Negotiating...

If it's like a Hilton, Marriott, etc, go online and sign up for their reward points. We just did this when we went to CA this last weekend for a funeral and we got the room for $30 less. Also, if you are an AAA member, some hotels give 10% off. Hope that helps, good luck.

As a AAA member, we almost always get a discount. My husband works for the Navy, so he gets a military discount. We compare which will get us the better rate (sometimes that military discount beats out the AAA rate) and then use the best one. Sometimes places will have off season discounts or some special going on. Check their web site and see if the have any coupons and/or package deals that will work for you.

Try Priceline.com, I have used that several time and always got a 5 star hotel at a very low rate. The only draw back is you don't know what hotel you are staying at until the negotiation is complete. It will give you a map to choose the area that you would like to stay in but again you don't know until its complete. You do have to give your credit card information and agree to some terms, but like I said I have always got great deals and really nice hotels, some that I would never be able to afford without Priceline. Good luck!

Before I call I google the hotel for deals and or coupons to see what I can find on my own. When I call and they quote the rate, I ALWAYS ask if that's the best rate available. I ask them to check for specials that may be available. Not every time, but most times I can save some money. We also do this with large purchases like furniture....it saved us 10% on our sofa, because they were having a special our sales person hadn't heard about yet and all it required was us to pay in check instead of credit. I always ask. The worst they can do is tell you no. Best case scenario, you save some money! GL!

There are lots of sites that give discounts on hotels. I have also asked for a commercial rate and have often saved more money than my AAA or AARP rate.

In addition to what others have said try:
Vacationstogo.com
hotels.com
shermanstravel.com
cheapcaribbean.com

Good luck to you and yours.

Excellent responses form everyone! As Jen C said, after you have done your research, always call the hotel directly with your findings. That personal touch with the actual people getting your business can achieve amazing results! It has worked beautifully for us.

Best wishes!

You can check slickdeals.net for discount codes or even check Priceline.com or Hotels.com. I've found both to have very good hotel prices. Also, if you belong to Sam's club, there is a Sam's club travel through Expedia which i have used before. If you want to acually call and make a reservation, I've found just asking "do you have any specials or promotions" right now or "are there any AAA, military etc discounts available"? Most places will come up with some type of discount if you just ask what they have available. Good luck!!

You've already gotten some great responses from others about calling a hotel directly. All of them have different policies - we recently stayed at an inexpensive chain for the second time in a month (long story) but they told me that they're obligated to give us the same rate for the seond stay if it was lower than what they're currently offering. I had never heard of anything like that, but I happily agreed to knock $5 off the price ;)

You don't mention where or why you're booking a room, so a few other things to consider if it's for a vaction or family trip. If they don't drop the room rate for you, ask if they offer any incentives to families travelling in the area. Many places will give you vouchers for their hotel restaurant, coupons to local museums or play places, or even discounts for services that they offer. Tell them where you're planning to go and see if they can recommend or offer any discounts. Also, if you are celebrating something special (birthday, anniversary, etc.) mention it, and you may be able to get them to sweeten the pot ;)

I just knocked $40 a night off for 2 nights at a Hampton Inn negotiating for the first time ever. I had a project to write, and the hubs watched the kids. It happened to be a huge little league weekend, so all area hotels were booked and inflated. They had a room for the two nights I needed so I said, "I stay at Hampton Inns all the time and love them, I'm planning to stay in two later this month traveling to and from TN, I live here and am not affiliated with the little league weekend, I have an emergency and we're on a budget, is there anything you can do for me?.." And they did.

Even if yours is just their normal rate, say you stay in there hotels all the time if it's a chain, and you have an emergency, you're calling around for the best price you can get, and ask what is the most reasonable rate they can give you. If they have empty rooms and may not fill up, they will probably bargain. Also check with hotwire.com to get good deals for you, I've used them in the past for huge discounts-but usually in big cities.

My husband and I like to take "road trips" as often as we can - even if it's just a weekend getaway to another city with some sort of activity or place we want to check out... we usually use priceline.com when we need to book a hotel room... it gives you the option to choose your own price for hotel rooms... If you haven't used it before, you choose the area that you want to stay in -- and then the price that you want to spend per night. To be honest, one time we decided at the last minute to go to Washington DC for a long weekend... and just out of curiosity, I put in what I thought was a crazy amount for a hotel room really close to the National Mall. We ended up spending like $40/night for one of those extended-stay hotel rooms that was within walking distance of the Smithsonian Museums, National Mall, etc.
This is a little different than 'negotiating' in person with the hotels as your question asked... but we have had some really good experiences with it.

Good luck! Hope you are able to find some good deals however you do it!

I just ask if this is the lowest rate available. I would check on the Internet first to see what the rate would be if I booked thru one of the services.

When I was working I would sometimes get a lower rate by asking for a professional or business rate. Then I'd list my "place of business" on the registration card. At first I thought this was cheating since I wasn't traveling for business and so asked and the clerk said that it doesn't matter.

If you're a AAA or ARP member some places have discounts for members.