Originally Posted by
cbn42
If you actually get a ticket to the convention and don't attend, I see no problem.
If you don't, then I believe it's unethical. It's like claiming to be an AAA member when you aren't. The convention organizers negotiated a rate for their members, not for you.
With that said, there is no harm asking if they will honor the rate even though you aren't attending. If they have rooms to fill (unlikely if the convention is big), they might let you.
The hotel is offering a group a discounted rate because the expect the group to commit to certain amount of rooms and a certain amount of revenue. Although you may not be part of the convention, you are helping the group to meet their room block. In fact, the group will be penalized monetarily if they do not fulfill their obligation. Having said that, if the group is running short of rooms, they may ask to cross check the hotel list against the list of conference attendees, but usually these meetings have some many vendors, attendees, exhibitors, etc. it is hard to figure out what everyone does. I used to have hotel guests that booked within a block of rooms, but in the end, they were helping my company fulfill their obligation, so I didn't see the harm IMO.