Is it worth haggling the price of hotel rooms?

January

Getting married on NYE 2014 and the room rate is €89 for a double room with b&b. Found on trivago that for this NYE they are offering a rate of €81.56 including breakfast.

Is it worth haggling with them to get this price? Obviously I know NYE is the week after Christmas so I am mindful of how expensive a time it is for everyone coming to the wedding.

biko

Sure why not, worst case they just say no.

Fagashlil

Would you tell people to book through trivago? We did that, our rate was €105, but online through booking.com was only €89, so we told everyone to book it there instead!

January

I will if I have to but would prefer them to be able to book it with the hotel direct and not have them find out that the "special rate" the hotel are offering me is in fact not a special rate at all.

BobLeeSwagger

If you don't ask you wont know. Given the time of year they probably will keep to their rate. Would stand a better chance in an 'off' season where they would be looking to have more rooms in use and willing to haggle. Best option is to ask.

tinkerbell

I wouldn't worry about it, January. The difference in price is €7.44 which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. It'd be different if it was say €20 more expensive but for 7 quid, I wouldn't bother. But you could say it to them and see what they say, all they can do is say no.

Berty

Sometimes there's not much point. Bear in mind time of year of the wedding. If you have a Summer wedding when rates are higher anyway then you're FIXED rate might be lower but a few days before the wedding the hotel might release a big block of them to "Comparison Sites" because they need to fill the rooms due to low occupancy and you could feel stung because you settled on a higher rate.

Then again the rate you settle on could be lower because the hotel could be jammed that night because a big coach tour came in so any rooms left over would be higher than your fixed rate.

Does that make sense? Hopefully.

Our wedding stipulates they will hold 20 rooms for us and we have to confirm them 30 days before the wedding so I will be checking price comparisons and if we can get them cheaper then we will be sending out an e-mail to those who said they want the rooms. They can choose to pay in advance and save money or stick with the allocated rooms and pay more. 99% of them you have to pay up front at the time of booking so some might not be able to jump at a good price.

Our hotel was 109 B&B for a double, half price for an adjoining room for kids or €10 extra for a family room. It's September to a relatively ok price for a 4*.

January

Well I decided not to haggle, my dad rang today and for this new years eve it's 99 euro b&b so we're happy enough with the discount. They're also offering two nights b&b and one evening meal for €115pps so it's not too bad.

They're holding 20 rooms initially but can hold up to 40 and she will discuss it with the reservations manager if there is more needed. We've a lot of family coming from over sea's so they'll be staying more than one night in the hotel too.

Berty

Good thing you checked. I'm attending a Christmas wedding and the couple found out the other day that the day before their wedding the hotel is hosting another wedding so fully booked so we all have to stay elsewhere the night before, pack our bags, get ready(ladies off to salon) and somehow get ready after that, to church, to 2nd hotel and check in. :rolleyes:

January

Oh god... worst nightmare... it's why we've told people we're getting married so early, I'd leave it until 9 months before otherwise but with the time of year that's in it we didn't want anybody too put out by us wanting a New Years Eve wedding.

Clareman

A friend of mine was offered 10 rooms at a good rate as part of the booking for the hotel, he said great and said he'd take them, he told the 2 families and they booked the rooms, 4 of the rooms figured that he was paying for the rooms and just left without paying, he was stung with the bill and was too embarrassed to go looking for the money for the room. Because of that I stayed well away from booking any rooms for anyone

January

Oh I won't be booking rooms for anyone either, they'll ring the hotel themselves or they won't have a room to stay in that night! Apart from my parents who's rooms are part of the package the hotel offered.

Clareman

Cool, you'll have enough hassle around the day as it is let alone sorting out people's hotel reservations.

Berty

Where I'm having it they give you little business cars with the room info AND PRICE and you give it to people with invites.

worded

Fagashlil wrote: »

Would you tell people to book through trivago? We did that, our rate was €105, but online through booking.com was only €89, so we told everyone to book it there instead!

That's so short sitednof the hotel (or bank that owns the hotel) trivago get 10% of that approx? Do hotels give lesser quality rooms or those who got trivago deals ?

Cushie Butterfield

Sometimes when booking through trivago the reason for a small difference of €8 or €9 is down the lowest quote being from say clever-hotels where you pay straight away whereas the slightly higher rate could be from booking.com or roomex where you only pay at the actual hotel.

It mightn't suit some people to pay straight away, so they don't mind paying the extra €8 or €9 when the time comes.