on expenses depending on country, or sometimes depending on city based on the granularity of your company's policy.

Hotel chains (and some of the more flexible independent hotels or B&B's) know this, and are more than happy to give the room away at that rate - I suspect the cancellation terms are a lot harsher though.

I've certainly called hotels ahead of time, told them what my employer would pay for a room without my expenses report being subject to automatic audit, and they've dropped the price from £140 to £80 a night.

I would imagine that so long as there's a category for that available on the receptionist's till, then they're not bothered how much a room is sold for so long as it's sold.