I found a great rate at a Residence Inn using the code LPR from the list provided here. We are staying in the Chicago area for leisure purposes.

When I use that code and get the rate screen it says:

"BANQUET HALL WEDDING RATE**STUDIO RATE**LARGE LIVING AREA*FULL KITCHEN AND INCLUDES BREAKFAST DAILY"

Should I have any problems using that code for this property?

Are you there as part of a wedding? If not, I would definitely give reservations a call and ask. And even if you are there for a wedding, you might want to verify that the wedding doesn't have to be onsite.

No, not there for a wedding. Just looking for a nice hotel for a decent price

Well, in this case, you may be forced on-site to get married before you checkout

Look out for that shotgun behind the front desk!

Seriously, you'll likely need to qualify for the rate in order for it to be honored. In all liklihood that means that arrangements need to have been made in advance for the wedding party with the hotel prior to your booking a room.

Since you indicated that your stay doesn't involve a wedding, I'd presume you wouldn't qualify, but it never hurts to ask.

That rate is for guests of the wedding party taking place in the hotel ballroom. If no wedding is booked that weekend you will have a very hard time getting that rate honored.

i've never seen a Residence Inn with a ballroom

Sorry when I think of weddings I think GRAND

Me neither. At best, a small meeting room maybe holding 12 people max. BTW, the Marriott (and other hotel chains) have so many different room rates, codes and "deals" that I doubt the disinterested FD clerk at the Front Desk is going to bat an eye or care about what rate your rate is pre-loaded in the computer. Maybe at a FS or higher it might get a glance. Below that, don't think so. Just my opinion. What's the worst that can happen, charging you a higher rate?

I do not want to get stuck paying a higher rate, thus my reason for looking for a coded rate

I don't mind taking a small risk with the rate, I just don't want to take a large risk that the rate will not be honored.

Using that code at other Marriots doesn't give me any lower rates, just that particular Residence Inn.

Someone mentioned calling to ask about the rate code--is that call to the central reservation # or the hotel itself?

The hotel itself is probably the best bet, although you could call both & compare answers. Cheers.

I called the Residence Inn central res. # and they said it need only be for A wedding, not necessarily on the premises.

In other words, if your great uncle Charlie got married within 500 miles of the place....you qualify.

When I lived in Schaumburg, IL for two years on a work assignment, I recall seeing a lot of these standalone banquet halls throughout the Chicago suburbs. By "standalone" I mean unattached to a restaurant or hotel. I've never seen many of these outside of the Chicago area. Some of them were quite large - they could host 3-4 wedding receptions at the same time, or a large corporate outing for 1,000 people. That was my main experience with them: we did a few offsite meetings at them during the day.

So, my guess is that this rate is related to one of those banquet halls. Since the halls don't have hotels attached to them, they likely have a rolodex full of contacts at nearby properties, along with negotiated rates for their referrals.

I know they green-lighted your use of the rate, but my only lingering concern would be if it's drastically lower than what a normal weekend rate would be (which should already be fairly cheap unless you're talking about the RI downtown), they might want to know which wedding you are attending. If we're talking about a $99 wedding rate and a $119 "normal" rate or something like that, then they probably won't ask any questions...

But based on your prior post, it sounds like you're saving some significant cash. Risk is probably still small, but I wouldn't say it is zero.

$79 for a discounted weekend rate versus the regular $123 weekend rate.