Hi all I am pretty new at all of this and really new at how to make arrangements for an appointment with someone where I need to book a hotel room for the meeting.  Some questions I have are:

Are there hotels to avoid?
Are there hotels that are preferable?  (I am in the SF bay area)
Do you book for a night and then check out an hour or two later?
Do you book a day rate?

I need help with hotels guys and gals.

Also how many times do you leave messages with a provider before you give up?

Thanks for your help for this novice.

I booked a day rate at a Doubletree. Checked in in the morning, met is the afternoon and then checked out. Rate much lower than the standard overnight and it's a nice hotel (the chocolate chip cookie alone is worth a couple points with the lady, lol). But, it's still more costly than say a Days Inn or Ramada Inn. I don't know if the other hotels offer day rates. Some people choose to meet at spas where you can book a jacuzzi room for a couple of hours.

As for your other question, look at the current survey question on the home page, that'll give you a good clue.

pt