How To Get The Best Deal At A Hotel

I've been a front desk clerk at a mid-size hotel for the past four years, and I've also worked at the nicest hotel in Oklahoma City, so here is some inside advice on how to get the lowest rate, the best room, and avoid problems.

~Never stay at a hotel that is not AAA certified. AAA has very minimum requirements in order to list a hotel, and any hotel that can't pass a AAA inspection is gonna be gross. Any hotel that's AAA certified will have signs on their front door, and in their lobby, saying so. Also, any hotel that wants AAA certification is required to give a discount to AAA members.

~Always ask about discounts. Military, AAA, etc. Tell them you're on business, they might ask you for the name of your company, but they can't make you *prove* that you're on business. Notice if there seems to be something big going on in town like an arts fair or a trade show. Regardless of whether you actually are going to it, ask the desk clerk if they're offering a special for people who are. Check local Denny's and other restaurants before you go to the hotel, because they usually have traveler's coupon books for the local hotels.

~Ask if rooms on the second floor (or higher) are cheaper.

~Do not DO NOT just take the first price they quote you. EVER. The price is ALWAYS negotiable, and hotels are really hurting for business right now. Pay attention to how full their parking lot is, use that as your reference point for how hard to press them. Don't just walk out, say something like "Well.. that's a *little* more than I was looking to spend.." It's called rate-resistance, and my boss, and I guarantee almost every other hotel manager, has instructed us to quote whatever rates above a certain minimum necessary to keep that money from walking out the door and going to another hotel. For example, here our standard rate is 73.95, but I can lower that all the way down to like, $49-55 if I have to.

~Check your bill carefully for hidden charges. For example, a lot of hotels have guest safes in the room, and add a $1 fee to the guest's bill that will only be taken off if the guest asks for it to be at checkout.

~For God's sake, be nice to the desk clerk. This isn't like McDonalds, where the price is the price and the food is the food. The desk clerk has almost complete control over what type of room, and what rate, you get. We're human, and if we like you, you're going to get better service. If we don't like you, you're getting a room on the 19th floor next to the ice machine and the arcade.

~If you're going to rent the room to party, do not let the desk clerk know this. Do not, for example, be 22 years old and pull up right in front of the office with 14,000 people in your car and a fleet of cars following you. If you do I guarantee you that the rate is going to be 150% of the nornal rate.

~If you have 3 people with you, have one stay in the car, out of sight of the desk, and tell the clerk you have just 2. Most hotels charge for the # of people, and after you're checked in, they're not going to be going around making extra sure you don't have an extra person in your room. Hell, if you're really friends, tell them it's just you, and ask for a king size bed. Honestly, we don't care, and even if we did, we don't have the time or the memory power to keep track of people that way.

~Always call the hotel direct, even if you've checked the price online or through a 1-800#. Nobody cares like the hotel itself whether you stay there or not, it's personal to them. If you get a cheaper price online than from the hotel after you've called directly, book online, and then call back and verify the type of room and the reservation with the hotel, because we have problems with remote reservations all the time.

~Always guarantee your reservation with a credit card, even if you intend to pay cash when you check in. Guaranteed reservations are considered much more important by the hotel, if I have 1 king size bed left, and 2 reservations that want it, the guaranteed reservation is going to get it, regardless of who booked first. This is because 75% of the non-guaranteed reservations never show up. If you do guarantee it with your credit card, pay attention the hotel's cancellation policy to make sure you don't get charged if you have to cancel.


~ BRING A CALLING CARD! I don't enjoy gouging people for .75 cents a minute on a local call anymore than they like paying for it, but dem's the breaks, kids. Almost all hotels do this nowadays, but, for most, 1800#s, such as calling cards, are free.

~ SIGN UP FOR THE PROGRAM. Almost every hotel has some sort of frequent traveler program. It's always free, and the vast majority can sign you up for it in a few seconds at the desk. It doesn't usually give you any discount, but perhaps a free room upgrade, free late checkout, discounts at the bar, free local calls, etc, etc.

~ If you're going to trash the room, cook meth, have an orgy, sacrifice goats to Satan, or whatever, please, for God's sakes, do it at a trashy motel. Not only for our sakes, because we take pride in our rooms and it hurts our business, but for your sake. I work at a place where the people in the rooms around you are paying over $100 for a nice, quiet room. If you're bothering them, I will not hesitate to throw your ass right out without any kind of refund whatsoever, and if you give me any shit, I'll call the cops on your ass -- and my manager will back me up 100%. So don't bring Caligula to the Marriott, take it to the local Motel Lowdown, or whatever, y'know, the one where the desk is behind bulletproof glass?

~Last rule: as goes the lobby, so the room. If the lobby is the funk, the rooms will be much worse.

And don't steal our pillows, god-damnit.


[Edited on Mar 31, 2005 by Keith]

this made my morning. i love psas on sg.

Hey, I'm just trying to save everybody money so they can spend it on their SG membership.

Plus I figure, Xmas coming up, peops might be travelin'. Y'know.

This rocks, man.. I never knew any of this stuff...

That's really cool that you're a front desk clerk too. It's a strange little world. I like to think about the tradition of it. I call it the second oldest profession, because as soon as there were hookers there had to be a place for hookers to.. hook?

Yeah, rooms on the second floor usually are nicer, just because they're not rented but about once a week, instead of everyday like the bottom floor rooms. I know here, our *worst* rooms are the smoking king size beds on the bottom floor, because every single one of them is rented every single night, which makes it hard to take one out of service for a major pm. My advice to smokers (like myself) would be to get a non-smoking room and smoke outside if they can stand it, they're always much nicer.

Do you totally judge your customers? Man, I so do. If I see smell cig, or see a pack of cigs in the pocket and the guy asks for a non-smoking room, I'm likely to tell him that we only have smoking rooms available. Damn rude people put their cigarettes out and burn the pretty sinks of the non-smoking rooms.

If I have a feeling that the guy is local, and he's going to pay cash, I won't budge an inch from rack rate. Especially if they're smokers, aren't they always the problem? Not to judge my kind but 99% of the people we have trouble with are smokers.

Trouble = local, cash, smoker.

mod parent up

huh?

HA!

And I'm driving on a road trip back to Los Angeles from Minneapolis, MN, and damn, if this sure doesn't come in handy. Unless any SG'ers want to put me up?

I promise that I'm not a serial killer

That's just beautiful.

Revived for 4th of July peops.

...I work at a different hotel now, but the rules haven't changed.

Here's a few other good ones:

~ BRING A CALLING CARD! I don't enjoy gouging people for .75 cents a minute on a local call anymore than they like paying for it, but dem's the breaks, kids. Almost all hotels do this nowadays, but, for most, 1800#s, such as calling cards, are free.

~ SIGN UP FOR THE PROGRAM. Almost every hotel has some sort of frequent traveler program. It's always free, and the vast majority can sign you up for it in a few seconds at the desk. It doesn't usually give you any discount, but perhaps a free room upgrade, free late checkout, discounts at the bar, free local calls, etc, etc.

If you're going to trash the room, cook meth, have an orgy, sacrifice goats to Satan, or whatever, please, for God's sakes, do it at a trashy motel.
Not only for our sakes, because we take pride in our rooms and it hurts our business, but for your sake. I work at a place where the people in the rooms around you are paying over $100 for a nice, quiet room. If you're bothering them, I will not hesitate to throw your ass right out without any kind of refund whatsoever, and if you give me any shit, I'll call the cops on your ass -- and my manager will back me up 100%. So don't bring Caligula to the Marriott, take it to the local Motel Lowdown, or whatever, y'know, the one where the desk is behind bulletproof glass?

And don't steal our pillows, god-damnit.

[Edited on Jul 03, 2004 by Keith]

Wow!! Thanks for the info!!

I've found that if you're travelling in the off-season for the area and not near a major holiday, it's far easier to get a really, really great rate. I was travelling around the East Coast and got great rooms -- stayed at non-chain hotels, really nice small places with great rooms right on the beach, for an average of 1/2 of the advertised price.

Look for a small, nice-looking place with few cars in the parking lot. Go into the hotel late, like after dinner, and ask the room rates -- it's likely that most people will have already checked in for the evening, so the hotel has a good idea of how many empty rooms they'll be losing money on for the night. Then tell them you were only prepared to spend *insert number less than advertised price* and ask them if they have anything available in that range. 9 times out of 10, they will -- most hotels, especially small, non-chain ones, would rather have someone paying something than no one paying nothing.

*note* -- if you're going to do this, please do the good karma thing and treat the hotel, your room, and the staff with respect!

[Edited on Jul 03, 2004 by Shalome]

Spot on.

I just flash them a little of my "charm".

If that fails a polaroid of UnnecessaryZ words nicely.

hehehe. this made me laugh. thanks for the tips, Keith!

You're welcome.

Being a world class traveler let me tell you something HOTELS IN EUROPE SUCK! for the most part

Wow. I seriously doubt that, for some reason, but I can't offer any first-hand experience to counter it.

it depends on what your standards are, and what you look for in a hotel. i've stayed in european hotels, good ones and shitty ones, and hostels, both good and bad. i wouldn't say that european hotels suck, but then again i don't have any idea what you're basing this on.

thanks bro

this thread is a great idea you rock...

well if you are taking the long way through say Saskatchewan you could stay here, I have a slight funky smell in my apartment I can't find yet..but I will work on it