Hotel Incentives

Sizzler

Hi Folks,

Started the long journey of beginning to choose a hotel, its been an eye opener so far :eek:

To date, I have had hotels try to wow me with -

- A half bottle of champagne on arrival for the bride & groom
- Free tea & coffee for guests on arrival
- Free use of their Cake stand
- Printed seating plan
- A taste of the food that we pick for the menu

Is this supposed to be impressive ?! What a joke!

Worse again I have had one hotel tell me that wedding guests have to pay for car parking ! UNBELIEVABLE ! And another has asked for €1000 just to hire the room if your wedding is less than 150 people :eek:

The common theme is not ONE hotel have been able to tell me what their 2009 prices will be, they are all estimating between 5-10% more than this year :rolleyes:

On the upside one or two places have offered an extra few rooms FOC for the wedding party, one has offered free finger food for half the wedding party.

I was expecting to be ripped off but some of the stuff I'm hearing is simply hilarious.

Anyway people, what have you managed to negotiate with your hotel for your special day?

Cheers

Sizzler.

olaola

That list seems fairly standard.

We had the choice of free seat covers or no corkage on the bubbly for the reception beforehand.
We also had free tea & coffee and a few other things.

The suite we were given for the night was UNFU*KINGBELIEVEABLE!
It was bigger than our house. No joke...

What part of the country you looking?

Sizzler

olaola wrote: »

That list seems fairly standard.

We had the choice of free seat covers or no corkage on the bubbly for the reception beforehand.
We also had free tea & coffee and a few other things.

The suite we were given for the night was UNFU*KINGBELIEVEABLE!
It was bigger than our house. No joke...

What part of the country you looking?

A mate was asked to pay €30 a SEAT on well known hotel up in Cavan for his wedding....he told them to fook off and rightly so! Personally I dont see free seat covers as much of a concession but thats just me.

Looking in Leinster area, but pretty flexible tbh.

blushing bride

Sizzler wrote: »

A mate was asked to pay €30 a SEAT on well known hotel up in Cavan for his wedding....he told them to fook off and rightly so! Personally I dont see free seat covers as much of a concession but thats just me.

Looking in Leinster area, but pretty flexible tbh.

There is a new castle in wexford for hire called kinsella castle, you can hire the entire castle exclusively for the day and they hire a catering company to do all the work might work out cheaper and also something different for the guests..... I know they are only starting weddings this year so you could probably strike a good deal

Sizzler

blushing bride wrote: »

There is a new castle in wexford for hire called kinsella castle, you can hire the entire castle exclusively for the day and they hire a catering company to do all the work might work out cheaper and also something different for the guests..... I know they are only starting weddings this year so you could probably strike a good deal

Tried to google this and cant find it Have you got a link or details?

faceman

Free use of the cake stand, that would be the deciding choice for me!

olaola

Sizzler wrote: »

A mate was asked to pay €30 a SEAT on well known hotel up in Cavan for his wedding....he told them to fook off and rightly so! Personally I dont see free seat covers as much of a concession but thats just me.

Looking in Leinster area, but pretty flexible tbh.

I don't think I would have paid for them, but they looked good on the day.
The corkage was a significant sum - I think it was about €35 per bottle for bubbly or thereabouts.

I think they usually cost about 5-10EUR to rent pp.

Noopti

Yeah, some of the "perks" are a bit laughable.....the free use of cake stand being one.

But it is pretty standard.

Sizzler

Noopti wrote: »

Yeah, some of the "perks" are a bit laughable.....the free use of cake stand being one.

But it is pretty standard.

Well its up to us (the punters) to make them work that bit harder. I've told any hotel that I've spoken to so far that I don't consider the free use of cake stand and knife or glass of champagne on arrival for the bride & groom as a selling point, if people are getting excited by that then the celtic tiger mentality is worse than I thought :eek:

Gillo

We booked the New Grange in Navan and seemed to get a pretty good deal. Everything the OP mentioned was included we also got a mulled wine reception for the wedding party (possibly all the guests I'll have to check the booking form), tea / coffee & mini scones for guests.

The chair covers were thrown in, although if we wanted a specific cover on the ribbons we'd have to pay extra- that said any wedding I've been to I've never thought- "Wow, the brides maid's dress' match the seat covers!!!".

They also agreed to keep the current prices for us.

All this without much haggling, TBH they were by far the best deal we got anywhere.

Gillo

faceman wrote: »

Free use of the cake stand, that would be the deciding choice for me!

Kinda worried what you plan doing with a cake stand:eek:

CúilChip

The Hotel we are using are letting us use our own wine with no corkage price but we have to give them a free bottle for every two we use and they will sell them in the restaurant. So it works out for both sides and we do not have to pay €12 up.

Sizzler

paulwhogan wrote: »

The Hotel we are using are letting us use our own wine with no corkage price but we have to give them a free bottle for every two we use and they will sell them in the restaurant. So it works out for both sides and we do not have to pay €12 up.

Thats fair enough. From what I have seen this weekend the further you go out of Dublin the more flexible it gets.

One wedding co-ordinator told me they priced themselves based on the nearest 5 hotels in the area and basically all their packages are identical, they try to sell the package based on the hotel itself, so much for competition!

Grawns

I got 30% off menu prices, free rolls royce, tea, coffee reception, and most importantly, the cake stand Waterside house hotel, Donabate

January

Tyrellstown Park Plaza

Tea & Coffee for the guests on arrival.
Champagne Reception for the bride and groom
Food obviously.
Use of the honeymoon suite
A room for the brides mother and father and a room for the grooms mother and father (anyone can use these rooms my aunt and her boyfriend and my mother and father used the rooms)
And on your 1st wedding anniversary they invite you back for dinner.

Sizzler

adrieanne__x wrote: »

Champagne Reception for the bride and groom

i.e. a glass of champagne each, thats hardly impressive is it?

All the things you listed though are bog standard except for the extra rooms, some places are playing ball on that, some arent. If the anniversary dinner isnt mentioned and you ask for it I guarantee they will throw it in

January

To be completly honest, you shouldn't be looking for incentives... if you want to get married because you love someone it shouldn't matter where the reception is. If it were me getting married I would just hire out a room for the day and provide everything else myself.

Hotels exploit you because you're getting married, they know your willing to pay extortionate prices to have a great day and they will take advantage of this and offer you bog standard packages because they can.

Sizzler

adrieanne__x wrote: »

To be completly honest, you shouldn't be looking for incentives... if you want to get married because you love someone it shouldn't matter where the reception is.

Hilarious stuff. Its pure stupidity not to ask the hotel what they can give you, unless you are wiping your arse with €50 notes its only natural that you want to get the most for your money as the majority of people work damn hard for it.

faceman

adrieanne__x wrote: »

To be completly honest, you shouldn't be looking for incentives... if you want to get married because you love someone it shouldn't matter where the reception is. If it were me getting married I would just hire out a room for the day and provide everything else myself.

Hotels exploit you because you're getting married, they know your willing to pay extortionate prices to have a great day and they will take advantage of this and offer you bog standard packages because they can.

I dont see how getting married should mean that we shouldnt be price conscious and shop around. Unfortunately too many people dont, hence why we have a high cost of living in ireland.

20-30k for a wedding is comical when you compare it to similar things in other countries - including those that have a higher standard of living than here.

rameire

i am getting

10% off total bill,
bridal sweet and two rooms for bridal parents thrown in.
cake stand
flowers for the tables free,
free parking
red carpet,
corkage on the bubbly and wine
free sambos and tea and coffee for the after buffet
free champagne for the bridal party
free use of horse and carriage from house to the hotel,
free use of a separate room for the wedding ceremony (civil wedding)
free food tasting for 4 people
1 year anniversary dinner
round of golf for 4 people at the local golf club
free room during the afternoon for the kids entertainment,
exclusive use for the hotel for the whole day,

oh and they are catering to our every request and so so helpful

faceman

^ names people names!!!

harmacist

rameire wrote: »

i am getting

10% off total bill,
bridal sweet and two rooms for bridal parents thrown in.
cake stand
flowers for the tables free,
free parking
red carpet,
corkage on the bubbly and wine
free sambos and tea and coffee for the after buffet
free champagne for the bridal party
free use of horse and carriage from house to the hotel,
free use of a separate room for the wedding ceremony (civil wedding)
free food tasting for 4 people
1 year anniversary dinner
round of golf for 4 people at the local golf club
free room during the afternoon for the kids entertainment,
exclusive use for the hotel for the whole day,

oh and they are catering to our every request and so so helpful

Whereabouts is this magic hotel located??

rameire

the Clonard Court Hotel Athy

Sizzler

rameire wrote: »

i am getting

10% off total bill,
bridal sweet and two rooms for bridal parents thrown in.
cake stand
flowers for the tables free,
free parking
red carpet,
corkage on the bubbly and wine
free sambos and tea and coffee for the after buffet
free champagne for the bridal party
free use of horse and carriage from house to the hotel,
free use of a separate room for the wedding ceremony (civil wedding)
free food tasting for 4 people
1 year anniversary dinner
round of golf for 4 people at the local golf club
free room during the afternoon for the kids entertainment,
exclusive use for the hotel for the whole day,

oh and they are catering to our every request and so so helpful

Cake stand / Red Carpet and a glass of champagne is all standard so wouldnt count that as any sort of an advantage but the rest of the package you have negotiated is EXCELLENT, well done.

Whats their corkage rate out of interest? The cheapest Ive seen so far is €10.

A great advertisement for the hotel Out of interest are you getting married on a weekday?

rameire

it is a thursday, so one of the reasons why we are getting a lot of things, but it saves alot of money, the corkage on wine is €10
and the corkage on bubbly is €15

harmacist

Fair play... you managed a to sort a great deal alright

frizzefreckles

We were out with Citywest yesterday and felt we got a good deal there -

the usual champagne reception for bride and groom, red carpet, tea and coffee for guests on arrival, cake stand

then free room for the parents,
free extra night for bride and groom
free chair covers
menu prices held at 2008 price

and the co-ordinator was fantastic as he kept pointing out things not to do as they were a waste of money and how to work things so we got much better value for money.

we walked away really impressed. It's not as good as rameire's deal but the best we've come across so far

harlem

rameire will you please negotiate a package with my hotel? you got an excellent deal there!:eek::cool:
Did they offer that to you or did you have to haggle for it?

We're looking at booking a hotel in Kilkenny, but I think because we're a small enough party (50 for meal + 30 for afters) that some hotels aren't that ar$ed about getting our business.

The hotel we're looking were offering us;

complimentary champagne for bridal party on arrival
complimentary tea & coffee for guests on arrival
cake stand
candleabras
Suite for bride & groom

thats it! they want to charge us room hire for the room we'd have the meal in & didn't offer any discount even though we're looking for a Thursday in April.

I'm one of these idiots that gets mortified about asking for discounts anywhere, that probably doesn't help

JohnBoy

we're having a november saturday wedding in the celtic ross in cork.

15% off menu price
overnight stay in advance for tasting evening and spa treatments.
champange, fruit juice, tea coffee reception on arrival
choice of colour co-ordinated table flower arrangements.
dinner and overnight stay for first anniversary
and no corkage

Sizzler

I negotiated the following -

2 rooms free the night before the wedding (For bride & her mum).
2 rooms free for the parents on the night of the wedding.
Menu tasting for the 2 of us.
25% off the wine list.
15% off the menu.
And we dont have to rush off the next day either, check out at 2pm for anybody staying.
No bar extension charges or room hire bollox either.

Hotels are touting for business BIG TIME at the moment so dont ever feel you take what they have on offer.

All hotels we spoke to in the last 8 weeks dropped their pants when challenged

faceman

Sizzler wrote: »

I negotiated the following -

2 rooms free the night before the wedding (For bride & her mum).
2 rooms free for the parents on the night of the wedding.
Menu tasting for the 2 of us.
25% off the wine list.
15% off the menu.
And we dont have to rush off the next day either, check out at 2pm for anybody staying.
No bar extension charges or room hire bollox either.

Hotels are touting for business BIG TIME at the moment so dont ever feel you take what they have on offer.

All hotels we spoke to in the last 8 weeks dropped their pants when challenged

Well done Sizzler!

genie_us

Can anyone give tips on how to go about haggling or bargaining for these things with the hotels?

BroomBurner

Wow, loads of people have got some really good deals! Good to see people not accepting outright what they're offered

On haggling with hotels, just ask them what they can offer you that is better than other hotels. Have a few picked out and have your info to hand quickly, stating what their competition is offering and if they can better it. When it comes to the bar extension, tell them that they can close the bar early if they want, but that the hotel themselves will lose valuable revenue if they do (far more than the actual bar extension price). Hotel manager's aren't stupid. You kind of have to be prepared to lose out in order to gain, with some things.

Emerald Lass

rameire wrote: »

i am getting

10% off total bill,
bridal sweet and two rooms for bridal parents thrown in.
cake stand
flowers for the tables free,
free parking
red carpet,
corkage on the bubbly and wine
free sambos and tea and coffee for the after buffet
free champagne for the bridal party
free use of horse and carriage from house to the hotel,
free use of a separate room for the wedding ceremony (civil wedding)
free food tasting for 4 people
1 year anniversary dinner
round of golf for 4 people at the local golf club
free room during the afternoon for the kids entertainment,
exclusive use for the hotel for the whole day,

oh and they are catering to our every request and so so helpful

I notice so many people have commented on what a good deal you got without knowing how much you paid??!! Of course all these 'free' things are not 'free' because you are paying for them somewhere along the line. And if they are giving a discount its because they can well afford it - 10% discount read as previously paying 10% too much!

To me it just goes to show how over inflated the prices are when they can include all the above for the same price. Of course they still make a profit, and you are paying them, so to say things are 'free' or for the hotel to make you feel like they are free is misleading. also consider how much money they will take in over the bar! We seem to think we are getting a great deal, because compared to some places this is a fantasic offer. But doesn' that just prove that the hotel industry are taking the pi$$? They act like they are doing us a favour, rather than us paying a premium for their service!

I'm marrying in Turkey - here you don't pay for the venue (in our case a lovely restaurant over two levels over looking the sea and village). As we are guaranteeing them full capacity and drinks they are happy to give the venue to us for free. There is no mention of extra for chair covers or cake stands or any of that nonsense. We already get an automatic 10% discount every time we eat there because we are regulars, and we will get this on the day also. They are giving us the first 10 bottles of wine included with the meals. They are offering a menu choice i.e guests can choose any meal from the menu (this will be a shoter version than their usual menu but will have choice of three starters , 3 choices in each chicken, beef, veg, turkish options for the main meal, 4 dessert choices, plus meze (apetisers). We are having our wedding early evening (noe decided def yet, prob around 5 or so), followed by the meal, and then at about 11 or so there will again be salads and snacks. Also water is free (bear in mind its turkey, so no tap water!) They have also included all table linens co ordinating with the bridal party, and 3 bottles of champagne for the toast (1 bottle of Moet, and 2 turkish champagne! lol)

This is just as standard, and no doubt we will be able to arrange a lot more as the time draws closer. They are delighted because it means that they are certain of 100 covers for the evening which they could not guarantee otherwise. Plus they are guaranteed money on alcohol. It really does go to show how we are taken advantage of in Ireland.

Sizzler

genie_us wrote: »

Can anyone give tips on how to go about haggling or bargaining for these things with the hotels?

Simple, just say that you are evaluating several venues at the moment and then say that hotels of similar standard are offering X,Y & Z and is that something that they can match. If they say no straight off then say thanks but you will be looking elsewhere then.

I have played 2-3 hotels off one another to get what I was after and it wasnt that hard, the problem is that a lot of people just ask the price and then decide if they can afford it or not, they dont challenge or ask for stuff and the hotel then thinks happy days. Bar extensions perfect example, the amount of moaners on weddings online giving out about the increase in the stamp duty in bar extensions has been passed on to them by the hotel, RIDICULOUS! Purely because they were stupid enough to agree to pay for a bar extension in the first place!! The hotel will make most of their cash generally off the bar receipts at weddings and people are paying to have a bar open for an extra hour or two for the privililge of seeing the hotel swell their coffers by even more money :rolleyes:

fiona-f

I agree it is ridiculous what hotels list as an enticing special extra! On the other hand though, you can imagine how quickly my jaw dropped to the floor when one hotel we viewed handed us the price list for PRECISELY such things as hire of cake stand (€40), hire of cake knife (€20), use of the microphone during the speeches (€60) etc. At the time, both of us just literally burst out laughing in front of the banquetting manager. That to me really is the Celtic Tiger at its very very worst. Hotel was Four Seasons in Ballsbridge, btw.

Sizzler

fiona-f wrote: »

I agree it is ridiculous what hotels list as an enticing special extra! On the other hand though, you can imagine how quickly my jaw dropped to the floor when one hotel we viewed handed us the price list for PRECISELY such things as hire of cake stand (€40), hire of cake knife (€20), use of the microphone during the speeches (€60) etc. At the time, both of us just literally burst out laughing in front of the banquetting manager. That to me really is the Celtic Tiger at its very very worst. Hotel was Four Seasons in Ballsbridge, btw.

FFS ! Thats unreal ! I actually think its just as funny that most places advertise the free use of cake stand and knife, like they are doing you a favour :rolleyes:

What did the banquetting manager say after you stopped laughing?

harlem

I thought I was getting a great deal 'haggling' with the hotel & getting them to agree to 2008 rates for 2009.
Then they go tell me that they want to charge me room hire because my numers are under 100!!
I think its a bit of cheek considering the few grand I'll be handing over to them for food/drink on the night!

I can't seem to get the hang of this successful haggling business!:(

faceman

harlem wrote: »

I thought I was getting a great deal 'haggling' with the hotel & getting them to agree to 2008 rates for 2009.
Then they go tell me that they want to charge me room hire because my numers are under 100!!
I think its a bit of cheek considering the few grand I'll be handing over to them for food/drink on the night!

I can't seem to get the hang of this successful haggling business!:(

Look at it this way, if they have the tenacity and balls to try rip you off to your face, then why should you feel any shame for bargaining hard? The worst they can say is no.

Believe it or not, asking is simply have the battle. many of you will think this is sad, but i was in woodies a few weeks ago buying some stuff. When i got to the (customer service) till i asked if there was a discount for my bulk purchase for which they said no. I then pointed out that one of the things i was buying was slightly marked (lol) so they got a manager. I managed to get 10% off when speaking to him. ok so its not a wedding im speaking about but the concept is the same - if you dont ask you dont get!

Ratzer

Hi There.

Very very new to this site! 1st post in fact and apologies if this has been covered before and or if there is another specific thread.

Myself and her indoors to be are planning the wedding next year late in the year. We are about to have a look a t a few hotels. We live in Dublin but want to go head outside the pale for the wedding.
Not too far that guests will be travelling for ages so we looked at perhaps, Kildare, Laois, Carlow, Wicklow. Anyone got any suggestions on Hotels at decent prices.
We were looking at The Heritage 4* ( the one in Portlaoise itself ) and maybe the Westgrove in Kildare.. Any beenthere an have any ideas on service food or general..
Thanks and apologies again if Im on the wrong thread.

Donal94

Ratzer,
I went to a wedding in the westgrove in Clane during the summer. I had a great time. The food was lovely and the room was nice. I've also eaten in the restaurant and stayed in the hotel twice.The rooms are quite cheap and the food in the restaurant was really nice. Its modern though and has a few conference halls so you might not be the only wedding there. All in all I've been very happy anytime I've been there.

Sizzler

Ratzer wrote: »

Hi There.

Very very new to this site! 1st post in fact and apologies if this has been covered before and or if there is another specific thread.

Myself and her indoors to be are planning the wedding next year late in the year. We are about to have a look a t a few hotels. We live in Dublin but want to go head outside the pale for the wedding.
Not too far that guests will be travelling for ages so we looked at perhaps, Kildare, Laois, Carlow, Wicklow. Anyone got any suggestions on Hotels at decent prices.
We were looking at The Heritage 4* ( the one in Portlaoise itself ) and maybe the Westgrove in Kildare.. Any beenthere an have any ideas on service food or general..
Thanks and apologies again if Im on the wrong thread.

Fair play to you if you can afford the heritage mate ! I know someone getting married there and the prices they told me were ridiculous ! Over €100 a head plus extras.

Sizzler

harlem wrote: »

I thought I was getting a great deal 'haggling' with the hotel & getting them to agree to 2008 rates for 2009.
Then they go tell me that they want to charge me room hire because my numers are under 100!!
I think its a bit of cheek considering the few grand I'll be handing over to them for food/drink on the night!

I can't seem to get the hang of this successful haggling business!:(

For a small fee I will haggle on your behalf

Seriously though, have you said straight out that you would not pay a room hire fee as a)Its ridiculous in light of all the other revenue they will get from you and b) X, Y & Z hotels don't charge hire fees. c) Walk away.

Honestly, you're mad if you pay for it! Also make sure they arent trying to shaft you on the bar extension fee, another rip off !

Glowing

Donal94 wrote: »

Ratzer,
I went to a wedding in the westgrove in Clane during the summer. I had a great time. The food was lovely and the room was nice. I've also eaten in the restaurant and stayed in the hotel twice.The rooms are quite cheap and the food in the restaurant was really nice. Its modern though and has a few conference halls so you might not be the only wedding there. All in all I've been very happy anytime I've been there.

I was there for a wedding too - must say the food was the best out of any wedding I've been to. Gorgeous!

Ratzer

Cheers for the advice lads.
Am used to negotiation ( its part of my job!;) )

Have been to the Heritage and was well impressed. Not as expensive as you would think!. ( its the hotel and not the Golf place ).
No function room cost
Have already negotiated 50% off corkage with more to be negotiated that was just first discussion.!!!:D
Will prob stay the night before and we all get free dinner with room discounts for those staying 2 nights.
Free champers for bridal party and punch for guests
They will provide a piano player for our arrival ( free )
Free Bridal suite on wedding night
Free suite for both sets of parents on night of wedding.
Bar ext €250.
DJ provided but not sure of price and DJ will play our music as we would like which is great, at least we can ahave a few tunes we want to hear ourselves.
Awaiting a price on the menu ( have decided to have a set one!)

So far have to say they are excellent the lad is very obliging and also had a few great ideas that of course went down a treat with the Mrs to be.

After all teh above herself didnt really want to go and see anywhere else!
Hav I 4gotten anything??

Sizzler

Ratzer wrote: »

Cheers for the advice lads.
Am used to negotiation ( its part of my job!;) )

Have been to the Heritage and was well impressed. Not as expensive as you would think!. ( its the hotel and not the Golf place ).
No function room cost
Have already negotiated 50% off corkage with more to be negotiated that was just first discussion.!!!:D
Will prob stay the night before and we all get free dinner with room discounts for those staying 2 nights.
Free champers for bridal party and punch for guests
They will provide a piano player for our arrival ( free )
Free Bridal suite on wedding night
Free suite for both sets of parents on night of wedding.
Bar ext €250.
DJ provided but not sure of price and DJ will play our music as we would like which is great, at least we can ahave a few tunes we want to hear ourselves.
Awaiting a price on the menu ( have decided to have a set one!)

So far have to say they are excellent the lad is very obliging and also had a few great ideas that of course went down a treat with the Mrs to be.

After all teh above herself didnt really want to go and see anywhere else!
Hav I 4gotten anything??

What about the free use of the cake stand and knife :P

I wouldnt count the free bridal suite as a benefit tbh ! Do they think you are going to pay for that

Bar extension, eh €250, no thanks.

If they have bent over that much already then business is slack and theres plenty left in the tank for you to really get the boot in

Ratzer

Hope so sizzler.

They are also providing free champers for bridal party and punch for guests on arrival with a piano player, so dat sounds not too bad.

But given as a few of us are heading the night before we are getting free meal in restaurant.

But still reckon I can get a few bob off the rooms that night too;).
They have a dj an the will play our music not a dope that will decide all for himself.
Have to say they have been very helpful.

Keep ya posted on what else I get