HotelChatter

· Hotel GM's despise empty rooms
You know the old saying "never let a plane take off with an empty seat", well that is pretty much what luxury hotel GM's try to avoid ever night. If a GM can dump a room cheap, late, he or she will usually go ahead and do it, though they will never admit to it.

Call the hotel day of stay, if the hotel has open rooms, and you are a smooth talker, you should be able to get a room at a significant discount. Oh, make sure to inquire about restaurant reservations, spa treatments, and other extras--this is where hotels make some heavy margins so you will get the GM extremely excited about your impending last minute stay.

· Stay at a Business Hotel on the Weekend
Most urban business districts are ghost towns on the weekend. Rack rates are usually much lower, though you probably want to check out before Sunday night, when many conferences begin. Use the above phone technique to shave dollars off the quoted room rates.

· Stay at a Top Notch Leisure Hotel Mid-Week
The inverse of the above theory.  Hit up resorts for mid-week, off-season packages and use the above phone technique.

· Stay at a New Hotel During Soft Launch
Everyone want beta testers. The restaurant may not be open yet, only a couple floors may actually be open, and forget the rooftop bar, which will be inevitably delayed, but when a new hotel opens they almost always offer opening special rates. During this soft launch phase you don't have to worry about service being atrocious--many hotels invite co-workers, company friends and family, and media members to stay at the hotel during this beta stage--you really think they are going to risk offending that group with shoddy service? That said, expect plenty of small, tolerable kinks--plus you get to experience that new hotel smell--we mean that in a good way.

We were recently able to go through the booking process and get a Bowery Queen, with oversized factory windows, for $245.00 a night at the brand new Bowery Hotel in Manhattan.

· Watch The Currency Markets
Use a currency converter to find out where the dollar is strongest--ie for years people have been raving about the strength of the dollar against the peso in Argentina. Which makes Buenos Aires and the sweet luxury hotels in BA a hot target to hit up at a built in discount. Of course, the dollar hasn't exactly been a worldwide powerhouse of late, but you can still figure out how to play this game by visiting currency converters and finance sites.

· Lie and Complain
Sigh. We don't recommend this, nor condone this. Furthermore, it is possible that in certain countries you may get flogged if you are caught doing this, however, many HotelChatter tipsters have contacted us bragging about snagging suite upgrades, percentages off their bill, and even free stays at swank hotels by lying and or complaining. Complaining we can tolerate, and it is even encouraged, as long as it is at an acceptable level, lying however, is just not nice. But hey, you are the ones that have to live with yourselves, you proud, proud, hotel liars.

Business travelers are notorious for bending the rules, or so it seems.

LET US KNOW YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO GET LUXURY HOTEL DEALS
Got a tip on how to get more for your money at a luxury hotel? Spill it, we won't judge you, well, maybe we will.

Or speak up in the comments section below.

[Photo: Alan Light]

Related Stories:
· Times Travel Magazine

Tags: HOWTO / Hotel Deals / Luxury Hotels

by markj