Money doesn't actually talk. We do.

Roman Holiday: Negotiating Hotel Discounts

When planning an upcoming trip to Rome, I knew we wouldn’t be staying at a hotel of the fluffy-white-robe variety.

When you factor in the impact of the weak dollar, a Holiday Inn-quality hotel suddenly carries the price tag of a room at the Hilton. So finding a comfortable place to stay in the center of the city - without spending a bundle - became our mission. Besides, that would allow us to indulge with a little less guilt on decadent dinners and other Roman treats.

We came up with a list of hotels using traditional sources: Frommers.com, Fodors.com, and recommendations from friends and family. Once we narrowed down the list, we started shooting off emails to our target hotels. And we were pleasantly surprised to learn there were ways to shave off a few euros here and there.

Many hotel operators were willing to negotiate - perhaps that was because we’re traveling during the first week of March, which is still considered their off season. In fact, several places offered discounts of up to 10% if we paid in cash (their cash, as in euros - remember, the almighty dollar ain’t looking so almighty these days).

Once we learned this, we emailed several hotels — offering to pay in euros — to see what kind of deals we could land. After much back and forth with Marcelo, Angelo and others, we ultimately found a place for the bargain price of 95 euros a night. It’s not exactly a luxurious palace today - but it used to be in the 16^th century.

In addition to the cash discount, staying a full week can also save you some money. One hotel offered to take 5% off their regular rate if we stayed for the week, while another offered to bump us up to a room with a balcony.

If you do secure some sort of discount, be sure to see if any penalties apply if you decide to leave early. If you’re not completely enamored with the hotel and decide to go elsewhere, some places may charge, say, the equivalent of one night’s stay — or worse. So be sure to check if those rules apply.

The bottom-line: it pays to bargain. In my next post, I’ll talk about the most economic ways to convert your dollars to euros.

–Tara Siegel Bernard

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