Booking rooms for my employees
Jun 7, 2013, 2:41 pm
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: STL
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Booking rooms for my employees
Our HQ is in STL. We probably have about 20 room nights a year from remote employees staying here for meetings. My assistant just picks the cheapest decent close hotel for them. (They are not frequent travelers like the folks on here.) There is no preferred "company hotel."
Should I establish one? Are 20 nights enough to get a discounted guaranteed rate? Any way to get SPG benefits out of it?
Should I establish one? Are 20 nights enough to get a discounted guaranteed rate? Any way to get SPG benefits out of it?
Jun 7, 2013, 5:43 pm
#2
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Companies which establish a "preferred" hotel or chain do so because they have negotiated a corporate rate. 20 nights/year is not even within an order of magnitude of what you need.
To put this in perspective, Gold (the first elite tier) requires 10 stays or 25 nights for an individual. You are not even talking 25 nights for an entire business.
Yes, you probably could establish a master billing system with one local hotel and have points accrue to you instead of the employee. But, it's an employee morale killer and for 20 nights/year, that is a lot of work for close to zero benefit.
Why not simply have your assistant keep a short list of local properties which fit the general price paramters and send that out to traveling employees? Let them make their own booking where they want to stay and your administrative effort is minimized, your employees are empowered a bit and it doesn't cost you anything.
To put this in perspective, Gold (the first elite tier) requires 10 stays or 25 nights for an individual. You are not even talking 25 nights for an entire business.
Yes, you probably could establish a master billing system with one local hotel and have points accrue to you instead of the employee. But, it's an employee morale killer and for 20 nights/year, that is a lot of work for close to zero benefit.
Why not simply have your assistant keep a short list of local properties which fit the general price paramters and send that out to traveling employees? Let them make their own booking where they want to stay and your administrative effort is minimized, your employees are empowered a bit and it doesn't cost you anything.
Jun 7, 2013, 6:59 pm
#3
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Jun 7, 2013, 10:27 pm
#4
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Our HQ is in STL. We probably have about 20 room nights a year from remote employees staying here for meetings. My assistant just picks the cheapest decent close hotel for them. (They are not frequent travelers like the folks on here.) There is no preferred "company hotel."
Should I establish one? Are 20 nights enough to get a discounted guaranteed rate? Any way to get SPG benefits out of it?
Should I establish one? Are 20 nights enough to get a discounted guaranteed rate? Any way to get SPG benefits out of it?
Jun 7, 2013, 10:29 pm
#5
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It may make a difference if many of the nights are at the same time versus scattered individually throughout the year. Even for ten people or so at the same time, you can negotiate rates for a room block.
Jun 11, 2013, 3:01 pm
#6
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Join Date: Apr 2007
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Thanks for the help. Sounds like we will just find a couple to recommend.
Jun 11, 2013, 6:53 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 1999
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You can also register for Starwood Preferred Business. You accrue points for your employees beyond their personal points earned on their own accounts. The earning is very slow, but the don't expire and they can be transferred to anyone's SPG account.
Jun 11, 2013, 7:01 pm
#8
Join Date: Apr 2003
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Starwood Preferred Business is the way to go as long as there are at least 5 employees that stay a year. You can either give the employee an extra point per dollar spent or keep them for the company and transfer them in to your account. If you combine this with an SPG Amex to pay some company expenses, you can earn plenty of free nights.