Hotels are not reducing their prices

homeOwner

Organising a wedding at the moment and with all the talk of hotels going out of business, those that have free dates that suit (and with no other bookings for the month) are not willing to reduce prices. I dont understand it.

I am trying to negotiate for them to waive the charge per head for a choice on the menu and no one is budging. We even contacted some smallish restaurants in Dublin where we would be booking out the entire restaurant guaranteeing them a full house and they are only willing to put on 1 main couse and 1 starter. They want to charge an extra price per head for a second main choice, this is a restaurant that offers 7 main cource choices every day on their regular menu. I just dont understand it. It doesnt make any sense to me.

Victor

If you want the restaurant to rpovide more than one menu, then need to buy more food than they normally would. Someone has to pay for this. This person is you.

If other places have closed, perhaps the market is now bouyant enough for them to maintain their prices. In fact, some of the closed hotels are re-opening.

kmick

Restaurants that only put on 1 main and 1 starter!! Thats not a restaurant - thats a home cooked meal as in you ask your wife whats for dinner, she says shepards pie and ice cream and you say what other choices are there. Then she hits you on the head with the frying pan.

How many people are you looking at?

emc2

From what I've seen you're never going to get them to drop there choices fee. What you should try to do is bargain them on the cost of the menu (ie 20% off the main course price).

Reesy

Would it be feasible to go to Northern Ireland for the wedding? I heard a fairly detailed radio report suggesting there are huge savings to be made for people who do.

Alternatively, if a hotel won't give a discount in these times then I'd suggest that you are perhaps not dealing with the right person. Get the name of the owner / general manager & write or email her/him explaining how many people, date, etc., and ask for a best price for cash. Also explain that you are looking at places in e.g. the whole county. Ask for a detailed quote. If you getto meet them, maybe show them written quotes from their competitors (just from a distance?)

At the end of the day, if you're only looking at one place & they know that, they have you over a barrel. Also, if they have somebody else looking for the same date & prepared to pay full price, you're knackered - maybe change the date?

Did you look at bringing your own wine & agreeing a low corkage charge?

My Sister had a marquee in the garden & outside caterers - that helped keep prices manageable.

Good luck with the wedding & more importantly the marriage!

homeOwner

Victor wrote: »

If you want the restaurant to rpovide more than one menu, then need to buy more food than they normally would. Someone has to pay for this. This person is you.

Not looking for more than 1 menu. I am just looking for their usual menu. They are offering 1 starter, 1 main course and 1 dessert and thats it. No choice for anyone. Since their usual menu lists 5 starters, 7 main courses and 5 desserts on a usual night why do they change the rules when they hear the word wedding.

If 75 of my closest friends all happened to call the restaurant and book for the same night they would get the full menu to choose from for the same price.

homeOwner

kmick wrote: »

Restaurants that only put on 1 main and 1 starter!! Thats not a restaurant - thats a home cooked meal as in you ask your wife whats for dinner, she says shepards pie and ice cream and you say what other choices are there. Then she hits you on the head with the frying pan.

How many people are you looking at?

:P totally agree. I was gobsmacked to be honest when she told me about the 1 item thing especially since she sent me their full menu first so I thought, great, finally getting a decent choice. Then she hits me with the "...actually you only pick 1 item for the menu on the day" thing. Jog on!

homeOwner

Reesy wrote: »

At the end of the day, if you're only looking at one place & they know that, they have you over a barrel. Also, if they have somebody else looking for the same date & prepared to pay full price, you're knackered - maybe change the date?

THanks for the suggestion re: NI, i think I will start looking into this. We have about 4 places were are considering and they all know we are shopping around. One place even said, if people want to get married they are going to spend the money - it costs what it costs. Which is fair enough I suppose, someone is going to get the business. They just seem to be happy enough to let business go across the road, maybe the odds are someone else will pick them.

seamus

homeOwner wrote: »

Since their usual menu lists 5 starters, 7 main courses and 5 desserts on a usual night why do they change the rules when they hear the word wedding.

Because when you're providing food for 75 people all at the same time, it's a billion times easier to only have to cook one or two items. On a normal night, the customers are staggered so you're only serving a handful of people at a time.

I imagine if you're trying to book for a Friday or Saturday night you'll get little joy because they're still busy those nights and will pack the restaurant with or without your wedding. If it's a busy time of year for weddings, the hotel will probably have someone else in the next day asking about a wedding on the same day as yours.

You probably need to play the "poor me" game. If they say that they want to charge €50 per head, with an extra €10 for a choice, then say that you'd like a choice but you can't afford to pay more than €54 per head. If they want money, they'll take it.
You could also try switch the meal around a bit, if there are a lot of courses. Many places do a sorbet, but most people wouldn't miss it. So offer to pay the same amount if they'll do without the sorbet and give you a choice or main instead.

MJOR

They have to buy in the food so you can see their point. Its not necessery to offer a choice. Maybe they'll budge on something else?

luvedup

that is unbelievable we found the same this month and when we told them it was between them and another hotel and laid the other hotels brochure out in front of them they were very quick to change some prices, there should be no charge for a choice in meal thats really unfair do they want business or not!

homeOwner

Well after a long search we found a lovely country house willing to negotiate on price. Compared with their prices last year they have already dropped them considerably and have said they are will to reduce some of the other costs once we decide on the final menu.

She has told us that 10% off the wine costs for dinner and arrivals reception would be doable. Instead of paying for a choice on the menu, they will let us send our guests their full menu in the invitation so they can choose their food beforehand. They will cook literally the exact number of dishes we give them before the day so its a good way of giving a choice without inconveniencing the hotel or paying for that choice.

Straight away as soon as we booked the date with them they dropped the accomodation costs by 30%, without us even haggling which will be a great savings to our families and guests. They are clearly eager for business and the venue is superb.

We are really pleased with it and I am glad we held out for somewhere willing to work with us on budget.

4diarmuid

Be warned. Hotels give a great blurb on special suite for the bride and groom but double their price for your family. Just at a wedding in Wicklow near Glen of the Downs. Price for an overnight went from €90 Euro to €200 Euro for guests who were filling the hotel on the Saturday night. Went back to €90 Euro the next night.

Are these people still living in the real world? Thousands have lost their jobs and they still are charging the earth as though all was hunky dory.

I can't wait for these overpriced establishments to crash though I will feel sorry for the staff who do not get their share of the obscene profits the owners are skimming.

Emerald Lass

4diarmuid wrote: »

Be warned. Hotels give a great blurb on special suite for the bride and groom but double their price for your family. Just at a wedding in Wicklow near Glen of the Downs. Price for an overnight went from €90 Euro to €200 Euro for guests who were filling the hotel on the Saturday night. Went back to €90 Euro the next night.

Are these people still living in the real world? Thousands have lost their jobs and they still are charging the earth as though all was hunky dory.

I can't wait for these overpriced establishments to crash though I will feel sorry for the staff who do not get their share of the obscene profits the owners are skimming.

that is obscene and crazy! Our hotel are offering us (the couple) a choice of one of 4 suites (they have several, inc a bridal one). All the other rooms are being offered at a reduced rate for our guests - this was automatic, not something we had to haggle on. ITs working out at €33 per person to stay the night which is a good deal IMO. I can't believe that some hotels INCREASE the price - that is plain greedy.

one hotel we were looking at maintained that they were doing us a favour by reducing the nightly hotel rate from €90 to €75 PER PERSON! and this hotel is not a patch on the one we went with in the end. That would have been €150 per room (not even B&B) which is crazy!

Some greedy greedy people out there :mad:

BigChap1759

Sounds great - where was it you booked EL?