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Become a partner →For almost ten years, Nina Erickson barely changed the prices at Bozeman's only hostel. In May 2025 she switched on Pricepoint to build a rainy-day fund. Then came a flood and a fire.
+18.2%: average bed rate in the first summer on Pricepoint (June–August 2025) vs summer 2024
Same revenue, 15% fewer guests: summer 2025 revenue matched 2024 on 15.4% fewer bed nights
+7.8%: summer 2026 revenue vs summer 2024, with the average rate up 29.4%
9.5 years: of near-flat pricing before Pricepoint, from $28 to $32 a dorm bed
“I'm just really grateful I got on Pricepoint before both of the things happened.” — Nina Erickson, Owner, Treasure State Hostel
Property: Treasure State Hostel, an independent 42-bed hostel, including work-trade and volunteer beds
Location: Downtown Bozeman, Montana, USA, about 1.5 hours from Yellowstone National Park
Challenge: Nearly ten years of flat pricing left no cushion for repairs, rising insurance and taxes, or emergencies
Solution: Pricepoint adjusts rates automatically within caps Nina sets, so the hostel earns more in busy periods without price gouging
PMS: Cloudbeds
On Pricepoint since: May 2025
Nina Erickson grew up in Bozeman and has travelled to all seven continents, usually staying in hostels. She has owned the hostel on Main Street for 11 years. Today it has 42 beds, a shared kitchen, a library and free breakfast. Nina also serves on the board of the North American Hostel Association.
“We're the only hostel in my town in Bozeman. In the US it's not as common for hostels. But we're also the most affordable option.” — Nina Erickson
For nine and a half years, Nina barely touched her prices. Dorm beds started at $28 and rose about 50 cents a year to $32. In the last two years she added $2 on Fridays and Saturdays, and that was it.
“I was just a terrible capitalist. I never really changed prices.” — Nina Erickson
It was a choice, not an oversight. Bozeman is expensive, and in summer the town fills with visitors heading to Yellowstone. Nina didn't want to price out the young travellers the hostel exists for.
“I was super against price gouging. I didn't want it to be inaccessible for young travelers.” — Nina Erickson
But flat prices left nothing in reserve. Insurance and taxes can change sharply from one year to the next, and an old building always needs repairs.
“It's just a way for us to have a little bit more funding if we run into rainy-day things or need repairs.” — Nina Erickson
Finding a revenue management system was one of Nina's main goals at the North American Hostel Association conference in Playa del Carmen, in spring 2025. That's where she met Pricepoint. Pricepoint connects directly to Cloudbeds, and the hostel went live in May 2025.
“I don't really go in there and manually change anything. I know a lot of property owners who constantly micromanage. I'm grateful that this does it for me, because I'm just so busy.” — Nina Erickson
“What I was told when I signed up is it actually works a lot better if I'm not micromanaging it. And I'm like, great, that's what I want.” — Nina Erickson
Summer 2025 was hard for small accommodation across the US, with far fewer international visitors. Treasure State Hostel felt it too: from June to August it sold 15.4% fewer bed nights than in summer 2024. But it was also the hostel's first summer with dynamic pricing. The average bed rate rose 18.2%, from $44.47 to $52.55, and revenue held level with the year before despite the drop in guests.
The second summer went further. From June to August 2026, revenue was 7.8% higher than in summer 2024, and the average bed rate was 29.4% higher, at $57.53.
The hostel sits beneath a restaurant. In September 2025, a dishwasher flood upstairs closed Treasure State Hostel for six weeks, until 15 October. The cushion from the summer helped carry it through.
Then, on 10 September 2026, the same restaurant caught fire. Water and fire damage closed the hostel again, this time with no reopening date.
The insurers started asking for comparable numbers to calculate lost income. Before Pricepoint, the hostel had no record of what busy periods could earn. Now it does.
“Since we have revenue management, we're like, no, it would have been higher. We had the summers where we got a lot more per bed when we were busy, so we can point to that.” — Nina Erickson
“It's a tool that's helping us right now, and I'm really grateful for that.” — Nina Erickson
“Even though it's worse, I feel like I have community and I have support. We'll get through it.” — Nina Erickson
With the hostel closed and hundreds of bookings to handle, Nina asked Pricepoint to suspend her account. One email to her account executive, and it was done.
“When you're going through a crisis like that, with hundreds of bookings, the last thing you want to do is have to send six emails just to get your account suspended temporarily.” — Nina Erickson
“I'd rather pay a little bit more and be taken care of and feel heard, than save a little bit of money and then, when things go wrong, not have that support.” — Nina Erickson
“There are caps in the way that you guys set it up. It's not like I'm going to be charging $500 for a bed.” — Nina Erickson
“Having a system that automatically does it makes it that much easier, so I'm not panicking like, oh my gosh, we need money right now, so I need to triple it.” — Nina Erickson
“The only reason we want to do different pricing and get more money is so that we can improve our space and pay our bills. It's not like I'm doing it to open ten hostels. That's not why you start a hostel. It's for community, and to keep our doors open.” — Nina Erickson
“Whenever somebody's asking about revenue management, I always say Pricepoint is what works for me. Here's my contact, talk to them.” — Nina Erickson
Will dynamic pricing make my hostel unaffordable?
Not unless you want it to. Treasure State Hostel sets caps, so Pricepoint raises rates in busy periods without going past limits Nina is comfortable with.
Do I need to manage it every day?
No. Nina rarely changes anything by hand. She tells the Pricepoint team about big upcoming events, and the system does the rest.
What if my property has to close?
Pricepoint suspended Treasure State Hostel's account after one email, and its pricing history stayed available to support the insurance claim.
