Re: IETF 104 Registration and Hotel Reservations Openo

[Lou Berger <[e-mail]>]

Hi Alexa,

Happy new year

Cutting to the key point:
>
> One might make the case then that we should not point out such 
> instances to the hotel, when they occur. However it's important that 
> the hotel understand that we take our contract seriously, and that we 
> are indeed vigilant about ensuring that the IETF guest room rate is 
> the best rate we can secure. This vigilance helps us in future 
> negotiations.
>
I think getting the hotel to remove lower rate's available during the 
IETF week is simply counter to the interest of both attendees and the 
IETF.  I furthermore think that any clause that precludes a hotel from 
offering lower rates is a *mistake* to include in the contract.  Having 
the hotel offer lower rates during the IETF helps attendees immediately  
and the IETF in the longer term by being able to negotiate the fact that 
lower rates were offered show that our rates were too high*.  FWIW I 
remember when Ray instituted this practice and had the obviously wrong 
understanding that the practice had since stopped.

I really hope AMS changes both such rate "enforcement" and removes the 
related clause from future hotel contracts.

Thanks,
Lou

* this is taking into account that the IETF receives credit  for any 
registered attendee in meeting its minimum room count booking.


On 12/21/2018 7:12 PM, Alexa Morris wrote:
> Hi Lou,
>
>> On Dec 21, 2018, at 12:09 PM, Lou Berger <[e-mail] 
>> <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Alexa,
>>
>> Thanks for this mail, see below for a couple of responses.
>>
>>
>> ----------
>> On December 21, 2018 2:02:06 PM Alexa Morris <[e-mail] 
>> <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi Everyone,
>> >
>> > It’s clear that there is some confusion about IETF 104 guest rooms 
>> rates and the cancelation policy, so let me attempt to clarify.
>> >
>> > The Secretariat performs weekly audits to verify that the IETF has 
>> the lowest rate offered to anyone; per the terms of our contract, no 
>> other individual or group holding a meeting at the venue during our 
>> dates can secure lower rates, even through discount travel websites 
>> (e.g., Travelocity, Expedia). Please note that corporate rates are an 
>> exception, as large companies may have their own contractual 
>> relationships with specific hotel chains.
>> >
>> > During this week's audit, we discovered several instances where our 
>> room rate guarantee was not being honored. This has since been 
>> corrected and we will continue to perform weekly audits.
>> >
>>
>>
>> if this is corrected by lowering the right to the ietf, I think this 
>> is a fantastic thing. If this is corrected by removing that alternate 
>> source for lower rates, I have no idea why this would be in our 
>> interest or why we would expend resources trying to enforce that. I 
>> really hope it's the former not the latter.
>>
>
> Our contract with the hotel stipulates that the Hilton cannot offer a 
> lower guest room rate to any other parties over our meeting dates. If 
> we see a lower rate advertised elsewhere, we point it out to the 
> hotel. While we'd obviously prefer that the hotel lower the IETF room 
> rate rather than increase the rate they are offering to others, we 
> have no power to enforce this desire and the reality is the hotel is 
> not incentivized to do so. It's also the case that there are typically 
> very few of these lower-priced rooms available (i.e. nowhere near the 
> numbers we need for our IETF room block) and they are offered for a 
> very limited time.
>
> One might make the case then that we should not point out such 
> instances to the hotel, when they occur. However it's important that 
> the hotel understand that we take our contract seriously, and that we 
> are indeed vigilant about ensuring that the IETF guest room rate is 
> the best rate we can secure. This vigilance helps us in future 
> negotiations.
>
> Alexa
>>
>>
>> > Some of you have also expressed confusion about the Hilton’s 
>> cancellation policy for IETF 104. We will work with the Hilton to 
>> clarify the language on their reservation site, but it’s not possible 
>> to make changes until 2019. In the meantime, the cancellation policy 
>> is stated on the IETF website (make sure you select the “In Depth” 
>> tab from https://www.ietf.org/how/meetings/104/hotel/) and explained 
>> below:
>> >
>> > * You may cancel your reservation without penalty up to 21 days 
>> prior to arrival date.
>>
>>
>> I'm a bit surprised to see this 21-day cancellation clause. Of course 
>> if this allowed us to get a lower rate or some other major 
>> concession, it seems well worth it.
>>
>> Also thank you for clarifying the other points below.
>>
>> Lou
>>
>>
>> > * All reservations must be accompanied by a valid credit card which 
>> shall be charged on the cut-off date (10 March 2019) for three nights 
>> room and tax.
>> > * If you decide to cancel your room reservation less than 14 days 
>> prior to your arrival date, the hotel reserves the right to charge 
>> you for your full length of stay.
>> >
>> > If you have any other questions about your hotel reservation and/or 
>> if you discover a rate advertised online that is lower than the IETF 
>> guest room rate of Kč 3,850, please send a message to 
>> [e-mail] <mailto:[e-mail]> and we will 
>> follow up.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Alexa Morris
>> > Managing Director, IETF Secretariat
>> >
>> >
>> >> On Dec 21, 2018, at 8:58 AM, Carsten Bormann <[e-mail] 
>> <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Dec 21, 2018, at 17:48, John R Levine <[e-mail] 
>> <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> "This reservation requires a credit card deposit of 3,850.00 Kč 
>> CZK for 3 nights which will be charged to your card."
>> >>>
>> >>> It may say that, but there's nothing charged to my card.  Did 
>> they charge yours?
>> >>
>> >> None of my credit card providers shows me the deposits I have made 
>> using their cards.
>> >> Does yours?
>> >>
>> >> Grüße, Carsten
>> >>
>> >
>>
>