Negotiating group discounts with hotels

[schmorandom]

I'm guessing that there will be a lot of experienced event organisers on this board who might be able to share some advice.

I'm currently planning a large event for next year - I need to book 4 nights accommodation for 300-500 people.

What are some tips on negotiating with hotels? What kind of discounts off the quoted price are reasonable to ask for?

 

[Timtammi]

I've never had to organise one that big we do a bi-annual training conference where I need to organise a training room and approx 20-25 rooms a night for about 4-5 nights. We generally get the training room for free (but pay for a conference package per head for food/bev/amenities for trainees during the daytime training), bfast included, free internet, discounted room rate and a couple of free rooms or room upgrades for the organisers. We have to commit to a certain number of rooms and there are cut off times for cancelling, and a sizeable deposit upfront. All our conferences have been run in Asia, not sure what they offer here in Australia, but I know we get a better deal running our conferences in places like KL, coughet and Hong Kong.

Cheers

Timmi

 

[Cynicor]

I've only ever organised 1 large event and it was in Perth, for a week, for 600ish people prior to the GFC in 2006. Those who know the Perth hotel market will understand how much of a trial this was.

The discount you can obtain will depend on hotel occupancy rates in your city. If you plan on holding it in Perth then just give up now and buy 300 tents. The service will probably be better too...
Depending on how many can share each room, serviced apartments may offer larger discounts and require fewer overall rooms (which is the issue we had).
If you can package the rest of the event with the hotel you may be able to arrange further discounts.

Sorry I can't be more specific with hotel rates.

Good luck

 

[High Horse]

You can definitely get preferred rates with numbers like that. Not sure if accommodation is being paid for by the company or by the individual but you may look at spreading the room numbers across a couple of different properties for choice.

The easiest thing for you to do, if you know your destination (eg: Brisbane), approach the Brisbane Convention Bureau (most large cities have a Convention Bureau). Give them a brief with all the information you have, then they will get the venues to quote on it for you.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Get an events organizer. What city and when? What's important to you in terms of what you require - a themed event?