HotelChatter

OpenThread

Will Calling the Hotel Really Get You a Better Room Rate?

November 21, 2008 at 3:31 PM | 5 Comments

Last week, we learned of some tips from Jane Engle at the LA Times on how to get the price of a non-refundable room rate for one that you could refund. Her biggest point was that calling the hotel in person may yield you a bigger discount and could possibly get you a refund if it was needed.

We at HotelChatter, while we love our computers, agree that actually speaking with a human reservations agent at a hotel can lead to better deals or better rooms and you often pick up information you would not find on the website. Like about the multi-million dollar restoration the hotel is undergoing that has shut down the pool and the restaurant and has construction crews drilling away at 8am.

However, lately we haven't had much luck with the reservations agent or the front desk. Asking for discounted rooms, no matter how sweetly we ask, has really not yielded any results.

So, we want to know what are your recent experiences in booking a room on the phone? Also, any readers out there who used to work the front desk or currently work the front desk, let us know your secrets.

Tell us your experiences of directly calling the hotel and how it affected your room rate or stay.

[HotelChatter OpenThreads are a place for readers to get in here and talk about hot stories and issues of the day in an open forum. If you are already a HotelChatter member log in to comment, if not become a member for free and comment away.]