Discounted Rates for Wedding Guests

Peter_87

Our wedding plans are starting to come together - have decided for a church wedding in the UK and a Reception in a nearby hotel.

We are having an issue though with our hotel with regards to discounted room rates for our guests. When iinitally meeting with the hotel we mentioned that we had alot of friends and familly members who would need accomodation (50 approx) - they agreed to give our guests discounted room rates if we chose to have our reception there.

We agreed the other details and payed the deposit for the venue. We have now been sent the Discounted Room Rates - I checked the rates they gave me against their online rates (direct from their website) and found their single room rate to be exactly the same and the double to actually be more expensive than the discounted prices they gave us.

So I decided to contact the Events Organiser assuming the wrong prices had been sent by mistake and got the following response:

The rates I quoted are our party prices & offer a discount on our normal prices direct from the hotel.
There are offers online from time to time & with the recent economic climate some of the rates are very good.
You may of course book these, you are not committed to buying rooms from the Hotel.
Just be cautious as some take payment immediately & don't offer a refund should any of your guests need to cancel for any reason.
Buying direct from the Hotel offers a 24 hour cancellation policy & payment on departure.
Some rates online also offer room only with no breakfast , so just be sure before you book.
I would suggest, if you do see an online bargain , book it soon, as we (& the other local hotels) have recently picked up trade considerably (we have been full some nights the past three weeks) & therefore if the trend continues there will be a price increase on rooms especially as you wedding is quite a way off.
I hope this answers your questions.
Happy Bargain hunting !

We have arranged a meeting with the hotel manager as we feel mislead and wanted to make it easier for our guests who will be travelling from far away.

Any advise? Do you think I am right to question the prices given the situation?

frannyann

To be fair, our venues rooms appear on some booking sites cheaper than the 'discounted' rate offered, however he is right should your guests have to cancel for any reason then most online bookings would not refund, however our venue would and compared to their 'normal' room rate the discount is pretty good. It depends how big the difference between the online and their discounted prices, to how much you argue. For me it was only around £10-£15 so I decided not to worry about it.

bacard1

I would say they are taking the p..s. The op is not on about some late room discount website,but their own. I would wait to see what the manager has to say. Leave them in doubt that you will look else where, and you would expect your money back.


BTW

The website does not say special promotion?

frannyann

bacard1 wrote: »

I would say they are taking the p..s. The op is not on about some late room discount website,but their own. I would wait to see what the manager has to say. Leave them in doubt that you will look else where, and you would expect your money back.


BTW

The website does not say special promotion?

I stand corrected, sorry I misread as it was 'laterooms' or similar. In that case I would also argue the difference too.

shellsuit

Same with the hotel we are having our reception at.

We were told we would get discounted rooms for guests, but they are cheaper to book online as they have offers throughout the year.

At a meeting we told them this, but they weren't concerned about it, just said exactly the same to us as what yours said to you, to book whichever way it would work out cheaper.

I don't think there is anything you can do about it, as this is the same in a lot of places.

fitshase

We had the same for my sister's wedding. The hotel gave a discount for guests attending the wedding but their rates online were cheaper. However, the rates online were payment up front and no refund for cancellation.

The hotel discount rates were pay on checkout with 24 hour cancellation.

To be fair, the hotel discount rates are discounted on their normal rates. The website rates are always better as it is money in their pocket regardless of if you stay or cancel.

indiegirl_2

My experience was different. I'm with a chain hotel, but one that the individual hotels manage themselves within. Our standard rate quoted for the rooms was about £10 more than most of the online offers, including the advance rate ones.

We queried as to whether there was any movement on the room rate, as most of our guests were asking about booking 'advance rates'; and they said that the numbers of advance rate rooms were limited. I asked if it would be possible to lower the price a little as we knew we'd fill at least 1/3 of the hotel, and some of our guests were coming from a fair distance and some may stay over for two nights. They discounted the rate they'd offered us by £20, which came in at the same rate as the advance purchase rates.

Perhaps we were one of the lucky ones...?

floss2

Most hotels will discount a room rate if you pay when you book, even if it is months ahead. Take Travelodge for example.....if I book rooms & pay now, it will be £19.00 but if I book, have an option to cancel & pay on checkout it will be £54.00.

How do you know the offers WILL be on at the time of your wedding? There are offers on at my reception hotel, but they will have stopped by then, as it is a popular time where we live and they have no problem selling rooms at weekends. Because of that we have arranged a guest rate which is the same as their best internet rate, but is pay on checkout, not pay on booking as you would on the internet.

Cloves

When is your wedding Peter? I queried about our venues prices - we are about 1 year out and the manager said advance rates were £93 and being wedding guests they would get an additional £10 off so they are 83... very good value for a Sat night.

I think you are definately right to question the room rates, most places offer a discount ON TOP of their best online prices.

Can you bargain them down on prices with
- Prebooking them directly with them
- Paying for them now, then getting the hotel to charge the guests the rate when they check in/out

I think there is definately room to bargain - can u ring the hotel manager/central reservations, just someone above the events coordinator??:D

HTH

Peter_87

bacard1 wrote: »

The website does not say special promotion?

Their website has two prices - Internet Rate and 7 Day Advanced Rate. No special promotion on the prices they show. They do have a special promotion rate for this summer but our wedding is not till Summer 2011.

Am meeting with them one evening this week to discuss further and have already looked at a few other hotels in the area. TBH I just want some cheap rooms for family and friends like we were promised when discussing the booking - with the number of guests staying we can almost guarantee a full hotel for them! But seems they want to jepordise it all for a few more £'s

floss2

Peter_87 wrote: »

Their website has two prices - Internet Rate and 7 Day Advanced Rate. No special promotion on the prices they show. They do have a special promotion rate for this summer but our wedding is not till Summer 2011.

Am meeting with them one evening this week to discuss further and have already looked at a few other hotels in the area. TBH I just want some cheap rooms for family and friends like we were promised when discussing the booking - with the number of guests staying we can almost guarantee a full hotel for them! But seems they want to jepordise it all for a few more £'s

TBH, I would speak to the other hotels, and ask if they can do you a block rate if you can guarantee X number of rooms, then go back to your venue and say "well, such-and-such hotel has offered this rate".