Marriott's 'Look No Further' best price guarantee

I know that quite a few of the big hotel chains offer a 'Best Price Guarantee' when booking directly through their own website but I thought I would post my experiences of putting Marriott's 'Look No Further' guarantee into practice.

The terms and conditions of the guarantee (click here) are fairly straightforward. When reserving rooms at hotels in the USA and Canada, there are very few restrictions as to which other providers you may use as a comparison. Outside the USA and Canada, you may only use providers which do not issue an accommodation voucher (either electronic or paper). Unfortunately, this wipes out the likes of find-rooms.com, DIY Travel, Hotel Pronto, etc. However, I have discovered that you can use Expedia and Ebookers and have had several claims agreed when using these as a comparison.

A couple of examples:-

I'm going to Toronto from 22-26 November and have booked the Marriott Eaton Centre hotel. The best rate on the Marriott website was CAD $229 per night + tax, which came to CAD $1044.34 in total including tax, approximately £458. https://www.find-rooms.com had the same deal for £283 in total, including taxes. I booked with Marriott and then submitted a claim under their 'Best Rate Guarantee'. They agreed the claim, matched the rate on find-rooms and then discounted it by 25%. The total for my reservation is now CAD $495.35, approximately £220.

I'm also going to be in Prague from 22-27 May 2007 (I'm getting married there ). I made two reservations at the Renaissance Prague hotel; one from 22-25 May and the other from 25-27 May. The reason for this is that Ebookers had a cheaper rate for the first 3 days, Expedia had the last 2 days cheaper. I submitted claims for both reservations, both were approved and I'm paying 160 Euro/night for the first 3 nights, including breakfast (the original reservation was 230 Euro/night, room only) and 85 Euro/night for the last 2 nights, room only (the original was 149 Euro/night, room only).

The thing that has impressed me is that although the room type must be the same, if the competitor site's rate includes breakfast and the rate on Marriott.com does not, they will take this into account when assessing your claim. Also, as the original reservation you make on Marriott.com is cancellable without charge, you can try your luck without worrying. The amended reservation is also cancellable without charge, meaning that if an even better rate comes up in the meantime, you can re-book and claim again to get it even cheaper.

I have no connection with Marriott, other than being a satisfied customer. I just thought that I may be able to help someone save a few quid.