Negotiating hotel room rates can be a headache for meeting planners, especially with the average daily rate for U.S. hotel rooms increasing in the past seven years to $121.37 in 2015, according to statistics resource Statista. Planners who need to maintain a tight budget, however, can try these five ways to cut hotel-room costs.
Purchase Someone’s Cancelled Reservations
Travelers often book trips that they later have to cancel even if the reservation is non-refundable. Meeting planners can search sites such as CouponSherpa.com and RoomerTravel.com to purchase cancelled reservations at a lower rate—a win-win for everyone!
Ask for a Price Match
Most meeting planners are experts in negotiating, which is why asking a hotel to match a lower price from a competitor is always a good idea.
Stay Midweek or Off-season
Meeting planners that book midweek or off-season meetings at a hotel are guaranteed lower rates.
Join a Hotel Loyalty Program
Hotel brands such as Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts offer loyalty programs for meeting planners to be able to earn and redeem points for groups, meetings conferences and events.
Look for Partnership Deals
More hotels are creating partnerships to help customers rack up points. For instance, Starwood partnered with Uber so that Starwood Preferred Guests can earn Starpoints for every dollar spent on the transportation service.
