Hi
I'm trying to book a room at the San Diego Marriott Marina Hotel - but they only offer corporate rates. Can I book at this rate? Or are they telling me to clear off because I'm not a business customer? (Not that they know I'm not a business customer!)
Sorry if this is a daft question. Thanks!

I've never heard of a hotel only having a corporate rate.
I've stayed there - on business actually, but there were plenty of leisure travelers there.
I think you must have misunderstood. Did you ask for a discounted rate and they told you the only discounted rate was a corporate rate?
Ask for AAA or AARP or go to the Marriott website to see if they are offering any specials for Marriott hotels.
All hotels have a variety of rates, including "rack rates" and a variety of discounted rooms.
You can't get a "corporate rate" unless your company has negotiated a corporate rate.

And if not, stay at another hotel The Coronado is right there over the bridge and very very nice.

If you are going over the bridge, consider the Marriott on Coronado. They serve a mean Electric Lemonade at their pool bar

Although, I agree with the Del if that's an option for you.

Usually anyone can use the Corporate rate. I, too, have never heard of a hotel offering only the corporate rate--I would check again.
This Marriott is very beautiful, and right on the water, but the Coronado Marriott is also very, very nice.

You also might go to the Marriott website and sign up for their frequent guest program, and you can earn points for free or discounted hotel stays at Marriott and their sister properties.

If you want to stay at the Marriott in SD, book a room and ask for the "lowest rate available", if that is the corporate rate, then book the room at that rate.

You also might try www.hotels.com for other suggestions in San Diego.

Hi all
No, I haven't misunderstood - the Marriott Marina website only offers 'corporate rate' (also concierge rate, which is too much!), even logging in with my Marriott Rewards number. I've booked dozens of US hotels on the internet, including many Marriotts, and I've never come across this before either. The Coronado Marriott offers 'leisure' rate, but the Marina would be a slightly better location for us. Hotels.com only offer a bay room (we would like a balcony!). Likewise, Expedia (who state that a balcony room is not available) and hoteldiscount.com don't show the balcony room. (ALL the rooms on the Marriott website are corporate rate).
Anyway, I've emailed them, but they haven't replied yet. Plenty of time (not going til next June!). We're currently booked in at Humphrey's Half Moon, but we think the Marriott location would be better, considering we're only there for 2 nights, before flying home from LAX. Other possibilities are the Hyatt and Omni - and have you see the Hard Rock Hotel? Wow (but too pricey!)

"You can't get a "corporate rate" unless your company has negotiated a corporate rate"

Quite untrue. Generic corporate rates exist that anyone can book as well as negotiated corporate rates specific to a company.

Odin, try it for yourself.

Their system requires a "corporate/ promotional code" to book a corporate rate. The other options are AAA, Marriott senior discount, government & military, group code and award.
A generic "corporate rate" offered to anyone and everyone is not an option at this hotel - at least according to their website.

I've found that the AAA rate usually beats a generic "corporate rate" anyway unless of course the company I work for has a true negotiated coporate rate (and for this hotel you need the corporate rate code to book it - on the website at least.

Try it yourself. Maybe you can find something I can't find.

It's quite possible that for the dates you are looking the hotel has sold out all discount rates.

There may be a large convention that has booked the hotel, or at least placed a block hold on most of the rooms.

Looking at several June 2008 dates I see that the rates offered vary greatly by date, even just a few days apart. Both AAA and 'lowest available' rates appear on some days but not others.

If you really want this hotel I suggest booking a refundable rate and watching for lower rates as June approaches. The conference will have a hold release date, after which more rooms may free up. (or not).

Very true, J62. Calling the hotel directly may help. Sometimes they have options that don't appear on the website.

You may also want to find out what is going on (convention, etc) at that time and see if you can book that rate if you have any interest in the convention. I wanted a room in town this summer and the website said the hotel was sold out. I called and just asked for about the event rate and to my surprise they still had blocked rooms available at a much discounted rate. I was very surprised, but pleased.

Odin's comment got me to wondering if "Sometimer's Disease" was creeping up on me. I can't remember the last time I was offered a generic "corporate rate" as an option. I just checked the websites for 3 more groups I use for business travel (Hampton Inn, ichotelsgroup / Holiday Inn group, and LaQuinta. None offered a generic corporate rate on their website and 2 of the 4 required a code to book a corporate rate. I usually ask for the AAA rate, but are others still being offered a generic corporate rate?

Well, I booked it anyway. I didn't need a code to book the corporate rate. And I ticked the 'leisure' box. Everything went through just fine, including confirmation by email. I still await reply to my email to Marriott regarding this, but I think they will have to honour my booking. There is no cancellation penalty, in any case. I'll let you know what they say.

Glad it worked out.
Just curious. Was the corporate rate better than the AAA rate?

Response from Marriott:

"Corporate rate" is the generic name for a weekday rate at a hotel. This rate is publicly available, and can be booked regardless of the purpose of your travel."

So, now we all know!

Starsville: The corporate rate was the only rate given, so I don't know if it is cheaper than an AAA rate. It wasn't cheap anyway! BTW, on AAA rates - we belong to the AA in the UK and they say that we can book AAA rates in the USA, because they are an affiliate. But I've never seen this quoted anywhere, so have never actually tried it.

Remember the thread from last week "What did you learn from FOdor's that you didn't know before?" Well, I just learned something! Any corporate rate that doesn't require a booking code and offers a better price than AAA is good for my non-corporate self! Thanks.

Cool. Good to know.
It's been so many years since I've booked anything other than AAA because they've always been cheaper. I have considered NOT booking the AAA rate when on business travel because the company no longer reimburses for the AAA annual dues - but haven't done it.

wildblueyonder, you may want to consider taking them up on the AAA match offer.