What is a Hotel Corporate Rate?

One way of procuring a cheaper hotel room is to negotiate a corporate rate with a hotel. Most hotels offer discounted corporate rates to business clients. The idea behind the reduced rate is to offer an incentive for corporate travelers to stay at a particular hotel, thus increasing business and, in turn, profit.

Who can book hotel rooms using a corporate rate? Well, while the rates are intended for corporate clients, many hotels actually offer their corporate rates to just about anyone. Usually, all you have to do is ask. One of the golden rules of booking hotel rooms is that you should always try to negotiate a lower room rate than that which is published.

A simple call to a hotel sales agent will usually do the trick. If you're dealing with a national or international chain, it's wise to call the on-site office at the location you wish to visit, rather than going through a national 1-800 number. That's because employees at a specific hotel location have more freedom to offer discounts than employees at the national headquarters do.

Hotels may offer you their corporate discount immediately, but sometimes it takes convincing. If you are traveling for work, you can argue that even though you are not a large corporation, you will be bringing future business to the hotel. This is especially true for those people traveling with colleagues. If you're planning a meeting, consider renting out a function room from the hotel in exchange for discounted rates. Parties who hold meetings or conferences at hotels are usually given special perks in the form of room upgrades or special freebies.

If you work for a company and would like to negotiate a corporate rate for your employees, you shouldn't have a problem. Different hotels have different rules, but most of them require a commitment that you will reserve a certain number of hotel room nights a year. Most hotels are flexible on their policies anyway – their goal is simply to get more business, and if you're going to deliver it, they'll give you the discount.

It's also possible to negotiate corporate rates that you can extend to your employees even for their personal travel. Hotels like doing this because it promotes a brand loyalty. The more a customer feels that a hotel is going out of its way to accommodate him, the more likely he is to stay with them in the future.