Finding hotels that meet government standards and the travelers’ needs has historically been a tedious process for travelers and document preparers alike. Numerous searches would be made to find and compare hotels that were in compliance with per diem rates and travel regulations.
In 2004 the General Services Administration (GSA) partnered with Carlson Wagonlit’s Hotel Solutions Group to redesign the government’s lodging program. The program has undergone several significant changes–one of the most obvious is the transition from the legacy program’s name, Federal Premier Lodging Program (FPLP), to the new program name, FedRooms. Additionally, the number of participating properties in the FedRooms program has increased from just over 600 in 2004 to more than 5,000 hotels in more than 1,600 cities around the world.
FedRooms takes the guesswork out of booking hotels. Travelers and document preparers can be confident that the rooms they are booking through the program are compliant with government policy. FedRooms offers travelers benefits such as:
- Rates are at or below per diem
- Reservations can be cancelled up until 4 p.m. on the day of arrival without a penalty
- No hidden costs or penalties are attached to the rate
- No fees for early checkout
- 66% of the FedRooms properties offer last room availability
Our E Travel System makes it easy to book a FedRooms property by setting the default lodging search tab to display all available FedRooms properties. In addition, all hotel properties are marked with the FedRooms logo on the hotel information page, and the FedRooms rate is highlighted on the search results page.
The implementation of E GOV Travel and GSA’s new lodging program, FedRooms, has greatly improved the process for booking lodging that is incompliance with government per diem rates and travel regulations.
by Carole Byrd
Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency. Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.