She tried that but got a standard reply that was not helpful. When asking again about specifics (rates, specials, differences between two different suites) she was asked to make a reservation since these things would change all the time. In my experience, a hotel would be able to answer the kinds of questions she has if contacting them (instead of central reservation) directly. Then one could first get her answer and then make a reservation. She wants to do it this way because she would like to get the cheapest (non-changeable) rates.

Some people prefer email.