Multiple Rooms for Family Reunion

[Keoni]

Looking for advise for booking 12 rooms for the night of June 23 2007

for a family reunion in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I started with Hotwire

for booking multiple rooms and ended up getting to a bidding service

at: FindGroupDeals.HotelPlanner.com

I want to make sure I pass credit to Betterbidding and any suggestions

would be appreciated. Would like 2/3 star level, pool (outdoor preferred)

comp breakfast (hot is better than continental), etc... Price range $55 - 75

per night.

Regards, Keoni :)

[thereuare]

Thanks for thinking of us :)

Not sure how good of a rate you'll get thru the multi-room booking channel, but it's worth a try (my guess is you'll be looking at a 10% discount from traditional rates... nothing really close to what you can typically get thru the opaque channels).

I'm sure it would be ideal to have everyone at the same hotel, but in order to save money, would it be ok if everyone was at 2-3 different properties?

[powerplantop]

Travelocity has a group search function in the hotel search box look for the 5+ link.

If your looking for a basic hotel they list the Ramada Lookout Mountain West with an indoor swimming pool and complimentary continental breakfast for $55 per night.

If your looking for something nicer they list the Hampton Inn Chattanooga-Downtown/lookout Mountain with pool and hot breakfast for $99 per night.

[Keoni]

Powerplantop and Thereuare,

First, yes it is important to the group to be in the same motel and there

will be lots of young cousins to terrorize the pool area and being indoors for kids

just ain't the same... so we need an outdoor pool.

What we have seen so far based upon phone calls directly to the motel:

Comfort Inn, 4833 Hixson Pike, price of $69.00, plus tax.

Holiday Inn Express, on Hixson Pike, price of $88.00 per night, plus tax.

Fairfield Inn, 2350 Shallowford Rd., price of $74.00 for a room with king bed and

$86.00 for a room with 2 double beds, plus tax

Holiday Inn Express, 7024 McCutcheon Rd., Hamilton Place area, quoted a

price of $69.00 per room, plus tax, for either a king bed or 2 queen beds, based

on 10 rooms.

I will place a bid on the Priceline site for multiple rooms and keep all informed as

to how we proceed.

Regards, Keoni :)

[oldfoagy]

If you can't bid for 12 rooms on Priceline, and it's a top priority to all be in the same hotel, why would you BID on Priceline for multiple rooms? What if you get 4 at Ramada, 4 at Hampton, 2 at HIX, 2 at other HIX?

Priceline isn't ALWAYS the answer. Or even always an option.

Isn't this a case where you would be better off deciding which hotel (outdooor pool) suits your group best and then just contact them directly for a group rate??? It may end up costing $10-$20 more per room, but is the top priority saving money or getting what/where you want all together???

[Keoni]

My BAD...

I meant to say I would bid on Travelocity with the 5+

rooms per night option, not Priceline... Anyway, I am a big

supporter of this board and eventhough I bid multiple times

over many days on Travelocity, this particular project didn't

work out.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify and I have since landed

a room in Atlanta using Savingsbarn (see the report in GA) and

just tonight I scored a rental car in Honolulu for $15 per day

using SavingsBarn and Priceline.

Aloha, Keoni :)

[Keoni]

Oldfoagy,

You give sound advice! Yes, after stating qualifications were more important

than saving money, I did contact two of the top choices directly and was able to

get the price down to a satisfactory level that would please the group.

I agree, sometimes no matter what you do the situation cannot be controlled

so you have to work with the parameters given. Thanks for your viewpoint.

Regards,

Keoni :)