I need to negotiate a room rate for block of rooms at a major chain hotel, e.g. Hilton or Marriott. The rooms will be reserved individually, i.e., like a convention. The event will not be held at the hotel, and will occur on weekend (offpeak) dates.

Any tips? Is it productive to suggest that we will recommend priceline in the absence of an acceptable rate quote?

If your going to a large hotel chain, i would advise not calling the general reserveration desk which is one big call-center. I would call the hotel and ask to speak with the manager. Explain that you are holding a convention, but not at the hotel(mabye at your office?), and would like to get a group discount rate. I'm sure they will work with you on this.

It's really no different than booking a group like a wedding. When my wife and I got married last fall, she went to a nearby Hilton (Chicago burbs) and was able to get a block of 30 rooms (expandable as needed) for $59/night over the weekend - with 25 reservations made, we'd even get a free suite. For comparison, I was living out of the area at the time, and flew back to the home office. I decided to check the place out, and it happened to be a 'preferred' hotel for my employer (Fortune 100). My rate? $110/night.

You probably won't be able to swing that sweet of a deal during the week (this is not a weekend destination hotel by any stretch of the imagination), but you should be able to get a decent rate. I'd expect on a group booking (especially if the hotel is expecting low occupancy) to get 25% or so off standard 'corporate' rates.