any hotel deals out there?

[DIVAGIRL]

My DH is finally going to take me on a trip to New Orleans early NOV. - does anyone know of a way to get a real good deal on a hotel?? any info will help. I heard of a site that you can bid on hotel rooms-but I cant find it.

thanks, I love all of ya'll!
Divagirl

[ShainaT]

I used to work for a large hotels Reservation Center. They will always offer you the rack rate (non-discounted rate) when you call. ALWAYS ask for a better rate. They can't offer it to you unless you ask. They only get commission if you get a confirmation #.

[DIVAGIRL]

i WILL CHECK INTO THAT!

[deserae]

quote: "I used to work for a large hotels Reservation Center. They will always offer you the rack rate (non-discounted rate) when you call. ALWAYS ask for a better rate. They can't offer it to you unless you ask. They only get commission if you get a confirmation #."

this wont work at all hotels. (i work a major hotel's call center, we dont get commission... ). The best rates will be on the weekend, but New Orleans is an expensive area (mainly because of all the conventions they hold there.) If you stay out of the french quarter you will get a better rate. The farther away the cheaper. Those are just general recommendations, you might try a site like travelocity.com, orbitz.com or yahoo travel. you can compare rates at lots of different hotels.

you could try bidding at priceline.com, but you cant make any changes at all to the reservation and you dont get to pick which hotel or where it is exactly.

[deserae]

quote: "I used to work for a large hotels Reservation Center. They will always offer you the rack rate (non-discounted rate) when you call. ALWAYS ask for a better rate. They can't offer it to you unless you ask. They only get commission if you get a confirmation #."

this wont work at all hotels. (i work a major hotel's call center, we dont get commission... ). we always quote the lowest rates we have, there are no hidden "special" rates. The only way there would be a special rate is if you recieved a promotional code. The best rates will be on the weekend, but New Orleans is an expensive area (mainly because of all the conventions they hold there.) If you stay out of the french quarter you will get a better rate. The farther away the cheaper. Those are just general recommendations, you might try a site like travelocity.com, orbitz.com or yahoo travel. you can compare rates at lots of different hotels.

you could try bidding at priceline.com, but you cant change the reservation at all and you dont get to pick the hotel or its exact location. (They might say a hotel is downtown when it is really 2 miles away, etc.) This happens a lot with calls I recieve.

[tcarrsaved]

A couple of things to try: First, hotwire.com is a good place to start. You can then take the information from hotwire to bid a bit more intelligently/aggressively at priceline.com. Just doing a search in New Orleans for a stay from 11/9 to 11/17, I got three rates, ranging from $35-$40, just now. I would then go to priceline and try to find a lower deal. If no success, you have one hour to book the results you find at hotwire. My other suggestion was to try marriott.com. They have a promotion running through 1/27/02, using "OTP" in the "Corportate/Promotional" box at the bottom of the "Reservation. Rates % Availability" screen. For some reason, I found no success with New Orleans. It seems to work great for every other part of the US/Canada. I booked a room in Fairfax, VA
(Washington, D.C. suburb) for 12/27 - 12/31, at a Residence Inn, for $54.00 per night. Utilizing giftcertificates.com $10 off $50
promotions/coupons, I brought it down to an effective rate of $44.00 per night (A 1-bedroom suite that normally goes for $165.00 per night, breakfast included, for 4 people!) The promotion indicates that the reduced rates are good for 2-day or longer stays, Thursday-Sunday only. However, I found at this location and others, they are allowing this rate most any day of the week (some do, some don't). I found, for my parents, a 2-bedroom, 2-bath loft at a Residence Inn, Hilton Head, SC for $69.00 per night, breakfast buffet included. There are alot of awesome deals for Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Springhill Suites. Both Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites have full kitchens that are great for families (kids/baby food preparation, preparing food in your room to save money, etc.). The Residence Inn and Springhill Suites come with breakfast included, but the Springhill only has a mini-fridge and a microwave (no stove/oven). I pray this is of some assistance to you. I have historically found that the hotel internet sites often list promotions or specials that aren't advertised anywhere else. Marriott, for the last twelve months, has been very aggressive in their promotions. We have taken a short 4-5 day trip every 3-6 months, as God provides, with their promotions for cheap suites, as it allows us to travel with our two infants reasonably and comfortably. Have a Christ-filled weekend! Happy hunting!