They all looked up as her grandfather stepped into the room and was followed by a tall, blondish man who looked vaguely familiar. Paula had done her research on David Connolly and she remembered him from high school. He’d been on the basketball team and he’d always had a quiet confidence about him. She didn’t know him back then, but she could picture him walking the hallways surrounded by his friends or his girlfriend, Missy. She was a cheerleader, and they were together all of senior year. Paula knew they’d broken up soon after, because Missy married a local Nantucket boy a few years later. Paula also thought she’d heard recently that they’d gotten divorced.

Her grandfather made the introductions all around, then he and David took their chairs. Her grandfather led the meeting, as usual and everyone gave their weekly updates. Paula handed out her copies of the numbers. She went through them quickly, giving brief summaries so that she didn’t bore anyone. Everyone nodded and she expected that to be the end of the meeting.

But then David opened his briefcase, pulled out a manila folder and flipped through it until he found a spreadsheet. He glanced at it and looked back at Paula’s handout.

“It looks like you’re down about ten percent from this time last year. Any idea why that might be?”

Paula glanced at her grandfather before speaking as she wasn’t sure if he’d want to answer. He nodded at her to go ahead.

“We are down some, just over ten percent for the year. It varies by month. It started when a new hotel opened two years ago. Nantucket Grand is right downtown and a lot of people like that. Do you think we should lower our prices? We haven’t done it yet.”

David shook his head. “No, I don’t think you should lower your prices. I think you should raise them.” Everyone at the table looked confused.

“You think we should raise them? We’re already one of the most expensive on the island,” her grandfather said.

“Yes. You don’t want to be one of them. You want to be the most expensive, most luxurious, most sought-after hotel on Nantucket. The people that come here can afford it. If they are looking for less expensive accommodations, there are plenty of options. There are many people that equate being the most expensive with being the best.”

“You really think we should raise all of our prices?” Paula wasn’t sure about that.

“Yes. But on the regular rooms don’t raise by much. We can research the prices and just go a hair above the rest. But on the suites and villas, those can go up by 10 to 20%. I’m guessing they stay booked pretty steadily?”

Paula nodded. “Yes. We don’t have as many of those rooms and they always go quickly.”