DON'T CALL NICE HOTELS DIRECT
 

I called the Westminster Concorde in Nice direct and was quoted 220 Euro for a room. I called the Concorde Hotels 800 number and got the same room for 148 Euro, thanks to advice from "Cornfused". I called the Best Western on the promenade direct and was quoted 248 Euro. I called the Best Western 800 number and got the same hotel room for 148 Euro. Go figure!

Usually, calling the hotel offers a BETTER deal. It may not have in your case, but I've found the opposite to be true as the 800 numbers can only offer rates that they are given by the hotel!

When I called hotels direct and then compared their offer with the internet prices (hotel's website, not discount websites) the internet was always lower. Can anybody explain why?

There could be a couple things at play here that would explain this.<BR><BR>First off, room pricing is much more than just a rack rate versus discount rate. Each hotel has any number of rates.. corporate, event, 'view' rooms, 'premium' rooms (which can range from the significant to the insignificant items such as high ceilings or ground floor rooms), etc.<BR><BR>Thus, a local price quoted by the hotel might be the best of the actual rooms that they have right then and there. Whereas an internet rate might not take some of the smaller pricing differences into account as actual room numbers have not yet been assigned.<BR><BR>The internet rate can be cheaper if the hotel chain is offering a special that is not quoted, or has not been communicated to the local property. I know it sounds foolish, but this has happened to me personally. The reverse has also happened to me, once while staying at a hotel in Arizona that had an 'off season discount' at certain times of the year. Basically, the agent quoted me the internet rate, but when I arrived the front desk gave me an even cheaper rate as the internet pricing was not updated to reflect the seasonal discount.

You're confused. I pulled up your post because the headline was intriquing. Don't call Nice (as in polite) hotels direct. Since this thread is on the United States Board, I'm assuming that you accidently posted it here. Better to put in in the Europe board where it belongs.