How to Effectively Negotiate Your Hotel Rate

I'm going to tell you a secret that I learned during my first day of working the front desk at Best Western. Hotel rates are negotiable. I don't mean a little negotiable. I mean a lot negotiable. Before ending my hotel career, I worked at five completely different hotel chains. Best Western, Country Inns and Suites, Hyatt Place, AmeriSuites, and LaQuinta. All five had negotiable rates.

Let me explain how this works. Front desk agents are trained to not let people leave the hotel. When a patron enters, and asks how much a room costs, the first price you will receive is the rack rate. This is the top rate charged for staying. If a potential customer balks at this price, the front agent will drop the rate by ten dollars. Usually this is enough to sell the room. However, if the potential customer still balks, the rate is lowered again. This can be done all the way until the front desk agent has reached the bottom line price that they are allowed to sell the room at. In some of the places I worked, this bottom line price was a much as $50 cheaper than the rack rate. Huge difference.

The reason that hotels allow this type of negotiation is because something is better than nothing. Empty rooms bring $0 revenue. Putting people in these rooms is what it is all about. Keep in mind, however, that if a convention, or other event is going on in town, this type of negotiation may not be possible. During these times, hotels know full well that they can get the full asking price for a room.

This method also does not always work well over the phone. If you want to try it via the phone, you will need to call the hotel directly, and not the 800 number. Once you reach the front desk agent, simply ask for the best rate. You may even want to tell them that you are aware that rates are negotiable. Do this in as nice a way as possible, as they are not under any obligation to give you anything other than the rack rate.

I was constantly amazed at how many people did not know that the room price was negotiable. At Best Western, we were given a $3 bonus for each person that we checked in at full price. I made quite a lot of money off that deal, as a result of this lack of knowledge. Sure, I felt a tad guilty, but at the time I was a single mother of two, and money was tight.

One last tip is to be nice. If you have a bad attitude, you will never get a low price. It is entirely up to the front desk agent who to, and not to give discounts to. If you act like a jerk, you will not be offered any discount whatsoever. The typical front desk agent job is hard, as they are blamed for everything that goes wrong, whether it was their fault or not. When you are nice, and treat them with respect, they will do everything in their power to make sure you get a great deal, and have a great stay.

Additional reading:

You Can Negotiate Anything

How to Negotiate - Everything You Need to Know about Negotiating! - Get What You Want Today...

Negotiate Anything!: Secrets to make businesses treat you fairly.