What is a hotel room "rack rate"?

What is a hotel room "rack rate"?

Catharine Hamm (Travel Editor, LA Times) gives expert video advice on: How should I pick a hotel?; What are the most common types of rooms offered by hotels? and more...

A hotel's rack rate, or its brochure rate, is usually the top maximum that it charges. In other words, there's no discount applied to the rack rate, it's just the top-of-the-line rate, and it's generally what you will be quoted if you want to know the ballpark of what a hotel charges.