For the rest of us, who tend to phone ahead, try 4:00 PM on a Sunday. Why? Because the folks who run "revenue management," the people who set the sliding rates for any hotel room, are off on Sundays, and you stand a much better chance of getting a front-desk clerk who just needs to sell a room. The result: a lower rate.
Because hotels tend to be overbuilt in today's travel economy, there are plenty of opportunities for bargaining. In fact, more than three-quarters of all business travelers negotiate with hotels and never pay published prices. Keep in mind that, in recent years, the average daily room rates for hotels in major cities grew by 4.4 percent per year. Still, an unsold room is the last thing a hotelier wants; it represents revenue the hotel can never recoup. (It's like an airplane flying with an empty seat; the fare is lost forever.) The hotelier will figure that earning something is better than nothing. As an example, in some big-city hotels, the weekend rate may go as low as one-third of the regular nightly rate. Suggest cutting a deal in which that rate is extended throughout the week if you stay in that hotel.
Other Questions to Ask about Your Room
When you ask for a price quote on a hotel room, most hotels neglect to mention that the official rate -- the rate offered to you, even if it is the lowest available rate -- doesn't include occupancy tax or sales tax. Because they're trying to be competitive, the hotels quote only the price for the room. The taxes are add-ons and, in many cities, they are excessive.
In the United States, hotel taxes average 12 percent. The most abusive hidden fee in at least seventeen U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, and Miami, is a surcharge to finance a local stadium or a convention center.
Not only do these charges add a significant amount to travelers' bills, but no one warns that they are coming. Cities get away with burdening travelers with a disproportionate amount of the costs of building arenas because we don't vote there.
How high are these taxes? Here is a tally of occupancy tax in some cities:
Chicago 14.9% Dallas 13% Los Angeles 14% Houston 15% Anaheim (Calif.) 15% Seattle 15.2% Columbus (Ohio) 15.75%
If you call a hotel and the room rate quoted is $150, you know you will be paying more, maybe MUCH more.
Overseas, the tab can be worse. The dreaded value added tax (VAT) is slapped onto just about anything, especially hotel rooms.
Be sure you arrive at a mutually agreeable definition of terms. Was the $150 rate quoted to you the cost for double occupancy or for the room? If it was for double occupancy, the real rate is $300 per night. You'd be surprised how many people don't ask about the room rate and don't define the terms ahead of time, only to find out, too late, that their rate is actually double.
Are there other extras? Is there an additional charge for your kids? Many hotels now have a deal where up to two kids under age sixteen can stay free. But you need to know these details up front, even if the rate quoted is for the room.
Excerpted from The Travel Detective by Peter Greenberg Copyright 2001 by Peter Greenberg. Excerpted by permission of Villard, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher
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