I understand the hotel is under no obligation to offer a "government rate" that matches federal per diem and was not assuming that they were. My point is simply that one must be very careful when making a reservation--the hotel will say it is giving you a government rate, when in fact their gov't rate is well above the GSA rate.

The whole thing seems rather silly to me, since the federal gov't (except in extreme circumstances) will not reimburse the traveler for any amount in excess of the per diem. Although I suppose it's possible there are some out there, I don't know any gov't employee who would pay extra money out of their own pocket to finance a business trip. These "upscale" hotels aren't going to get much--if any--gov't business that way, but perhaps they don't care.

I'm also aware that most budget hotels (Hampton Inns, for example) will offer the GSA rate. This can be less convenient, however, for a number of reasons, including the fact that such hotels rarely have a restaurant on-site (necessitating higher cab fares or a rental car). In addition, most hotel-based meetings, conferences, etc. are at properties like Hilton and Hyatt. So long as some of these properties continue to offer a "real" gov't rate I will continue to call them first. It's just irritating to me that so many now offer so-called gov't rates that very few, if any, gov't employees could actually accept. If it's not the federal per diem then don't call it a federal gov't rate.