Hilton HHonors - how are corp rates negotiated?

i was looking at my corp rates and it seems that the discount we get (vs what i see online) isnt always proportional to the number of contracted nights. so i'm just wondering if anyone has any idea how negotiations work? i suppose that besides the number of contracted room nights, the location and number of rooms play a part, but what else is there?

as an aside ... for a major city, how many room nights would be required to entice a hotelier to give steep (say 40%) discounts? 100 room nights? 1000?

i understand that corp rates are confidential for some companies, so i was looking for a rule of thumb than actual examples ... i tried searching but didnt find much info so i thought i'd post to ask. i apologise in advance if this is inappropriate ...

i was looking at my corp rates and it seems that the discount we get (vs what i see online) isnt always proportional to the number of contracted nights. so i'm just wondering if anyone has any idea how negotiations work? i suppose that besides the number of contracted room nights, the location and number of rooms play a part, but what else is there?

as an aside ... for a major city, how many room nights would be required to entice a hotelier to give steep (say 40%) discounts? 100 room nights? 1000?

i understand that corp rates are confidential for some companies, so i was looking for a rule of thumb than actual examples ... i tried searching but didnt find much info so i thought i'd post to ask. i apologise in advance if this is inappropriate ...

While I don't know the finer details of my company's negotiated rates, we negotiated a Hilton system wide discount as well as individual hotel discounts.

so u're saying that you get a certain percentage off for all hilton family hotels, and for certain hotels you get a little extra over that?

From what I know, discounts can be at both the corporate and individual property level. Our company tried to get a discounted rate an Embassy Suites and they said we needed to guarantee 100 nights during the year at that location. Not sure if that's the same level other properties use, or just this one.

As a VERY rough guide to many corporate rates, take a look at the government rates.

As mentioned by Hotel-Junkie above, my corporation has negotied a general discount at all international Hiltons and a couple of Conrads (no US properties). But this does not apply at resorts. In addition, in cities with high usage, my company has negotiate rates with individual hotels. These can be much more than your 40% example ( e.g abt $75 in one property where the Hilton.com flexible rate is abt $140.

Some of the local negotiations also result in a free breakfast, inclusive taxes and automatice upgrade to the Executive Floor upon confirmation.

It seem to depend upon how the hotel values your business

Chain wide, I get 6% off any Hilton, 6pm day of cancellation, and no early departure fee...

Then at specific hotels ("Preferred Hotels") we have a team that goes in there and talks to the sales manager and negotiates a rate. As employees, when we get to a city, and we find a hotel we like, we can call up the group in charge of getting us rates, and they go out on our behalf and negotiate a rate based on # of people, # of days, and the days we are there, etc. They usually get us internet free too :)

Example, in DC, we were stying at the Hilton Embassy Row. I called up the Embassy Suites on 22nd, got the Sales Manager's information and passed it to our "engagement lodging desk". They then went out and got us an awesome rate (WAY above the 6% off)



so u're saying that you get a certain percentage off for all hilton family hotels, and for certain hotels you get a little extra over that?

I have not had very good luck with negotiating a corporate/volume discount at a Hilton property. Our company is a small (10ee's) specialized consulting firm, but we travel a lot. Since late 2005 we have been on a significant consulting project a bit South of San Jose - and been staying at the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scott's Valley.

The project is expected to last through at least most of 2006 and I estimated that we'd have 125+ room nites at this single property. Upon contacting the Sales Mgr to negotiate a discount, the best he would offer was about a 10% off their normal online rate with no perks (breakfast, internet, etc) and he made it sound like he was bending over backwards to do us this favor, including clamining he was going to "audit our travel" each month, etc.

I have no problem with the level of commitment, but his attitude was really poor - not to mention that at least 50% of the time we can simply get a better rate online simply by using AAA or some other promotional rate.

I also spoke with the GM at this property about the situation last time I was there, and he said there was nothing he could/would do about it.

Subsequently, we're seeking out an alternate lodging choice- probably will end up at a Starwood property a little farther away, but we have spoken with Sales Mgrs at 2 properties and they have been very professional and willing to negotiate a win-win situation.

Corporate rates are not always less than the current prevailing rate. I have been checking some availability later this year and for some reason my corporate rate is at least $25-30 higher than the hilton.com rate. I now check all rates if I want to ensure the best "deal".

interesting ... i'm just curious how the contracted room nights can be enforced -- it seems to be pure honesty and goodwill.

interesting ... i'm just curious how the contracted room nights can be enforced -- it seems to be pure honesty and goodwill.
Depends. Sometimes the desk will check with the company, particularly if it's set up as a direct bill. In most cases, I'd bet they don't care too much, so long as it puts butts in beds.

Disclaimer: this is just my idle speculation. Anyone know for sure?

I have negotiated 3-4 small contracts for corp rates. We are a small consulting firm and sometimes can leverage client rates but sometimes prefer our own properties.

Have not negotiated anything with Hilton except indirectly but Have negotiated 3 with Hyatt and 1 with HIX over the last few year. The indirect Hilton rate I have helped to negotiate, the hotel used to have a rate with the client and lost the client when they raised the rate above the expense cap. I told them what I could pay within expense policy and if they cannot match it, I have no choice but go accross the road to Marriott Courtyard or Holiday Inn. They wanted to regain the client so they did a special rate for me and some of my colleagues and they later got the client back with an agreement on that rate.

Usually you need a minimal of 50 nights (sometimes estimates are fine) and preferably the hotel should have a significant number of free rooms frequently or really want you or your client as a client. It helps if you can demostrate some rates you can access elsewhere. What I have done is to tell the sales manager what my cap was and/or what the client's rates at other hotels which I can access are. If they know they need to compete, it may be easier to negotiate. Also, it is easier to negotiate during lower season than high season...

Our corporate rates are just 115% of the normal rates on hilton.com.

Seriously, don't know how these "special negotiated" rates with my company are always more expensive than booking online.

so u're saying that you get a certain percentage off for all hilton family hotels, and for certain hotels you get a little extra over that?

As far as I can tell, we get a fixed % rate off of the prevailing "rack rate" across the entire Hilton chain. At certain properties we've negotiated an even better rate. We use the Hilton Direct website with our company codes hard coded into the system.

When our corporate rate is available, it is ALWAYS lower than any published/internet rate available...sometimes it's only a few bucks cheaper...sometimes it can be over a 50% discount (even in peak season).

I use my corp rates for both business and leisure travel. Book my corp rate when I went to the HHV last year...saved about $50/night for my 7 night stay!