Negotiating a better rate on a hotel room has more to do with chutzpah--an old Yiddish word--than it does any rote formula. So begin by believing you can do it and you're halfway toward shaving 20 or 30 percent from the advertised cost of your room.
Show the hotel desk clerk how much you think of the hotel by mentioning all the times you've stayed there. Show how valuable you are to the company's bottom line by name dropping any associates who also might have stayed there. Don't be shy about name dropping the title of a famous event nearby.However, don't go off the deep end. Imagine yourself in the clerk's position. Decide what would impress you versus turn you off. Then do the former, not the latter.
Research the situation carefully.If it is the dead of January and you are in the middle of nowhere, there is a vacancy sign outside and you caught the clerk asleep on her desk, they can use the business. Then again, you may not want to stay there, but that's another how-to article altogether.If deeper research is required--i.e. on the surface they look busy, but you have heard they're not--ask the hotel clerk whether they're booked in two weeks. You want to bring your family from France over for a cousin's wedding. Ask if they'd have three rooms available that weekend.Though a bit sneaky/borderline dishonest, if you see the clerk genuinely poring over her day planner, then they probably are rather busy. If she jumps at the first sign of business, you are in a good position to negotiate--not just for that fictitious set of rooms in the future, but here and now, for the one room you need tonight.
Prepare yourself to walk away. Negotiators risk losing everything if they push too hard. While all hotels are open to at least asking if rates are adjustable, some will be offended if you force the issue. So know when to fold 'em.If this is the only hotel in 100 miles and you are sleepy, you are definitely not prepared to go anywhere else. Do not let the hotel clerk, manager or whomever you are trying to negotiate with know this, though. This should be obvious, but when you're tired, the only thing obvious is the free coffee in the lobby and the blisters on your feet.
Cash in before the hotel staffer changes his mind. Have the credit card at the ready, so the moment he says, "Well, we could take 20 percent off tonight's Plum Room," you have that piece of plastic in hand.He may be anxious to make quota for the weekend or be under pressure from his boss. That said, the owners of the hotel won't look favorably if the clerk they've hired consistently puts them in the red. It's a fine line, so if you've been invited to cross it, be grateful, be quick, and be up to your room.
Be grateful for what you've reaped. Do not take advantage further. If you need an ironing board desperately, then OK, ask for one. But don't keep whining about needing extra towels and soap and such.Be sure, too, to leave a generous tip for the housekeeper. Anything less is extremely tacky.
