I just had my first experience trying to set up a group rate with Marriott (or anyone for that matter), and I was a bit surprised by the result. I spoke with one of the corporate "Events and Meetings" coordinators on the phone, asking for a price for 10 rooms for one night, with breakfast and parking included. The attendant was very helpful and said that the standard rate for the rooms in question was 150 a night, but with 10 rooms, we would receive a discount. He said that he would work on a quote and get back to me via e-mail the next day.

Today (the next day) I received an e-mail from the event coordinator at the hotel in question, and this was the info I was given:
"Room Rate: $179.00 (Discounted from individual traveler rate of $289.00)"

What?!? That's more than the phone estimate and doesn't include breakfast or parking...and if I go to the hotel's website and try to book three rooms for the same night, I can get them for 149.95 each, or 169 w/ breakfast.

Does Marriott try to gouge everyone that sets up a meeting, or just me? I'm a huge fan of Marriott and have nothing but good things to say about their customer service, but this attempt at cashing in by assuming I'm ignorant of the hotel's rates is pretty insulting.

So now I'm in the process of trying to negotiate a lower rate but I'm wondering what I should expect. I know that 10 rooms isn't a big group, but if a room w/ breakfast is 169, what should the group rate be? 10% less? 20% less? If they want to turn this into a negotiation, I'm up for it, but how low can I go?