why to book your hotel early | reason # 5

The Carlyle where I once booked room for a PI to conduct a sting!

This is the final post in my five-part series on why you should make your hotel booking early. Here are the first four reasons:

1. it puts a ceiling on your room rate
2. the room category you want will be available
3. we have plenty of time to VIP your stay
4. the cancel deadline is your friend when you book early

Reason # 5: there's time to work on your special requests

Sometimes we have to work our relationships to get you what you want.

Requests to clear space. No availability is showing on the hotel's website or in our system (due to popular dates), but you want a reservation. By phoning our contacts, we can sometimes get space cleared for you. But our ability (and their ability) to do this for you is severely hampered when you book late.

Tip: Be strategic in timing your requests. Hotel reps typically leave the office at 5 p.m. and have weekends off. Avoid late afternoon requests, as they won't be handled until the following morning (at the earliest). Avoid last minute Friday requests, as they won't be seen until Monday morning (which is the most hectic time of the week). 

Requests for upgrades. I request an upgrade for you every time I make a reservation. While upgrades depend on availability, it does matter when the request is made. When you book far in advance and the sales manager sees a lot of unsold rooms, sometimes we can get your upgrade confirmed at the time of booking.

Standard requests. If you have a set of preferences for any hotel stay, we keep those on file, and we pass them along in our VIP emails. If you make your booking at least one week before check-in, that provides adequate time for us to convey your requests to the hotel ... and for the hotel to provide the experience you want.

Unusual requests. Anything out-of-the-ordinary takes more time. Need connecting rooms? Special arrangements? Planning to pop the question and want your room set up with candles, flowers, and chilled champagne? Want a suite with a piano so that you can conduct a sting? I'm not kidding! I actually got this request once, and the Carlyle arranged the suite for a successful operation).

copyright (c) 2016 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

New York luxury hotel deals

Nowhere is the effect of the economic downturn more dramatic than in New York City, ground zero of the collapse of the credit bubble. With properties struggling to fill rooms, even luxury hotels are offering free nights and room upgrades to attract business and leisure travelers.

Here are some notable New York luxury hotel deals. Note that they are subject to availability. Most of these values are good through March 31, 2009.

Four Seasons New York — third night free

Peninsula New York — third night free (pictured above)

Gramercy Park Hotel — third night free for Deluxe, Loft, and Suite categories along with all the Virtuoso amenities including a 10% discount off the best available rate. Good until March 31, 2009; book by Dec. 30th.

The St. Regis New York — second night for $4. Book one night in a 1 BR Madison, St. Regis, Fifth Avenue, or Grand Suite at Rack rate; pay just $4 for the second night (the price of a room at the St. Regis in 1904).

W New York Union Square — third night free (Thursday - Sunday travel)


These values are typically available with the Virtuoso amenities, including complimentary daily breakfasts for two. Consult with your Virtuoso travel advisor for complete details and to take advantage of these unprecedented values at New York luxury hotels.

New York luxury hotel deals (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2008 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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$19.28 for a 5 star hotel room

Leading Hotels of the World was founded in 1928, and they are celebrating their 80th anniversary with a special $19.28 rate for a two night stay in a select group of their properties.

How to take advantage of this promotion? First, click here to pre-register. Then, put a memo on your calendar to log in to the Leading Hotels of the World website at 8 a.m. EST on October 1, 2008. A limited number of rooms will be released at the $19.28 rate, and registered consumers will have 80 minutes (until 9:20 a.m. EST) to book available rooms at a single participating hotel for travel between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15, 2008. Naturally there are terms and conditions of the promotion, but this is a fabulous bargain for those who can take advantage of it.

Not every LHW property is participating, but some of the world's finest hotels are on the list: The Nam Hai in Vietnam, Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, The Hay-Adams in Washington, DC, Villa D'Este on Lake Como, and Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. There are dozens of other travel possibilities, all at $19.28 per night for a two night stay.

After booking your two night stay, contact a Virtuoso travel consultant to build an entire itinerary around those two nights. In addition to dozens of the Leading Hotels of the World that are a part of the Virtuoso network, you'll have a collection of nearly 800 five star luxury hotels and resorts around the world to choose from. For the rest of your vacation, you'll enjoy superb luxury values with special negotiated rates and valuable amenities at each hotel you select (complimentary daily breakfasts, room upgrades if available at check-in, and special perks unique to each property).

Virtuoso travel consultant (search here on Google)


[Thanks to FlyerTalk for discovering this promotion].


copyright (c) 2008 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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