Finding best price for January all inclusive

[espnocho]

I have a wedding group price to organize at the end of January 2013 and was wondering if I could get some advice on pricing. We will be at the aventura spa palace in mexico mayan riviera, but right now the prices seem a bit steep 1900 tax included from toronto). When comparing to every price for the rest of 2012, it seems that the only higher prices than this are for the christmas week. So I feel like 1600-1800 is a reasonable rate to aim for. Does anyone have any experience booking January groups and know if it is best to wait until a few months closer to the date? Is it risky being that this is still a 500 room resort?

from what I was told, the group prices are based on the posted rates (ie. selloffvacations) where they take rate rate and knock off another $100 or so for groups. I also understand that there are other resorts that may have some good promotions going into 2013, but unfortunately ours isn't one of them.

[dawgbone]

Depends on your group size to be honest. If It's more than 20 I wouldn't wait. Even though it's a 500 room resort it caters to both Europe and North America. It might be hard to get much of a group discount on it because there's no real competition for the hotel. It's only offered by Signature/Sunwing and Air Canada, so you can't even play them off each other (or get your travel agent to).

Your best bet might be to call several agencies and get them to get you quotes. One agency might have a better relationship with a tour operator than another and could potentially get a better rate.