Why Would a Hotel Negotiate Room Rates?

When planning your next trip, make sure to do thorough research before booking your hotels. Many hotels advertise specials on their websites, but discerning travelers can often find much better rates at other websites or through simple negotiation with the hotel manager. Hotels purport to charge standard rates for their various levels of rooms, but in fact the rates fluctuate based on room availability. While the hotel cannot charge a dollar over their posted rate for a given room, they can often charge much less if they are having trouble booking up for a certain date.

The more leverage you have on hotels, the more likely they are to agree to discounted room rates. For instance, large corporate clients often get special rates from hotels because they send so much business their way. In fact, many hotels have client service representatives who can be assigned to your company and will work with you to provide discounted lodging for your employees on a regular basis.

This is especially true for large corporations, who sometimes book dozens of rooms every week. Negotiation can be done with an individual hotel or a hotel chain. Major hotel chains have deals in place with large corporations that allow their employees to stay at any one of the hotel chain's locations throughout the world for a discounted rate. This benefits the corporation but also benefits the hotel chain, because it guarantees lots of business for them.

Small businesses can often get discounted rates as well. In particular, hotels often negotiate cheaper rooms for any organization or business that rents out their event facilities. Thus, if you are planning on holding a conference, it is wise to inquire with area hotels to see if they will give you a good deal if you hold the conference in their function rooms and use their caterers.

Likewise, if you or your employees are traveling for meetings, you may want to explore holding the meetings at a hotel and then negotiating a discount. Don't feel guilty about asking – not only are you sending the hotel a lot of business, but they also get positive publicity out of the deal, and a chance to impress their brand upon everyone in attendance.