I am planning a meeting in San Antonio. Attendance will be 100 people for 4 nights (Mon. - Thur). The FS Marriott hotels there all work through a centralized sales office that handles group meetings and sales for the River Center, River Walk, Plaza, and JW Hill Country resort. We have come to an agreement on the room rate, but they are not willing to negotiate off the list prices for a meeting later this summer. Unfortunately, this prices them about $14K higher than their competitors, Hilton, Westin, Omni, etc. Since I can't justify that kind of price difference, it looks like the Marriott is out. I am not sure what, if any, communication this team does with the specific hotels regarding events.

Any of you have experience dealing with this? Would you call the GM at the specific Marriott in question and ask him if he is willing to lose approximately$45K in room revenue during a low demand week because the centralized sales team won't negogiate?


Any help or advice is appreciated,


Regards,


RIP...