Eujeanie

Interesting thing happened to me yesterday.

Found a price on the Marriott website for a package that included parking. Hit Select. Next page shows the right price, but doesn't mention the package by name or mention parking is included. Does say that parking is $37 per night.

I'm hesitant to book it, so I call the hotel directly, ask if there is in-house reservations. Girl at front desk says No, but she is familiar with that package, and since I can't book it on line I should talk to someone in Revenue Mgt. I said are you sure that would be the right dept? Yes, transfers me over, I get a machine, leave a message.

No call back for several hours, so I decided to see what would happen if I went ahead and booked it, ignoring the page where the package is not mentioned (it was cancellable). Sure enough, confirmation page is fine, right price, right package name, verbiage to say parking included. I'm happy.

Still no call back.

Today, don't ask me why, I just looked again to see if that package was still there. Today, 24 hours after calling RM (with still no call back), the package has increased in price by $30. Coincidence? Or am I too suspicious to want to connect the dots?

VickiSoCal

The management company sets rates- the revenue manager might be located at the property or at an office of the management company. If you name the property it is generally pretty easy to find out who the management company is.

Eujeanie

Portland, OR Marriott Downtown.

dayone

You're overthinking this. Packages come and go. Nothing new here.

VickiSoCal

City Center is owned by Sunstone, Waterfront was owned by Host, not sure if they still are.

RogerD408

To answer your title question, Yes.

It is possible a corporate rate is negotiated chain-wide. However, a company may strike a special deal with specific properties if they are located near company facilities or common meeting locations. Sometimes they will use a different rate code, sometimes they will just override the chain-wide rate code.

It would be nice if the system carried the terms throughout the system, but the only place that counts is what shows up on your confirmation. Taking the plunge was the best thing you could do.

Eujeanie

Still no call back, a day and a half later.

I had a feeling this person (revenue mgr) was not the right one to solve this issue for me, but wouldn't it have been nice for them to call and say "sorry, wrong dept, but here is the person who can help"...yes, I did not need them, but still...

We've stayed there twice before and really like the hotel, so that to me trumps any perceived slight, but it still would have been nice.

And yes, rate increases can occur at any time...just seemed like really odd timing to me.

writerguyfl

In the (non-Marriott) national chain I worked, rates are always set by individual hotels. The National Sales Office negotiates chain-wide discounts, not rates. The largest companies receive the largest discounts, which are based off of published rates set by each hotel.

Since rates vary drastically by market, it's not possible to give a fixed rate to a single company. A discount (10%, 20%, etc) allows hotels to price their rooms based on local market conditions while still providing incentives for large companies to stick to one chain/hotel group.

Someone with Marriott experience will have to confirm...but, I can't imagine they do it any differently.

RogerD408

Agree... But I see 20% off as being a rate too, usually represented as a dollar amount. Minor point.

writerguyfl

I was just clarifying, not trying to discredit your post.

Mr. Vker

One time Marriott had a weekend promotion that applied to hotels across the country-participating hotels. Some hotels opted in to include Thursday in the rate. Some didn't. When I checked in to the Marriott Williamsburg (no longer a Marriott), they tried to not honor the price because Thursday wasn't a weekend. I was a bit surprised as I booked a rate that was valid through marriott.com. It took platinum reservations to talk to them to resolve.

The promotion was a % off that included some perks-that was a chain promo. The rate was hotel specific though. Expanding it to Thursday was also at the hotel's discretion, which also made it even funnier that they tried to deny it.

jabbered

They may not be ducking your call.

It could be that the person that you left a voice mail for is out of the office for a day off, sick, or even on vacation. Depending on the size of a hotel and how the revenue management department is set up, the front desk clerk likely won't even know that person is out.

I normally put my out of office on my email, but rarely do so for my phone message as I rarely get phone calls to my direct number.

Eujeanie

It really doesn't matter - I got the room I wanted at the price I wanted.

If he does return from vacation or whatever I'll just thank him for returning my call and be done with it. If he doesn't ever call, it won't affect whether I stay there or not.

MSPeconomist

Especially if you've stayed at the property before, I would mention the lack of response to someone there. It isn't very professional to ignore a message, even if the guy can't help, and it could cost the hotel a lot of money if this is his SOP. Maybe you're going to book a big event as part of your next stay there, for all they know......

joshua362

I thinks that is highly optimistic if the OP left details of what he was trying to accomplish in the original post. A sales job is largely commision based - with lots of wasted time weeding out frivolous "looking around" from serious opportunities. Like a car dealer, they have you sized up within a few seconds.

Its not professional or right - but the way of the sales world and your call shouldn't have to be routed to them to get what you needed to know.

I used to book 20 or so rooms for a weekend regularly for youth sports. I had the (not so) bright idea of contacting a few properties to see if any pricing breaks would be available as a block. Those who bothered to call back always offered rates much higher than was available online. Just wasn't worth their time trying to slice $10 off a $129 room to a group of once a year (family = cheap) guests...