Hotel rate with conference code higher than without
 

I'm not going to stay at the conference hotel anyway, in my case, but out of idle curiosity, I checked to see what the "regular" rate is without the conference code.

In this case (for a German IHG property, rather not say which one), the conference rate is 165 Euros for a single-occupancy room, but about 159 Euros for a regular flexible rate. If you tack on extra "cheaper" weekend days, then you are still charged at the full conference rate if you use it, but it's only 79 Euros (flexible rate) directly.

For the double-occupancy rate, the spread is even worse.

Has anyone seen this? Does the hotel just hope no one will notice?

Some codes will always be higher than the regular rate, i guess...a good example is that sometimes corporate codes for rental cars will be much higher than the regular rate.

I've seen it happen plenty of times and when travelling to a conference always check whether the corporate codes I can use will net me a better deal. The most significant price difference I've ever run into was a conference in Glasgow about 5 years ago - I booked my stay via cheapohotels.com (full cost must be prepaid, but some great deals, particularly on UK hotels) and paid around $150USD/night, whereas the conference rate was 189GBP/night!!!

I find many times that the conference rate is best when it is first negotiated but becomes worse as it stays fixed while the regular rate fluctuates. For this reason I almost always book conference/even rates but monitor the regular rate up until the actual event (or up until the cancellation window expires).

I've even seen the hotels prepaid guaranteed cheapest no refund rate to be higher then rates on the same page. But yes, I've seen conference rates, wedding rates, etc be higher at times.

I think when the rates were quoted that may not have been the case, but once those rates are set they never drop, should the hotel need to adjust rates down because of availability, regular rooms will fall, the quoted rates will be high.

I've also been to conferences where the conference holders got all pissy when you mention they didn't have the lowest rates, as they guaranteed the hotel a certain number of rooms at the higher rates, and guess what, nobody wants to pay higher rates for no reason anymore.

I guess so... I once walked into a hotel and aksed for a room. Then I asked if they had a corporate rate to which the lady responded "yes, but it's more expensive..."

I guess that some corporations just make contracts with chains and never check back whether the special rate they negotiated is higher or lower than the normal rates.

With conferences the organizers will usually ask the hotel to block a number of rooms for conference participants. This involves a risk of selling less rooms in the end than if they had just sold the rooms to the general public. I guess that's why the rate is often higher than the standard rate: availability guaranteed.

HTB.

It's not the hotel who hopes you don't notice; it's the event organizers. The costs for the convention (room rental, food, labor, set up fees, security, etc. etc.) are usually based on how much sleeping room revenue the event brings to the hotel. If the target is not reached, the sponsors may be on the hook for making up the shortfall, or incurring higher upfront charges. So, the hotel doesn't care if you are stiffing your own people. Somebody's gonna pay.

I've experienced both. Sometimes the conference rate is higher & the hotel weekend or daily rate lower. Sometimes the conference rate is lower & the hotel rate higher. In high rent districts (NYC, Orlando in the summer, etc), the hotel rate is usually higher than the negotiated convention rate. I do what others do - book the convention rate, but check back periodically to see if I can get a better rate & if I can, then I cancel the convention rate.

Also, if it's a large conference the rates are usually negotiated years in advance so if the market was more hotel-friendly (ie, high rates) when contract was signed & then by time of the conference the market was buyer-friendly, quite often you'll see a difference in the rates. But the hotel isn't going to let the conference out of the contract.

I've also seen people get stung because they wait to the last minute to book the lower conference rate because they know the conference is being held there, but don't realize there's a deadline to book by & after that deadline the extra negotiated rooms get dumped back into general inventory and the rates can be much higher.

My rule of thumb is it's always easier to cancel a room than get one at the last minute, so I tend to book conference rooms way in advance & then just monitor the situation.

Cheers.

That's what I've seen. I've been attending meetings of my professional society since 1980 and the old model doesn't work anymore. All of us are computer-literate so anyone who's cost-conscious will check the hotel's Internet rate and also check the cost/availability of anything in the area. Plenty of consultants who pay out of their own pocket are in the nearest Courtyard or Hampton Inn. Essentially, the people who pay the convention rate are paying the cost of the meeting rooms and other hotel services for everyone at the meeting.

What really burned me up was the time I was supposed to attend a Board Meeting (about 15 people in total) but found a lower rate on the Internet. I booked the Internet rate and at checkout was charged the "special" meeting rate because they'd been given a list of participants in the meeting. I complained but they wouldn't change it. The difference was about $10/night for 2 nights but it was the principle that bothered me.

Ouch - I would have been p.o.'d too.

BTW - there have been times when I've attended a conference & the conference is not being held at one of my preferred hotel chains. I've literally booked across the street or a block away & walked over because I wasn't willing to give up the points ;) :D

Cheers.

I'm going to a convention at the end of the month. I'm booked in at the convention rate. I don't know if the rate is higher or lower then the regular rate (someone else handled the bookings for my group). But a family member going to the same convention was able to get in cheaper on a AAA rate that included a breakfast buffet, which the convention rate did not include.

So the convention rate may not be the cheapest rate out there, even if it's lower then the regular rate.

Recently, I've noticed a lot of conferences list the hotel and conference "code" but no rates in the program material. I guess they're trying to get around the casual online rate check.

I'll be attending a conference in November; the rate quoted on the hotel's website is $279, the "conference rate" is $249, Travelocity has a special for $189, and I booked through Priceline for $100/nt.

Having planned plenty of conferences and trade shows, I can tell you that you're absolutely right. And conference organizers are aware of this...it's an issue they grapple with all of the time. But conference organizers have to walk a fine line. If they don't set aside enough rooms and hotel space is tight, then they run the risk that attendees cancel because they can't find acceptable accommodations. On the other hand, as more and more attendees stay at other hotels, the conference organizers have to pay more to the hotel...and those costs will eventually work their way back to the conference attendees.

You won't see conference fees increase the first year it happens, but in subsequent years the conference rate will increase because the hotel is shelling more out of pocket to the hotel. I can tell you that hotels give a lot of free and discounted services to meeting organizers...free use of the meeting space, free rooms for our speakers, free or discounted food & beverages for attendees, etc., in exchange for the fact that we're bringing paying guests into the hotel. If those guests don't arrive, the conference organizers won't get those discounts and freebies, and their expenses increase. Sooner or later those increased costs will get passed on to the attendees.

Now, I will say that some conference organizers negotiate a discounted rate with the hotel and then charge attendees a higher rate. They'll tack on $10 or $20, thinking attendees won't price shop. Alternately, the conference organizers negotiate a commissionable hotel rate, then arrange to split the commission with their travel agent. Without the commission, they'd be able to negotiate a lower rate. I don't like these practices, because I do think it's short-sighted. As attendees realize that they could get lower rates, they go to other hotels and again the meeting organizer loses its discounts, which results in higher attendance fees for the conference participants.

For city wides, or large hotel based conferences, a correctly negotiated hotel contract will stipulate that the hotel will offer no published rates over the meeting dates that are lower than the conference rates. When we find hotels undercutting our conference rates we call them on it immediately and they typically remove the lower rate within 24 hours. I can't recall a case where a hotel has ever countered with an offer to lower the conference rate instead.

Wow- I'm going to talk to our association executives about this. It won't keep our members from booking alternative hotels, but at least we'll have a better chance of meeting our room guarantees with those who choose to stay in the convention hotel.

I can understand that hotels may want to build the cost of meeting rooms, etc. into the sleeping room rate, but the other services for which we're a captive audience are also overpriced. For Accompanying Persons at our meeting in Seattle next month, individual event prices include $32 for a continental breakfast buffet and $55 for the evening reception (usually hot and cold hors d'oeuvres with open bar). I know open bars are pricey, but believe me, our continental breakfasts are not worth $32 pp. I don't think my association is padding these for profit; as it is, we had to increase our Accompanying Person fees last year because we were losing money on them.

This is exactly right. When conference attendees do not book under the conference code, the event may not make it's attrition which can cost the event organizers a pretty penny.

That is pretty lucky, as obviously you could have gotten the non-conference hotel (but at that rate difference, you might not mind).

I think it is reasonable if event organizers charge a commuter fee to people not paying the conference hotel rate.

No one thinks that a continental breakfast is worth $32! Built into every hotel charge is the overhead for running an expensive business. Here's how a hypothetical hotel breaks down the cost of that $32 continental breakfast:

Bagel & cream cheese: $8
Fresh fruit: $7
Coffee: $4
Orange juice: $5
Tax (@10%*): $2.40
Service charge (@20%**): $5.28

Price: $31.28

* Cities often impose higher tax rates on convention facilities.
** And some hotels charge a service fee on the taxes!

It's outrageous, but hotels expensive businesses to operate. Please don't think I'm defending them. Every meeting planner realizes that they could get better food at a lower cost by going with an outside caterer. But most hotels won't let you bring in outside caterers because food is a profit center. If, as a meeting planner, you don't want to be held hostage to the hotel's prices, then you have to look for meeting facilities that are independent of the hotels. But you'll have to pay for that meeting space that a hotel might have given to you for free. (You may also have to pay separately for the chairs and tables, notepads and pencils on the tables, clean linens each day, power in your meeting rooms, the flip chart and easel at the front of the room, all of which the hotel might have given you for "free.") Plus, your attendees will have to take cabs or shuttle buses from their hotels to the meeting site, which leads to grumbling among your attendees.

Meeting planners aren't dumb...they realize that attendees are cost-conscious and sophisticated enough to look at their options before booking a hotel room. But I hope you can also see that the meeting planners are walking a fine line. Every decision involves some kind of trade off...lower expenses in one area and you'll probably increase costs in another. Make things as convenient as possible for the majority of attendees, or lower expenses and prices at the risk of alienating some attendees? In some respects, it's a no-win situation. (Unless, apparently, you're AIG.)