state government rate question
 

i work for a state and travel to other states nights about 100 nights a year for work. When I book a rate I book the State rate as long as I don't see any local government exclusions in the rate details. They typical say state ID required. if they have only local rates only or no state rates available I then call the hotel and ask them if it's ok to use the federal rate rate. I also pay tax on all of these stays because I'm traveling outside the state I work for.

so today's hotel I'm staying at had a state rate with no exclusions listed. So I booked it. When I checked in the GM said I had to,pay the higher federal rate because it was local government only. I then showed them the rate rules and it just said state Id required. I then showed him another hotel that had the exculsion and said local government rate only. I then sad your rate des not say this. He said it didn't matter because it wasn't local ID only. Well eventually he gave me the rate under another code here.

have I been doing it wrong for all these years and if so what rate do I book under going forward. I'm pretty sure I'm right and he has it wrong.

He is wrong, you are right. If they want local government only, then they should create another rate category just for that. I do exactly what you do, if state rate isn't availabe, I call and ask.

Thanks...I told him the made a mistake and he said I've been working in the hotel industry for 15 years. But this hotel is a few months old.

All else being the same then he's been doing it wrong for 15 years. Plain and simple...

The worst check-in that I've had was by a GM! An hour later I got a call from a FDC correcting the errors. LOL

If they didn't load the rate rules right, that should fall on them and not you. Pushing back is the right thing to do. If they refuse to honor their own rules then escalation is the right thing to do. Outing the property is fair, and not just on FT, but also sites like TripAdvisor that gets much more visibility, including upper property management.

This discussion is confusing in that AFAIK the word local here does not mean local government workers, such as city and county employees, but rather it's a matter of a distinction between the state rate only applying for employees of the state in which the hotel is located versus rates for employees of any state in the USA.

There typically are government rates for employees of any government anywhere (including foreign, state, local, federal, military, etc.) versus federal rates, state rates, state and local rates, etc.

This is about semantics. The guy may have worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years, but clearly not at this property and perhaps not for Marriott.

But, MSP Economist's point is correct. The term "local" can be confusing as it could mean, local government or the local state.

Best to call ahead and if there is any confusion, ask that the lower rate be applied as a customer service matter and the record noted.