Every hotel quotes differently. Today this becomes a 3-day spreadsheet exercise, and hidden costs still slip through.
What the planner sees today
Sorted by quoted room rate, the way most teams shortlist:
The trap: the quoted rate is only about half of what the hotel actually costs. Fees, F&B minimums, AV exclusivity and penalty clauses decide the real price.
True cost of ownership, side by side
Every proposal is normalized to the same basis: 990 room nights, Chicago taxes, your $135K F&B projection and $48K AV plan, with concessions netted out.
The ranking flips
Where the money actually goes
at 100% attendance
Normalized terms vs. market benchmark
Benchmark: Chicago · May · 300–500 peak rooms (illustrative)
Contract risk, clause by clause
Proposal Lens reads every clause and compares it with what thousands of similar Chicago contracts accepted, then drafts the redline.
Stress test: what if attendance drops?
Sales kickoffs are often cut late (hiring freezes, reorgs, travel bans). See what each contract costs you when fewer people show up.
Attendance drop vs. plan
0%
450 people270 people
Money paid for nothing: room penalties + unused F&B minimum
Exposure at 0% drop
Room attrition penaltyUnused F&B minimum
If you cancel the whole event…
Recommendation & negotiation playbook
Set what matters for this event. Proposal Lens ranks the hotels, explains why, and drafts the counter-proposal.
CostContract safetyAttendee experienceProgram fit
Negotiation asks
Value of selected asks
Counter-proposal email
Pick your asks, then click “Draft counter-proposal”.
✦ Proposal Lens is reading 5 proposals
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Extracting terms · normalizing to one cost basis · checking clauses against benchmark