Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: IETF 104 Registration and Hotel Reservations Openo

[Mary B <[e-mail]>]

Just as an aside, the lower rates weren't on another booking website. They
were on the Hilton.com website.  I will also note that some of the ones
available on hilton.com were noted to be recently remodeled rooms.   I
didn't see that for the IETF room block.  Given past experiences with the
difference between refurbed rooms and non-refurbed, this is a bigger deal
IMHO.

Personally, I don't think the general notion of lower priced options is a
big issue either way since IETF meeting hotel almost always sells out
quickly.  And, breakfast was included in IETF rate and not in some of the
other rates, so I think the other rates were likely fairly equivalent in
that regards.    Now, Prague maybe different in terms of filling the room
block because we've been there a number of times, so folks may have
optimized their search for lower price options as is.

Regards,
Mary.

On Sun, Jan 6, 2019 at 3:41 PM Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal) <
[e-mail]> wrote:

>
>
> > On Jan 6, 2019, at 12:24 PM, Lou Berger <[e-mail]> wrote:
> >
> > Obviously we can't change existing contracts, but we can stop asking
> that the "no lower rates offered" clause be inserted in future contracts --
> again, it is my understanding (which of course can simply be wrong) that
> this clause was first added to hotel contracts by the IETF, specifically
> the IAD at that time.
> >
> > Lou
>
> I’m not sure I agree with you in this.  The purpose of the clause is to
> say “the IETF negotiated rate is the lowest that the hotel will offer
> during the meeting window.”  In other words they are agreeing negotiate one
> rate with the IETF as part of our overall meeting contract and agreeing to
> also not then go and negotiate a undercutting rate with some travel web
> site for instance.
>
> One big part of this is intended to make sure the ietf rate is the best
> rate across its whole block.  Another big part related to the first is that
> ietf attendees do not need to worry they there was a better deal that they
> missed because they didn’t spend a couple
> of hours on other travel sites, or a better deal because the booker early
> or waited.
>
> Being consistent for the whole IETF room block is an important part of
> this negotiation.   While a hotel may offer a couple of rooms at a discount
> they certainly aren’t doing that for any number of rooms as big as the ietf
> block which can be (simplified general numbers here)   600 rooms at say 6
> nights for a total of 3600 room nights that are available to IETF attendees
> all for the same price.
>
> This is as opposed to what I’ve seen on many hotel booking sights where
> the price changes up or down each night and you are
> competing against every other customer to grab the cheapest rates before
> they are gone. Or you get a cheap first or last night and pay more for all
> the others.
>
> This is very different to the ietf rate which is the same for every room
> night for every attendees and is the same if you book as soon as
> registration opens or if you book just before arriving.
>
> The ietf gets a consistent and good rate for all its rooms and all times
> of booking. That’s a huge benefit for ietf participants, especially those
> that have to wait to get approval before booking their travel.
>
> Opposed to that consistency is the kind of room pricing that places like
> PriceLine engage in. Sure some individuals can get some deals occasionally,
> but it’s one thing to compete against the open market especially if you
> don’t have a particular goal of staying in a specific meeting hotel - it is
> an entirely different thing to pit IETF attendees against one another to
> edge out each other for a better room rate while leaving the scraps to
> those willing to pay the full rack rate when the supply gets low (which is
> a real and painful part of playing the hotel pricing market place).
>
> So I don’t agree removing the clause is in the best interest of the ietf
> community.  It requires the hotel to act consistently with all IETFers who
> book a room at the hotel and it says that they do not need to waste time
> hunting across the hotel discount sites looking for a better deal -
> because they have already got the best deal to be found on those sites.
>
> I will add that the IETF main mailing list is not the place to debate ietf
> meeting hotel practices. That belongs on [e-mail] which is the
> working group for meeting venue stuff.
>
>
> Regards
> Glenn
>
>