Reply to: Hotels - Choose your own or go with the agency?

[TheFaQQer]

I have sometimes found government rates unbeatable.

+1

I did a project in Glasgow where the government negotiated rate at the Hilton was £75 B&B, or I could have booked through our corporate travel and paid £125 room only.

[TheFaQQer]

Had my flight cancelled and we left in Brussels a few years ago so went to the Crown Plaza at the airport and they gave me a rate for the room. I asked for my clients rate and it was more than the walk in rate. How I laughed.

Don't assume the clients rate is the lowest you can get.

Was it anywhere near the Crowne Plaza?

[speling bee]

Had my flight cancelled and we left in Brussels a few years ago so went to the Crown Plaza at the airport and they gave me a rate for the room. I asked for my clients rate and it was more than the walk in rate. How I laughed.

Don't assume the clients rate is the lowest you can get.

I have sometimes found government rates unbeatable.

[northernladuk]

Had my flight cancelled and we left in Brussels a few years ago so went to the Crown Plaza at the airport and they gave me a rate for the room. I asked for my clients rate and it was more than the walk in rate. How I laughed.

Don't assume the clients rate is the lowest you can get.

[cojak]

Yes, I'd forgotten that. The last time a client picked up the tab for accommodation for myco was 2007...

[d000hg]

What?? The agent never is involved in this. All he/she cares about is that you turn up at the client in time.

Someone is pulling someone else's plonker...

If the client is paying your accommodation then you bill the agency or the agency pays directly, before billing the client, so for the to have a preferred supplier just as the client has a preferred agency doesn't seem that weird.

[cojak]

Thanks for the replies and the link. I'll listen to what the agency has to say and look around/negotiate myself and see which is best. The interviewer on the phone also mentioned he had hired contractors from this agency before and helped them with accommodation so can't be all bad I suppose.

The contracts in York by the way.

Don't laugh but I also used the Convent there, they did nice rooms at a very reasonable price

[cojak]

Nice pub with rooms.

These seem to be harder to find. I used a great one in York but it got bought out by Wetherspoons and stopped offering accommodation.

[eek]

I had an agency trying to give me hotel details with a discounted rate.

I later found out they had got them from the client.

I've twice used a client discounted rate.

On both occasions I was able to negotiate a better rate for subsequent bookings.

[Scotchpie]

Thanks for the replies and the link. I'll listen to what the agency has to say and look around/negotiate myself and see which is best. The interviewer on the phone also mentioned he had hired contractors from this agency before and helped them with accommodation so can't be all bad I suppose.

The contracts in York by the way.

[SueEllen]

What?? The agent never is involved in this. All he/she cares about is that you turn up at the client in time.

Someone is pulling someone else's plonker...

I had an agency trying to give me hotel details with a discounted rate.

I later found out they had got them from the client.

[cojak]

What?? The agent never is involved in this. All he/she cares about is that you turn up at the client in time.

Someone is pulling someone else's plonker...

[SueEllen]

Basically it comes down to the fact that I always have a suspicion when agents try to "help" that I'll end up worse off somehow.

Not necessarily.

Lots of hotels have links with businesses where they give the business' staff a "discount" in order to gain business.

Sometimes you can negotiate the same discount yourself or find it via alternative sources....

Choose the hotel, B&B or whatever you like to stay in best.

[speling bee]

Nice pub with rooms.

[quackhandle]

Never heard of agency recommending a specific chain of hotel before. Ring local B&B's and hotels/motels/outhouses/doghouses/etc and say you'll be using them quite a bit and see if they negotiate on price.

On my last gig away the local B&B's would never reduce their prices but Days Inn were quite good, even online was around 45-50 pn. + free wifi.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...otel-tips.html

qh