I need too many rooms

[batoryfirst]

I need 6 or 7 rooms for one night in Santiago in late January, 2009 and 10 in Vina del Mar for one night.

In mid-February, I need 10 for one night in Buenos Aires and 6 rooms for second night. I am having no luck finding hotels in the $100-150 range for this many people. Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Do you think we should split up and go to whatever hotels we can find? We would love to stay together as this is a gathering of my friends and family from several different states and one European country. We see each other so rarely that we'd like to be together.

I couldn't put these trips together without CruiseCritic. We had a fabulous trip to the Med with 26 people and the awesome private tours that had been recommended by CruiseCritic members. My friends and family think I'm a genius. I must admit I haven't told them about CruiseCritic!

 

Nancy

[Peregrina651]

I need 6 or 7 rooms for one night in Santiago in late January, 2009 and 10 in Vina del Mar for one night.

In mid-February, I need 10 for one night in Buenos Aires and 6 rooms for second night. I am having no luck finding hotels in the $100-150 range for this many people. Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Do you think we should split up and go to whatever hotels we can find?

 

Nancy

 

Nancy, from my own research, I wonder if the problem is just that the hotels are not booking this far in advance yet. Have you contacted the individual hotels? You may be too early to start thinking of alternate plans.

 

[greatam]

I need 6 or 7 rooms for one night in Santiago in late January, 2009 and 10 in Vina del Mar for one night.

In mid-February, I need 10 for one night in Buenos Aires and 6 rooms for second night. I am having no luck finding hotels in the $100-150 range for this many people. Has anyone else dealt with this problem? Do you think we should split up and go to whatever hotels we can find? We would love to stay together as this is a gathering of my friends and family from several different states and one European country. We see each other so rarely that we'd like to be together.

I couldn't put these trips together without CruiseCritic. We had a fabulous trip to the Med with 26 people and the awesome private tours that had been recommended by CruiseCritic members. My friends and family think I'm a genius. I must admit I haven't told them about CruiseCritic!

 

Nancy

 

You are encountering two distinct problems, maybe more.

 

1. If you are trying to book online, most booking engines will not allow more than 5 rooms at a time. You will have to pick up the phone and call each hotel to make a "group" reservation.

 

2. You are looking at mid price hotels. These are heavily booked during "high" season. If you still encounter problems getting the number of rooms you need AFTER you have called the individual hotels, you will either have to raise your price or lower your expectations. I have booked blocks of rooms in both Santiago and Vina for meetings. The Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental and Hyatt in Santiago allow group bookings, as do the Del Mar and O'Higgin's in Vina. BUT-the Sheraton, etc and Del Mar are above your price point and the O'Higgins, while perfectly acceptable in a Holiday Inn way, DOES NOT have air conditioning. May be a consideration-it was with a couple of my colleagues.

 

For the hotels in Chile, I suggest you call/contact Chile-hotels.com. They have an 800 number and are actually based in Florida. The owner is VERY helpful and bends over backward to accommodate requests. They also own Peru-hotels.com. I use them frequently for my business travels in South America. They may also be able to help you out in BA.

 

http://www.chile-hotels.com/index.htm

[batoryfirst]

Thanks so much for the responses. I'm working on it and will come back here with my results.

 

Nancy