GMATPrep : Hotel bookings in Miami are only done through

[NandishSS]

Hotel bookings in Miami are only done through travel websites. In 2011, there were 50,000 fewer hotel room night bookings then there were in 2010. Hotel owners are blaming the apartment renting service by new website Miami@50 that not only sells hotel room bookings at bargain prices but also allows people to rent out their houses. The website owners dispute the charge stating that they only rented out only 8,000 apartments through their website. They claim that the down economy and not their website is responsible for majority of the decline in hotel room bookings.

Which of the following if true most seriously weakens the Miami@50 owners claim?

A. Miami@50 rents apartments at a much lower price then it rents hotel rooms.
B. Miami@50 rented out at least 8 times as many hotel room nights bookings as apartments.
C. Most apartments in that Miami@50 rented out were rented out multiple times.
D. Miami@50's profit from renting out apartments was higher than it was for renting out hotel rooms.
E. Most of Miami@50's customers preferred renting an apartment to renting a hotel room

OA: C

Why A is wrong?

[spoiler]If Miami@50 rents apartments at a much lower price then everybody would opt for an apartments but not hotel rooms.[/spoiler]

Thanks
Nandish

[GMATGuruNY]

Hotel bookings in Miami are only done through travel websites. In 2011, there were 50,000 fewer hotel room night bookings then there were in 2010. Hotel owners are blaming the apartment renting service by new website Miami@50 that not only sells hotel room bookings at bargain prices but also allows people to rent out their houses. The website owners dispute the charge stating that they only rented out only 8,000 apartments through their website. They claim that the down economy and not their website is responsible for majority of the decline in hotel room bookings.

Which of the following if true most seriously weakens the Miami@50 owners claim?

A. Miami@50 rents apartments at a much lower price then it rents hotel rooms.
B. Miami@50 rented out at least 8 times as many hotel room nights bookings as apartments.
C. Most apartments in that Miami@50 rented out were rented out multiple times.
D. Miami@50's profit from renting out apartments was higher than it was for renting out hotel rooms.
E. Most of Miami@50's customers preferred renting an apartment to renting a hotel room

Premise: There were 50,000 fewer hotel room bookings in 2011 than there were in 2010, but Miami@50 rented out only 8,000 apartments.
Conclusion: Miami@50 is not responsible for a majority of the decline in hotel room bookings.

To weaken the conclusion, the correct answer must show that Miami@50 IS responsible for the decline in hotel room bookings.
In other words, the OA must explain how the company's 8,000 apartments could be responsible for 50,000 fewer hotel room bookings.

C: Most apartments in that Miami@50 rented out were rented out multiple times.
This option clearly explains how 8,000 apartments could be responsible for 50,000 fewer hotel room bookings: each of the 8,000 apartments was rented out MULTIPLE TIMES.

The correct answer is C.

A: Miami@50 rents apartments at a much lower price then it rents hotel rooms.
Even if the lower price enabled Miami@50 to rent out all of apartments, the company's conclusion is not weakened, since it can still claim that the relatively small number of apartments listed on its website (8,000) could not be responsible for the much larger decline in hotel room bookings (50,000).
Eliminate A.