Recently I found myself in Clearwater Florida in need of a hotel room.
Because I was on the road, I did not have access to a wireless connection to research a hotel. I quickly pulled up Google Maps on my cell phone and found a few hotels within 5 miles from where I was located. From here I logged 3 potential options.
I have traveled a fair amount so I knew the type of hotel I was looking for. Comfort Inn’s are generally a great option because the price and availability. In my experience, they are generally between $80-110 no matter the location or time of year, with a few exceptions. Holiday Inn is always a great bet as well. There are some higher end Holiday Inn’s that can be expensive.
When you are trying to get a last minute deal, it is important to understand the limits of a negotiation.
Keep this in mind, with last minute reservations, especially when they are only for one night, this can be considered icing on the cake for a hotel. If they have 80% occupancy at 6pm at night, the chances of them filling the last 20% are highly unlikely. That means that if you call and request a room, they are more likely to give a discount because the cost of your stay is less on the average. That is to say that having you stay at their hotel is not going to increase their cost of operation more than $30 on average (considering the cost of cleaning the room, continental breakfast, electricity, and water). This amount should be adjusted for the type of hotel. I am assuming a Comfort Inn type hotel, with a cost of between $80-100 a night.
Once you understand the position you are in, it will give you leverage when negotiating a rate.
Here are a few quick tips that you must always remember when negotiating a last minute hotel reservation:
- Never pay the first price the hotel quotes.
- Always be courteous to the customer service representative.
- Always ask for a discount, always.
- Ask about any specials that may be running (9 times out of 10 their price listed online is cheaper than what they will quote in person, ask them to match their Internet rate).
- Be personable. Share your situation with the customer service representative.
A customer representative is much more likely to give you a discount if they like you. That is why you must be courteous and personable with them. Remember, they have the ability to give you the discount and to make your stay extremely comfortable.
When I was traveling to the east side of Michigan, I spoke with a customer service representative at a Comfort Inn just north of Detroit. She seemed in a cheery mood, more than normal. My purpose of the call was to reserve a hotel room, but I took out the time to ask her why she was full of cheer. It turns out she was just engaged. So after some small talk, I built up a report with her in under 5 minutes. I was able to secure a jacuzzi suite at the hotel for three nights at $79 a night. Normal rate was $149 for the suite.
The most important is to simply ask for the discount. Timing is very important. The hotel representative will most likely ask you to suggest a rate. The answer to this question is extremely important. Never ask for more than 50% off their quoted price, unless the customer representative is family or your name is Nick Naylor. The discount percentage I ask for is generally proportionate to how the conversation is going. I almost always ask for at least a 25% discount, but I will not ask for a 50% discount unless the conversation is going very well.
Some levers for negotiations are as follows:
- Other hotels with vacancy
- Internet rates
- Knowledge of THE hotel
I will leave you with this piece of advice, getting a discount is generally as easy as asking for one.
Tags: clearwater, florida, michigan, reservations, save money
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