Marriott To Launch ‘Best Rate’ Scheme

Marriott International, Inc, has announced that the company will launch a Marriott's Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee on January 1, 2004. The guarantee will ensure that customers will receive the best available room rate at approximately 2,500 hotels when booking through any Marriott reservations channel: Marriott Worldwide Reservations, Marriott.com or directly with the hotel.

Marriott's Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee will be offered globally and will apply to the following Marriott brands: Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, Courtyard, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, and TownePlace Suites, and Marriott Vacation Club International resorts.

If a customer books through Marriott and finds a lower publicly available rate within 24 hours for the same hotel, room type, and dates anywhere on an Internet travel site, through a travel agency, travel management company, or even Marriott, the hotel will match the lower rate and give an additional 25 per cent off. Marriott is the first major lodging company to offer a comprehensive rate guarantee beyond the Internet.

Company research shows that travellers spend as much as half a day shopping to find the best room rates, and that the majority of travellers do not make hotel reservations on the Internet.