Getting a hotel’s best rate

In the following, I haven’t identified the hotel or hotel chain because it’s not my purpose to single them out for criticism (the hotel staff was very accommodating).

In May ’06, I needed to reserve a hotel room in Buenos Aires for mid-December. I chose a hotel that is part of an international chain, then located that hotel’s website, where I found a nightly rate of $130.

I was unsure whether I had made the online reservation successfully, however, so I sent an e-mail message to the hotel, which responded saying the nightly rate was $145.

Then a friend recommended that I try the website of the international hotel chain, where I was able to reserve the same room for the same night for $103.

Within a few days of each other I had been quoted three rates, all for the same night at the same hotel.

The moral? Check all available sources for a hotel’s rate. The savings can be substantial.

STAN BACH

Washington, D.C.