ResourcesDay delegate rates · 8 min read · reviewed 2026-09-07
A day delegate rate looks like a price. It is a bundle, and every hotel fills the bundle differently. This guide explains what is normally in it, how the same meeting is quoted in other countries, where the money hides, and a six-step method for comparing two rates like-for-like.
What is in a DDR
Typical UK practice. 'Usually' means most hotels; there is no standard, which is the point. Confirm every 'Varies' line before you compare.
| Line | In a DDR? | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Main meeting room | Included | For the working day, typically 08:30 to 17:30. Evening use or an early set-up is often extra. |
| Arrival refreshments | Included | Tea, coffee, sometimes pastries. |
| Mid-morning and afternoon breaks | Included | Two servings. A third break is usually an extra. |
| Lunch | Included | Working or buffet lunch. A seated lunch, or lunch in the restaurant, is normally quoted separately. |
| Basic AV | Varies | Often a screen, projector and flipchart. Microphones, a technician, LED walls and streaming are almost always extra. |
| Wi-Fi | Included | Shared conference Wi-Fi. Dedicated bandwidth for streaming is extra. |
| Stationery and water | Included | Pads, pens, still water. |
| Breakout rooms | Extra | The most common surprise. Some hotels include one small breakout; most quote each as room hire. |
| Dinner | Extra | Never in a day rate. Part of a 24-hour rate. |
| Bedrooms | Extra | Never in a day rate. The core of a 24-hour rate. |
| Service charge | Varies | Included in most UK DDRs; added on top in the US, Asia and the Gulf. |
| VAT or sales tax | Varies | UK DDRs are usually quoted inclusive of VAT; check. Elsewhere, tax is commonly added after the headline. |
A 24-hour rate adds dinner, a bedroom and breakfast to the day package for a residential meeting. The same checks apply, plus occupancy, the dinner format and when the meeting room is released.
Around the world
Outside the UK the DDR has cousins that look similar and are not. If your brief crosses borders, ask for one inclusive per-person total in one currency and let the hotel translate its convention into that.
Day delegate rate (DDR) per person for day meetings; 24-hour rate per person for residentials. Usually quoted inclusive of VAT and service.
Watch for: Whether AV is in the rate, and whether the quote is inclusive or exclusive of VAT. Discretionary service charges appear in London.
Tagungspauschale (conference package) per person per day, quoted gross. Contents are broadly standard but houses differ on the number of breaks, drinks in the room and equipment.
Watch for: Trade-fair weeks, and city taxes on bedrooms that are often left off first quotes.
Berlin guideMunich guideFrankfurt guideVienna guideZurich guide
Journée d'étude (study day) per person; séminaire résidentiel for residentials. Mixed VAT rates across accommodation, food and room hire.
Watch for: How many coffee breaks are in the journée d'étude, and whether the room is yours until the evening.
Room hire plus per-person coffee breaks and menus quoted as separate lines, often before VAT, with tourist taxes on bedrooms.
Watch for: Rebuilding each quote into a per-person total before comparing. Tourist taxes are frequently omitted.
Madrid guideBarcelona guideMilan guideRome guideLisbon guide
Room rental, often waived against a food-and-beverage minimum, plus per-person catering, per-item AV, a service charge of around a fifth or more, administrative fees, and state and local taxes on top.
Watch for: The F&B minimum is an incentive to spend, not a saving. Resort fees per room per night are common in Las Vegas and Miami.
'Plus plus': headline rates before a service charge and tax, plus municipality or tourism fees per room per night in the Gulf.
Watch for: Add every plus to every quote before ranking. The pluses can be a quarter of the headline.
Comparing two DDRs
The method our sourcing desk uses before any quote goes in front of a buyer.
Room, layout, hours, breaks, lunch type, AV items, breakouts, bedrooms, and the headcount to quote on. This is the meeting; the DDR is what a hotel charges for it.
A per-person inclusive rate on your headcount, and the total for the event. Inclusive means tax, service and any fee inside the figure, in one currency.
For every line a hotel excludes or marks 'on request', ask for the price or add a realistic one. A quote with three gaps is not a quote; it is an estimate with a low headline.
If one DDR includes a technician and another does not, add the technician to the second. Compare totals only when both cover the same list.
A shorter free-cancellation window, a lower attrition allowance or an earlier deposit all carry a cost if plans move. Two equal totals with different terms are not equal.
Rank the inclusive totals of the complete, adjusted quotes. Awarding the cheapest complete quote with acceptable terms is defensible; awarding the cheapest headline is not.
Illustration
Invented figures for two hotels quoting the same one-day meeting for forty people. The pattern is real; the numbers are not from any booking.
| Line | Hotel A | Hotel B |
|---|---|---|
| Headline DDR per person | £78 | £92 |
| Quoted inclusive of VAT and service? | No (add 20% VAT) | Yes |
| Two breakout rooms | Excluded (room hire on request) | Included |
| Projector, screen, 2 microphones, technician | Projector and screen only | Included |
| Free cancellation | 30 days | 14 days |
| Like-for-like per person once gaps are priced | Higher than the headline suggests | As quoted |
Hotel A wins on the headline and loses once VAT, two breakouts, microphones and a technician are priced in, and its cancellation terms are tighter. Neither quote was wrong; they answered different questions. Fixing the question first is the whole game, which is what the RFP template does.
Questions
Send the brief. We fix it into one package, invite comparable hotels in your city and run a live reverse auction on the inclusive total. Our service is free for buyers; you pay only the hotel.