Edinburgh business travel · NovaBid
Group hotel quotes in Edinburgh for 10 to 30 rooms
A production crew, a sales team in for a conference, a delegation for a congress at the EICC. Ten to thirty rooms is a real piece of business for a hotel, and the way you ask decides whether you get one clear quote or a week of back and forth. This is the method that works, whether or not you use NovaBid.
NovaBid opens for Edinburgh hotel stays on 12 October 2026. Away days follow later. See the launch plan.
How do I get group hotel quotes in Edinburgh for 10 to 30 rooms?
Write one brief (dates, number of rooms and who shares, budget per person per night, location, and the two or three needs that matter) and send the same brief to several hotels at once, asking each for a single quote for the whole group with a release date, the cancellation terms and whether the Edinburgh visitor levy is included. Check the date first: rugby weekends, big congresses and August fill the city early. NovaBid does the sending in one step: a business posts the trip once and independent Edinburgh hotels reply with private offers for it, free for the business.
The booking pattern we hear about
Every hotel asks for the same details in a different form, and you end up retyping the brief five times before anyone gives you a number.
Quotes come back in different shapes: one per room, one per person, one with breakfast, one with the visitor levy and one without. Comparing them is a spreadsheet job.
Edinburgh fills in waves. On a rugby weekend or during a large congress, the hotel that had space on Monday may not have it on Thursday, and you are starting again.
Finance wants one payment, one booking confirmation and a proper VAT invoice, not thirty card transactions across three properties.
How NovaBid fixes it
01
Check the date against the city, then write the brief
Before you ask anyone, check what else is on. In autumn 2026, Scotland play at Murrayfield on 7, 15 and 21 November, and a conservation congress of around a thousand delegates is at the EICC from 13 to 17 November. August and Hogmanay fill the city every year. Then write the brief in five lines: dates, rooms and who shares, budget per person per night, area, and what matters most (breakfast, parking for vans, an early check-in, a room to meet in).
02
Ask several hotels for one quote for the whole group
Send the same brief to each and ask for a single quote covering every room and night, with what is included, the cancellation terms, the release date for unused rooms and whether the visitor levy is inside the price. Independent hotels price a group by hand and can split it across room types; ask whether they can hold the block for a few days while you get approval.
03
Compare like for like, then confirm in writing
Put every quote on the same basis: total for the whole stay, VAT included, levy included or not, breakfast or not, and how many rooms you can drop and by when. If one hotel cannot take the whole group, two nearby hotels with the same terms is often simpler than one hotel further out. Confirm the final room list and the release date in writing.
04
Or post the brief once and let hotels reply
That is what NovaBid is for. You post the trip once, independent Edinburgh hotels see it and reply with private offers built for that brief, and you compare them side by side on the same basis and pick one. It is free for the business, you pay once at booking, and you get one booking confirmation; the hotel issues the VAT invoice for the stay.
Pricing
Free for SMBs. Hotels pay commission only on a paid booking: 10% founding, 12% standard.
No markup on the rate. No subscription. No per-booker fee. The hotel covers everything as the cost of winning your business.
Frequently asked
How far ahead should I ask for group quotes in Edinburgh?
As early as you can once the dates are fixed, and earlier still if your dates touch a rugby weekend, a large congress, August or Hogmanay. For an ordinary midweek date outside those, a few weeks is usually workable for independent hotels.
Is the Edinburgh visitor levy included in a group quote?
Ask, because hotels answer it differently. The levy is 5% of the accommodation charge, for up to five consecutive nights. On NovaBid the hotel states on its offer whether the levy is included, so you see it before you pay.
What is a release date and why does it matter for a group?
It is the date by which you can hand back rooms you no longer need without paying for them. For a group whose numbers may change, it matters as much as the price. Ask for it on every quote and compare it alongside the rate.
Can one booking cover rooms at two hotels?
Usually not: each hotel takes its own booking. If the group is too big for one property, choose two close together with matching terms, and keep one person as the contact for both.
How long does it take to get offers back on NovaBid?
The window depends on how soon the trip is: four hours for a same-day request, twenty four hours for something in the next two days, forty eight hours for a trip three to seven days out, and seventy two hours for longer-term planning. Hotels reply inside that window or the request closes.
Does it cost the business anything?
No. Posting a trip, receiving offers and booking are free for the business, and there is no fee added to the price you see in an offer. The hotel pays NovaBid a commission only on a booking that has been paid: 10% for founding partners, 12% standard.
Written by Thomas Mellot, founder of NovaBid. He trained as a chef in France and worked front of house in Edinburgh hotels. He built NovaBid after watching independents lose business travel to platforms that never set foot in the building. More about NovaBid.
Last reviewed 4 October 2026. We correct these pages when the facts change; tell us if something here is wrong.
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