Planning A Hotel Event

Hotels can be wonderful places to hold an event.  Many are designed to meet every conceivable guest’s need, and come with a bevy of resources and staff. However, as with any venue, a hotel event requires thorough planning with an eye on costs. Knowing what to look for before you sign that contract, and knowing what is reasonable to ask, can help put many concerns to rest – and leave you free to focus on running a fantastic event!

1. Hotel Event Room Rental Fee: Don’t always assume that you need to pay a rental fee!   Hotels will often waive or adjust this fee with food and beverage minimums, as well as the timing of events.
2. Food and Beverages: Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts! Always ask about available packages (don’t forget to break these down to ensure that they really provide value). If you have an all day meeting, don’t pay by beverage consumption. The hotel will charge you throughout the day for gallons of wasted coffee, decaf and hot water.  Ask for an all-day beverage break as this price will generally reduce your costs by a third.
3. Events with Sleeping Rooms: If your date is flexible, ask if there are any “need dates” promotions, as these can often result in lower room rates along with food, beverage and Audio-Visual (A/V) discounts.
4. Parking: Especially when the hotel is a city property, parking is a top concern. Ask for a reduced rate for all attendees, as many times this rate is lowered by $8 to $10 per car per day
5. Internet: For sleeping rooms, have the lowest band width put into the rate. For meeting space, ask to have the fee waived; if the hotel is not willing to do that, then only pay a one-time fee rather than per day/per connection