Haggling with hotel?

smileygal

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how they got on haggling with hotels?

Be it reception hotel/honeymoon hotel for freebies/changes to normal rules/discounts...

successful haggling or not

eg corkage charges, meal prices, afters, guest room rates, check-out time, etc!

peadair 11

It all depends on the circumstances whether or not a hotel will entertain Haggelers. If you are booking an august b-hol week-end for a wedding you will have very little room as most hotels will sell out this date very Quickly. The only circumstances I heard where people where successfull was Midweek or off peak (winter Weddings). Depending on the hotel, Most will let you haggle for them to take that sort of business on a thursday or Sunday cause they might not sell that night (Yield Management)

elqu

Yeah I got nowhere, mine is on a Sat in July tho' in a v popular hotel so i wasn't that surprised. They did eventually say the MIGHT do something for me on the corkage but it would depend on the menu i ordered...

dame

If you can't afford it in the first place why bother haggling? Why not just resign yourself to the fact that wedding receptions are over-priced. Cut down on the number of guests or go for a different location. Cop yourself on. No point getting into debt and getting all worked up over how you're going to haggle to afford the day. You're not a princess, you're a real-life woman and fairytale weddings are just that, fairytales. In the real world there are far better things to spend money on.....home, car, longer honeymoon.....

elqu

To be honest, I think you are in a stronger position to haggle with them closer to the day as the closer you get the more committed everyone is, inc the hotel.

elqu

elqu wrote:

To be honest, I think you are in a stronger position to haggle with them closer to the day as the closer you get the more committed everyone is, inc the hotel.

Depends on how popular the hotel is etc - someone posted here before about trying to do that and threatening to leave and the hotel said fine and found another couple with no bother to replace that couple.

In honesty if I was getting married I'd almost rather rent some big hall somewhere than pay stupid overpriced "corkage" - I'd rather get into debt for a house or car.

MarkR

You can also haggle after the dirty deed is done, particularly if things weren't quite up to scratch. Get the best man / chief bridesmaid to keep track of anything that's not up to standard (even small things) and politely mention then when you're paying.

Things to check would be quantity of wine served vs charged for corkage. Whether you get unused ones back. I had quite a bit taken off in my own wedding as the amount of sandwiches wasn't what I ordered, and the promised kitchen staff to make more weren't available.

It's your day though so let somebody else do the donkey work.

elqu

I also read on another site that if you do corkage, you should make the hotel produce the bottles afterwards, apparently not unusual for them to charge you corkage for the lot and then sell the unused bottles!!!

All you can do is keep trying. persistence can wear them down - o yeah

my aunt's daughter is getting married next july and she's a neck of steel. They wanted 1400 for afters, she said she wld only give them 300. got her way in the end - tho it is of course very watered down afters - think we'll be getting a few baskets of chips and sausages. sounds ok to me...

dubsgirl

dame wrote:

If you can't afford it in the first place why bother haggling? Why not just resign yourself to the fact that wedding receptions are over-priced. Cut down on the number of guests or go for a different location. Cop yourself on. No point getting into debt and getting all worked up over how you're going to haggle to afford the day. You're not a princess, you're a real-life woman and fairytale weddings are just that, fairytales. In the real world there are far better things to spend money on.....home, car, longer honeymoon.....

Dame seems you have a little chip on your shoulder me thinks
The OP was just asking about haggling they weren't saying they are putting themselves into mega debt for their wedding??
All financial advisors would advise try to haggle on prices no matter how much money you have....

dame

dubsgirl wrote:

Dame seems you have a little chip on your shoulder me thinks
The OP was just asking about haggling they weren't saying they are putting themselves into mega debt for their wedding??
All financial advisors would advise try to haggle on prices no matter how much money you have....

Have you read the OP's other threads on her wedding? Put them all together and you'll have a clearer picture of her circumstances.

smileygal

dame wrote:

Have you read the OP's other threads on her wedding? Put them all together and you'll have a clearer picture of her circumstances.

OP here again, sadly to have to defend myself against vindictive comments rather than to be contributing to the essence of this board - take note Dame- helpful and informative posts and sharing in people's joy of getting married.

In all the months I have read and contributed to this board I have not witnessed such rude and bitchy comments. I could choose to retaliate with other words but I won't stoop to that level.

Instead I will thank the kind posters for their helpful comments and politely state that Dame you do not know me, nor should you think you have the right to chastise me unfairly and be so nasty.

It's sad and pathetic that you added that to your misinterpretation of a simple question on how to save a few quid in Rip-Off Republic. Most people want to do this and, as dubsgirl pointed out, that's all I asked about. People from all incomes like to save a penny here and there, it does not mean you are someone who spends money frivolously. Also, in Ireland many of us have large families, who we want there on our special day as well as our friends. So slashing numbers isn't an option for everyone.

I am well-aware that a nice-looking quality wedding doesn't have to cost the earth. Nice is not necessarily extravagant and my wedding will involve plenty of handmades thing to cut costs, I'm not a spoilt princess and never have been.

that's all I will say, as I have better and more positive things to be doing.

Again thank you to all the helpful people on this board.

dame

I have been helpful and sharing in your joy of getting married (contributed to your question about bridesmaids for example and was very helpful with your wedding list dilemma) but your posts are starting to sniff of desperation on the money front. You are actually taking a lot of the joy out of your wedding yourself in my honest opinion. All of your posts lately seem to be about saving money. For heavens sake you're desperately looking for competitions to enter so that you can win anything at all free for your wedding day! Most people will enter a competition for a decent prize when they see one but few people actively go out looking for them and only desperate people actually target competitions for their wedding. The chances of winning are so slim that you'd be better off saving the six quid you'll spend on the magazine to enter the competition in it. You're also wondering about doing a wedding list so that you get what you want as gifts (despite your fiancé not liking the idea) or can get discounts to buy the rest yet you really want your guests to give you money to help pay for having them there! Why do you expect gifts at all? Expect nothing and be delighted and grateful for anything you do receive.

Fine ask all the family you like to your wedding but if you really want to save money you could ditch the private dance lessons for a start. You could even do some sort of a draw or play a game and the winner gets to be the one and only bridesmaid. You said yourself they've all been bridesmaid before so they'll hardly be that disappointed not to be doing again. By slashing numbers I actually meant one-time friends who you now don't see or speak to very often or people your parents knew years ago who still get Christmas cards but that you yourself don't really know and never see.

It really is this simple....if the whole thing is costing too much then you do need to make cutbacks. "Haggling" when I presume you already agreed to the costs when you booked is just going to stress you out more (taking your joy) and quite possibly make the hotel staff view you as a contrary b1tch who goes back on her word and changes her mind. I doubt they'd go out of their way for you with anything or be too concerned with the service when you've come back "haggling" and looking for money off. A done deal is a done deal, unless as others say the service isn't up to standard on the day but how much joy is that going to take out of your day if you or your bridesmaids or family are on the lookout for every little thing wrong all day.

Best of luck with your wedding smileygal, hope you're still smiling for many years ahead. Oh, and have a joyful and debt-free wedding with the sun shining!

MarkR

Smileygal - You've every right to try to save money on your wedding, I can't understand the people who seem to be chastising you for it, but that's just me.

Do try to save money where you can. We made our own favours and cards, her dress was a very low price, my photographer was four time cheaper then most, and we didn't kill each other. I think ours was about 13k in total including honeymoon to vegas.

Weddings are going to be stressful by their nature, so make sure you've someone to help you with this. Don't be sitting at home in quiet desperation. If you can't afford something then don't stress it. Think of what weddings were like 100 years ago (I know none of us were there but you get the gist of it). You bought a dress, went to the church and got married, probably paid the priest with a pig or something, then ye all went off to someones house for dinner.

No banquet halls or videographers were required. Relax, have fun and enjoy your day. Again, let someone else do the leg work for you.

dame

MarkR I'm not chastising her for wanting to save money on it, I'm actually telling her to save money. I believe that the time to do any haggling is when you book as that is when you agree the prices that you will pay. Alternatively, you are definitely within your rights to look for a discount afterwards if goods/services were not delivered as promised (which is what you ad advised earlier and Im agreeing with you). Other than that haggling is not on as (I'll say it again) you have already agreed what you will pay.

There you go, question about haggling sorted.

elqu

dame wrote:

MarkR I'm not chastising her for wanting to save money on it, I'm actually telling her to save money. I believe that the time to do any haggling is when you book as that is when you agree the prices that you will pay. Alternatively, you are definitely within your rights to look for a discount afterwards if goods/services were not delivered as promised (which is what you ad advised earlier and Im agreeing with you). Other than that haggling is not on as (I'll say it again) you have already agreed what you will pay.

There you go, question about haggling sorted.

I find your attitude and hostility a bit bizarre to be honest. Why you are taking it upon yourself to police anyone else on this board whatever your view on their question is beyond me. Was tempted to respond to your first post in this thread earlier but resisted as knew it would drag the thread in a completely different and personal direction. Am sorry to see i was right. I don't see anything wrong with seeking to save money where you can WHILE doing all the things you want to do for your wedding. Honestly, if she want's dancing lessons who are you to say she shouldn't? And most couples seek money as presents these days, particularly as most couples no longer need help setting up house as they did in the old days. Hotels and everything else will charge exactly what they can get away with. I don't see why you have such a problem with anyone trying to get the best deal they can. Believe it or not, you can haggle WHENEVER you want. Besides, the prices aren't finalised until much closer to the time you are getting married. Makes sense to haggle as each item arises. Anyone who doesn't deserves to be parted with their money if you ask me

dame

Makes more sense to haggle when you book though, at least that way you know what you're in for and won't have the stress of trying to reduce it later or afterwards. Hotel is perfectly within their rights to demand payment for the amount you originally agreed to pay (unless service on the day wasn't up to scratch). Keep up with the Jones's all you like OP and others but there's really no need.

elqu

it's not about keeping up with the jones' but getting reasonable value for money. and you don't agree a price the day you book either it's not exactly an all in deal.

dame

I agree - it's not always an all-in deal - but you do at least have a good idea of what the main items will cost (and will usualy have agreed price for these), the rest are just add-ons. If the budget is in that precarious a position (ie main items approaching budget), that the cocktail sausages could tip it into the red, then why not just decide to go for a venue/numbers you can afford better at that stage rather than stressing over it later.

I do think a lot of weddings in Ireland contain an element of one-up-manship or keeping up with (or one step ahead of) the Jones's though. It's not always the bride & groom's fault. Sometimes their families can put pressure on to invite extra people or splash out more on flowers for the church for example. In our own parish there was one particular weekend last summer when there were two weddings on. Both had similar colour-schemes (ie red bridesmaids), so that wasn't an issue, but although one bride approached the other and suggested they jointly choose flowers and share cost, the other bride insisted she wanted her own. That's all fine and their choice and everything but to be honest I don't see the point in removing perfectly good flowers from the church and replacing them with others. I seriously doubt anyone would have bothered to look too closely let alone realise they were the same flowers as the day before.

MOTHERTRUCKER

dame wrote:

If you can't afford it in the first place why bother haggling? Why not just resign yourself to the fact that wedding receptions are over-priced. Cut down on the number of guests or go for a different location. Cop yourself on. No point getting into debt and getting all worked up over how you're going to haggle to afford the day. You're not a princess, you're a real-life woman and fairytale weddings are just that, fairytales. In the real world there are far better things to spend money on.....home, car, longer honeymoon.....

Here, Here!

Thank God somebody said what we were all thinking.
Dame, you're 100% correct in the points you've made.
If only Smileygirl could step back and take a good look at herself!

Its so sad really :mad:

mikemac

elqu wrote:

I also read on another site that if you do corkage, you should make the hotel produce the bottles afterwards, apparently not unusual for them to charge you corkage for the lot and then sell the unused bottles!!!

I was a hotel barman during college and if you only knew the scams that management would instruct us to do for weddings.
In all the time I was there, only once did someone do as elqu advised above. We didn't sell the bottles, we kept them in the cellar and would have a few hundred bottles around Christmas. Every member of staff got 5-6 bottles to take home and corkage had been paid on every one.

Another was that every member of staff added on a drink for themselves to the drinks bill and had that at the end of the night. Although I don't know if you begrudge a barman one pint after working a 10-12 hour shift for your reception.

I don't have advice for this forum except query and check everything on you bill.