Everything is negotiable, as the old business mantra goes, and that can apply to resort and service fees—even in this hotels-on-top market. Below are some points planners may use for the best bookings:
- Know the value of your group’s business and use it to leverage your position. Have your meetings history ready as negotiation ammunition.
- Room rates are the highest profit points, followed by food and beverage expenditures. If you are bringing in a good amount of F&B money to the hotel, emphasize this fact to your salesperson.
- Cultivate good relationships with resort staff by giving the property repeat business. This puts you at a better advantage in juggling resort/service fees.
- Be flexible with dates and rates—find out dates the hotel needs to fill and consider negotiating better rates and fees for those times.
- Know that guest count is often more important to resorts than the number of occupied rooms. Your group’s expenditures in a resort’s profit centers, such as golf, spa, dining, and retail, can pile up profits as much or more than rooms sold.
- Keep economic cycles in mind when dealing with hoteliers. It’s all about long-term relationships that carry each side through up and down times. If all else fails, look your hotelier in the eye and ask how you both can carve out a deal that is fair to all concerned.
- Avoid a negotiations contest by going for a property that does not charge resort fees. Just make sure your sales contact discloses any other fees in the contract that will be charged above the room rate—perhaps for parking or access to local phone calls.