Hilton HHonors - lower rate by calling hotel directly?

I'm wondering if anyone has had any success in getting room rates at Hilton brand hotels lower than those advertised on the company website by calling the hotels directly and speaking to the local sales manager? Just curious if this is another viable option to the priceline.com route.

Many thanks,
TBH

I qualify for the government rate and the only positive experience I've had along those lines is when the Govt rate doesn't show up on the web site. I have booked rooms at that rate by calling the hotel directly.

Many travel publications recommend calling the hotel directly. It's only the cost & time of a phone call.

I wouldn't expect much success off already significantly discounted rates if one has a location-specific company code or other negotiated rate, however.

I tried that once and was transferred to Hilton's reservation line.

Calling a hotel is more useful if you are arriving same day. Rates can be set months in advance and if a hotel is slower than they expected they may offer cheaper rates for that night. It's easier to just give a lower rate for a day or two manually than to go into the system to change the rates.

it depends on the hotel. Some will just ask you to hold and transfer you to the 800 number. Some do not have access to some of the rates being offered online. Some have local specials or conventions they can book you into.

It doesn't hurt to try, my experience has been it doesn't work all that much, but my favorite one was the Hilton Mystic once, when the website was down, and the desk asked when I called "Are you with the clown convention, if you say yes you get half off the room rate"

Why, as a matter of fact, I am

Oh, and if you ever want a freaky experience, go to breakfast at a hotel when they have a clown conference staying there.

Some of us are afraid of clowns.

I might even opt out of that Hilton entirely if I knew about the clown convention.

The few times I have called I ended up with the lower rate. I always ask for the sales mngr. When calling it was because I had been getting a certain rate or promo before and that hotel did not have it online. I have never called just to haggle per se.

Yes!! I am actually staying at a hotel right now at a lower rate brought down by the sales manager. I've been doing about 2 weeks a month In the DC area and have been staying at Hiltons and HGIs for the last year. I just moved offices and the HGI near my office is terrible so I booked a room online in DC for $249 a night but my company just cut hotel per diems and they said I had to keep it under $220 a day. I called up the front desk, told them my situation, they transferred me to the sales manager, told him I'm loyal to Hilton, diamond, and need to stay at a hotel under $220 and he gave me the gov't per diem rate of $209, transferred me back to the front desk, told them the sales manager approved the $209 rate, they changed the rate, and voila. This might not work for shorter stays but it worked in my case (I'm staying 8 nights). So, I saved my company some money AND this hotel upgraded me to a suite. It took about half and hour but I say, it never hurts to ask.

I needed to work for 8 days in NYC. My company had blocked rooms at the Club Quarters, but as a HH Gold, I wanted to stay in a Hilton. The Hilton website offer was never below $240 a night for any Hilton. Emailed the closest Hilton and we traded emails a few times until they agreed to meet the $179 price of the Club Quarters. Score!

Yes, I was in Thailand and should have called the hotel as the rates the hotel was offerering was more than half less than on Hilton.com

I once got a $89 rate at the Las Vegas Hilton by calling and the cheapest on line was something like $229.

But I think the majority of the time you'll be quoted the same lowest rate you find on the internet and sometimes I've even been quoted higher rates than what's on Hilton.com

As several have said here, speak to the local sales manager during regular business hours. When they see you are Diamond or Gold and your travel patterns, they will usually work out a deal with you. I've even worked out drinks, breakfast or other perks depending on the brand or program.

A few years ago, back in college, I worked part time at an Embassy Suites. Before that I had worked at a Choice Hotel where all you did was haggle. Naturally, at Embassy I did the same for same day arrivals. Managers didn't like it much though. Every time you lowered the rate on the system a pop-up box would emerge where you had to type in why the discount was offered. I suppose "He was a nice guy" or "Took what I could get" wasn't a valid reason for them.

I was lucky a couple of time:
Hilton Berlin: with Easter 2009/2009 Got better price then published
Hilton Dusseldorf: Told the lady that the price was too high and that I needed two rooms for two nights; again it worked out. (March 2007)
Homewood Suites by Hilton® Anaheim-Main Gate Area
12005 Harbor Boulevard
Garden Grove, California, USA, 92840
Made a reservation mistake and once I found out what I did wrong the prices did went up: I called the hotel and they did change my reservation for the old price of USD90/room (September 2008)
So you can be lucky and always give it a try

I know this is almost kind of rude but has anybody ever emailed / called Hilton and asked to match their competitors room rate? I really like Hilton and would love to stay at one of their properties but for an upcomming stay they ask double of what I have a reservation for. I know they match status, I know airlines match competitors fares but what about a single reservation for a hotel room? Any experiences on this?

My suggestion is to call the hotel directly and they may do it.

I've done it once, but in reverse. I had a late night flight cancellation when connecting through DTW a few years back - rebooked for a very early flight.

I got the Westin in the airport to match the Hilton rate which is a few miles away as I didn't want to deal with the back and forth travel given the flight times I was dealing with.

BTW - the differntial in the originally quoted prices was close to 2 to 1.

Having formerly worked at a Hilton Garden Inn, we would match rates IF the property was of like, kind quality. I know that others (way back when I was there) like Embassy and Hampton in the same metro area would as well. Hiltons proper tend not to. Holiday and special event weekends we would never do it because we could get the rack rate almost every time. But random weekends and weekdays, if someone asked us then we would usually.

Then they pull out the AAA card and say, can I get 10% off that rate too and the awkward stare and silence begins.

But I say go for it, tell them the property you saw and if it's comparable you may be surprised. And skip to a front office manager or supervisor, because they usually have authority above a typical front desk staff, but it all depends on the location.

Thanx PDX. I wrote them an email and will let you know if and what they replied. To be honest, I already feel a little bit embarressed and I would bet they will never even think about my inquiry. But if they match the competitors price I wouldn't even think about asking for another discount. However, it is just for one night at a regular sunday night, and the price asked for is only 6 bucks less, than the hotels promotion rate, which of course is not available for my dates.

Check out this thread. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hhonors/924081-lower-rate-calling-hotel-directly.html

Emailing the hotel probably won't work. Go the direct route and call the hotel, NOT the main Hilton number and speak to the sales manager. I first called the front desk at the HGI DC and they put me through to the sales manager. I explained my situation and he authorized the front desk person to change my reservation to the lower rate.