nba1017

Sometimes when I know I need to be in a specific destination for a couple days, and have the time to shop around for the hotel I would most like to stay at, I will explore the various rates and variations between properties. Once and a while, a particular hotel will be significantly more expensive than a fairly comparable one, and I will call and speak to a reservations manager and explain that I would like to stay at the hotel but that the rates are uncompetitive. More often than not, I receive a discounted offer from the rack rate, usually around ~20%.

Other times, I will simply email a hotel (in-house reservations) and tell them that I intend to frequent hotels in a specific area over a fixed period (one weekend a month for a year) and want to do a "trial" run for a night or two. They usually get back to me with a similar discounted rate and/or amenities such as breakfast or the like.


Do you ever negotiate with hotels? If so, what do you do?

black dawn

no, never tried it, but that is interesting that you can

Nola Rice

Big Daddy does it quite often. Sometimes just gives them a pricepoint and the competition name. But Big Daddy is willing to walk away at the last minute and stay where ever is available sometimes. Thinks it is a game. He does this only on business trips where points don't matter, it is a better location, or a hotel he wants to try.

He does research the area and is successful more often than not.

rbwpi

Yes. As far as I'm concerned, everything is negotiable, except my fee. "nba1017" approach of contacting the reservations manager has yielded excellent results for me. Most hotels will accomodate your reasonable request, as unoccupied rooms are a perishable commodity.

QueenOfCoach

I am OK with negotiating, but I would do so truthfully.

If that is the actual truth, then great. If it's just a negotiating tactic, then boo-hiss.

nba1017

Of course, I should clarify a bit. I've never been able to negotiate a FHR rate, for example, as I'm almost 100% positive that these are fixed by Amex and the hotels and include specific perks. Within this, of course, I've found the perks to be negotiable--early check-in, using a dinner credit for lunch, etc. But by and large I've only been able to negotiate off a "best available rate" with no extras included.

Something that I've had a great deal of success with when I need to book a room on short notice is asking about upgrade space. Usually if a hotel knows it has a suite that will be empty the next night, they will give it to me for the rate of a standard room and make back the difference on F+B and other incidentals.


And I don't lie when I make such a request. Granted, I've embellished a little--once every six weeks instead of once a month, for example--but I'd have a problem with blatantly lying to save some money.

mbstone

What you're describing is the low-tech equivalent of bidding for rooms on Priceline, and maybe the bidding websites (e.g. betterbidding.com or hotwire) can give you some useful data points to use in your negotiations. Or you could learn to bid on PL if you don't already.

nba1017

Well, it's not exactly. I don't ever prepay for a hotel room upfront and I have an exact choice of room category and hotel, which sites such as hotwire don't necessarily offer.

pshuang

Yes, I will negotiate when the circumstances are appropriate.

Examples:

• Last year I spent 60 nights at a suburban Holiday Inn mostly on Monday-Friday stays during the spring and summer. About 10 days in, I spoke with the hotel manager and promised good loyalty if he would give me an $80/night rate for anybody from my company. Pretty much nobody else from my company stayed much at that property (they're mostly Marriott loyalists), but I figured the property did fine just from my incremental business. Sure, there are road warriors whose totals eclipse mine, but an additional 50 nights of occupancy from me was better than an additional empty room most of those nights when the hotel didn't sell out. I didn't lie; I said my company had a long service engagement that would result in a lot of travel to that location (true), but I wasn't committing to any specific number of nights, not even on a hand-shake basis. Usually the best published discounted rate (e.g., AAA) at this property is about $110/night.
• This year, thanks to Hyatt's FFN promotion late last year convincing me to give Hyatt a try, I've been almost exclusively a Hyatt guy. I went to a Hyatt Place one freeway exit down from last year's suburban Holiday Inn, talked to the property manager, and voila, she matched the $80/night. Best published discounted rates are usually also in the $110/night range, although occasionally the property runs a $70/night special, in which case I just reserve the available nights at that rate. An interesting coincidence was that in my conversation with the manager, truly long-term rates came up in the conversation, and the stock rate that she could offer was $2400/month, which works out to the same $80/night. She mentioned that before I mentioned the rate I was getting one exit down, though. Maybe she thinks that I came up with my number based on dividing hers by 30.... Anyway, similarly, most nights this hotel didn't sell out, so my 60 nights of incremental business so far this year has a fine thing for this property.
• Late last year, I knew in advance that I had an upcoming multiple-week stay in upstate New York. A bit unusually, I was planning to keep my hotel room even over the two weekends. I talked to the Hyatt hotel shift manager and explained I would be staying for 15 days and what could he offer? He offered me the gov't rate that was significantly discounted (from memory maybe about 30%?) from the best non-opaque rate available. The gov't rate isn't always terrific; that time it was. I figured he offered the gov't rate as the simplest mechanism for him not to have to justify the discount to any higher-ups. To the auditors, I was just another gov't worker whose ID wasn't checked by the front desk when checking in....

LittleCupcakes

I find polite requests go far.

Reserve\pay online at the hotel's website, at the best available rate, and send a personal letter to the GM. Let him/her know about routine special requests (bed, floor, non-smoking whatever) and that you're a member of the loyalty program, and that you (humbly) would appreciate whatever additional assistance he\she can provide. It always seems to bring a little something extra upon check-in.

Efrem

I don't do it often, partly because I'm eligible for government rates (public university faculty member) that are usually, though not always, way lower than anything else at major U.S.-based chains.

That said, I've often asked "Is this your best rate?" Nothing wrong with the question, after all. Sometimes I hear "yes." Other times I hear a lower number.

I've also asked if they have a special rate for people visiting [name of large nearby organization]. Sometimes they do. I've never been asked for proof that I was actually visiting that company, university, or hospital. (The ethics of using this tactic if not visiting it are a separate topic that has been discussed elsewhere. Personally, I don't fudge this.)

My wife and I spent ten days in France recently. Most of that was in Normandy, but we were in Paris for one night at the beginning and two at the end. We wanted to stay at a small hotel near the Pompidou Center where we had stayed previously. Their Web site had a special rate for three consecutive nights. She called and asked if they'd allow it for three non-consecutive nights. They did.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

clarence5ybr

I've never done it with a place I haven't stayed before, but I've had good luck with a phone call along the lines of 'I've stayed at your hotel previously and liked it very much, but my employer only reimburses $X per night and your rate is somewhat higher. If you could come down to $X per night, I'd be glad to book (insert planned length of stay) nights right now.'

I've struck out a few times, but more often than not I've either had them come down to my rate or at least to a rate close to mine so that I'm only out of pocket a small amount per night. More than once, they have asked for my name and pulled my records, so it does help to be able to show consistent stays at their property.

Executrip

I can't remember the last time i didn't negotiate the rate. Matters not whether it is a first time visit or repeated.
If you don't inquire...
Best to call the Hotel direct, Inquire about any special rate offers for your dates.... Pause....Oh they're checking..... Oh yes ..Here's something.....xyz Discount available. Done.

black dawn

isn't that cheating?

nba1017

Also, it never hurts to ask about a location-specific rate. For example, I needed to be in Chicago once for a weekend, and part of the trip involved a talk at the University of Chicago. The rates at a couple of the five-star hotels seemed abnormally high, so I politely inquired if they had a special rate for U Chicago visitors. There was no verification required because I never implied that I was affiliated in the school in any way, just that my trip involved a visit to the school.

Presumably, negotiating such rates with a major university results in reciprocity when the school has sponsored functions or pays for speakers/distinguished guests.

Always worth asking.