Hotel Site Selection: What It Really Takes (From Someone Who's Worked All Sides of the Process)

Introduction

I've been doing hotel site selection since before most meeting planners had heard the term. In my 30-plus years in hospitality — as a corporate planner, a third-party planner, and a hotel Director of Sales & Marketing — I've seen every variation of this process, from the smoothest sourcing I've ever witnessed to the most expensive contract mistakes I hope you'll never repeat. Here's what I know about hotel site selection that I wish someone had told me earlier.

What hotel site selection actually involves

Hotel site selection is the full process of finding, evaluating, and contracting the right hotel for your group event. Done well, it means understanding your event's true requirements — not just dates and room count, but the intangibles that make a venue the right fit for your group's culture and objectives. It means crafting an RFP that gives hotels enough information to compete for your business, managing the proposal process, comparing options with a clear framework, and negotiating a contract that actually protects you. Done poorly, it means signing whatever the hotel sends and hoping for the best.

What I learned from being on the hotel side of the table

My years as a Director of Sales gave me a perspective most planners never get: I saw exactly how hotels evaluate incoming RFPs, which groups they prioritize, and which contract terms they're truly flexible on versus which ones they're just waiting to be asked about. Hotels write contracts that protect themselves. Attrition clauses, cancellation penalties, and force majeure language are all drafted by hotel legal teams — not neutral arbiters. When you negotiate alone, you're working from a contract the other party wrote. When you work with me, you have someone who's been on both sides of that table.

Why my approach is different from a simple hotel booking service

I'm a hospitality consultant, not a hotel booking engine. The difference matters. When I work with a client, I'm evaluating properties based on years of direct relationships with hotel teams, knowledge of which properties consistently deliver on group promises, and a genuine understanding of what makes one venue right for a corporate retreat versus a sales conference versus an incentive program. I've been quoted in The Points Guy, Condé Nast Traveler, and Northstar Meetings Group for a reason — this is my entire professional focus, not a side service.

What you actually save by working with me

The most visible saving is time — clients tell me they get back 15 to 30 hours per event that they used to spend on hotel research, proposal management, and contract back-and-forth. But the financial savings are real too. Through my partnership with HPN Global, which sources more than 1,000 meetings per month, I have the purchasing leverage to negotiate rates, concessions, and contract protections that individual planners almost never access. And all of it — the site search, the negotiation, the contract review — comes at no cost to you or your organization.

A note on working with an individual consultant vs. a large firm

When you work with Christine Kavanagh Consulting, you work with me — not a rotating team of junior associates. I personally manage every client search, review every contract, and stay engaged through your event. That continuity matters in this industry. Hotels prioritize planners they know and trust, and my relationships with property-level sales teams across North America and internationally are what unlock

the best terms for my clients. For my colleagues at HotelLynk who need the same quality of service through a team model, I'm proud to collaborate — and happy to point you their way when they're the right fit.

CTA → Want to work with someone who's seen every side of this industry? Contact me directly to talk about your next event. ckconsulting.co