Barter on hotel accommodation

Legacy_user

Don't always accept the price when booking hotel accommodation over the phone.

A colleague at work told me how a friend of his managed to get the price knocked down, his room upgraded and an evening meal thrown in!

Yesterday I tried it at work for a company booking.

When I rang the hotel they quoted a price of £144 inclusive of VAT and full evening breakfast. I asked them if they could better the price and the girl came back and said they would reduce it to £130 and did I want to book. I said I was going to check out a few more hotels and she asked if I was working to a budget. I wasn't but told her my budget was £120 and she said on this occasion the hotel would honour that rate. So I got the room for £120 inclusive of VAT and full English breakfast.

Not bad huh? A saving of £24 .... OK it wasn't for me personally this time but adds up the brownie points at work.

Mancunian

Thanks for the tip.

Hotels like to make out they are dead posh and expensive and have an overinflated rack rate on the reception so will try thins next time.

I have only ever tried getting cheaper hotels in SE Asia,,, generally Thailand.

The hotels might give u a bit of discount but the best thing over there is to go into one of the many little travel agents and they all seem to have the same reduced rates if u book through them.

TigerLily_3-2

Another word for 'rack rate' in the hotel trade is 'punter rate' as they argue only punters pay the price advertised above the reception desk!

I travel a lot on business and rarely pay advertised rates for hotels. My tip would be always to do as previous posts suggest and ask if they can better the price, then suggest you are working to a tighter budget. If you intend to stay for some time or are in a group make this very clear as you are a more attractive customer to the hotel if so. If it is a lengthy stay or likely to be repeated ask to negotiate with their reservations department for a permanent discount which will apply every time you stay at that hotel. In this case, it is worth specifying if you think that you will be spending a lot on room service / in the restaurant / from the mini-bar / on pay per view TV as hotels are well aware that corporate clients don't pick up the tab for this kind of spend themselves and are therefore very profitable customers. If you have the time and want to really push for an aggressive discount ring the major competitors to the hotel in that area and play them off against one another by seeing who will give you the lowest price. A final business-oriented tip to all those contractors out there is that it is always worth checking if your client has a discount at a particular hotel as hotels rarely ask for proof of company affiliation! (And if you're charging these expenses back to your client he or she is hardly going to object).

Be aware that hotels are obviously hugely seasonal and you are unlikely to get good discounts in high season. However, high season actually differs considerably from hotel to hotel - e.g. business hotels are rarely busy during August or on weekends whereas leisure hotels will be packed. In fact I would always recommend checking out business hotels for weekend breaks. Watch out for hotels near conference centres as their 'high season' is much more difficult to predict (e.g. I used to workin Solihull and every hotel is Solihull is sold out during conference season at the NEC). And finally remember that hotels work in the opposite way to airlines - the shorter the deadline the less expensive the room (because they have less time in which to fill it) so if you are brave enough to risk it turn up very late and you should get a bargain. Hotels have such high fixed costs they will always accept a low price rather than leave a room empty.

Hope this helps! Would love to hear of the experiences of others.

loveabargain_6

When travelling I have always asked for a Corporate rate. These are as much as 50% off the rack rate. NEVER pay rack rate! These are completely unrealistic. Went to Mauitius and got 2 4 1 in a luxury spa hotel - so don't be afreaid to ask. Also ask them for the 'local' rate - this is about 30% of the usual price! The reservations dept have the leeway to allow you to have this - once got a premium suite with a wrap around balcony with sea view in a 5* hotel for less than £40!!

Well worth asking - they can only say erm sorry no!

VickyA_2

Not quite the same as bartering over the 'phone, but it shows how far hotels can discount.

My boyfriend and I booked a hotel through [url][/url]www.priceline.co.uk[url][/url] last weekend in London. Total cost excluding breakfast was £44.76. It was a 3 star Holiday Inn in the centre of London - the rack rate advertised in their reception for a weekend stay was £159, including breakfast. So, all in all we paid roughly a quarter of what it should have been. Okay, we had to find our own breakfast and our room was close to the lift, but we couldn't hear a thing and it was of a standard that you would expect. And it meant that for breakfast we found a lovely little cafe for a fraction of what it would have cost if we'd had to pay the hotel price for a "continental breakfast".

JPR

Barter: To trade goods or services without the exchange of money

Haggle???

nearlyrich

I work for a large corporate with an in house travel department who have to book all rooms, flights etc to ensure we get the "best deal".

I often see deals in the Sunday papers for the hotels I use regularly which equate to half the price we pay at the [glow=red,2,300]best deal[/glow] rate.

walsgravematt

Just had a look at Priceline - cant believe the cheek of the site - asks you to pay for something before you have any idea of where it is, or whether it fits your requirements, with no refund allowed!!!

I'm steering clear of this one...

Has anyone else used it? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks

WM

kilo_2

Just had a look at Priceline - cant believe the cheek of the site - asks you to pay for something before you have any idea of where it is, or whether it fits your requirements, with no refund allowed!!!

I'm steering clear of this one...

Has anyone else used it?  If so, what was your experience?

Thanks

WM

If you really think about it there is no cheek. They can't offer you the low prices they do without a 'catch'.

The vast majority of people who use Priceline are happy with the way it works. Priceline is extremely popular in the states.

You usually have a good idea of where the hotel is as they tend to have zones in the big cities. The star rating assures the quality...usually only major hotel chains. although in the 2 star range you might get the occasional hiccup. The obvious downside is you cannot pick a specific hotel. If you have very unusual requirements then maybe priceline isn't for you.

There is at least one thread on priceline on the travel board . You will also see You will see links to websites that solely discuss Priceline. Try it...you'll probably never want to book a hotel in the conventional way again!