Although I don't know this as a fact, I suspect that the WTS is negotiating some pretty lucrative rebates from these hotels (which of course the rank and file JW pays) because they can guarantee a full house at $XXX per night.
This came from last year's thread about the rooming department KM insert, and will almost certainly apply this year. But, when the Watchtower Society negotiates with hotels, they are not having difficulties negotiating just for the price that you, the attendee, pay. They are negotiating free rooms for Beth Hellites and other high profile people at the a$$embly. Of course, they do not notify anyone about this fact.
More ominous is that they get a kickback for organizing these events. The snippet listed above came from www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/126208/2.ashx , and they are actually getting a rebate from each of the rooms that they book. The poster estimated about $3-5 per room-night. That means,if they have 200 rooms and each person stays two nights, the rebate can amount to $2,000 on that group. The Watchtower Society itself gets that money! Right into the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund.
True, you are getting ripped off. Those kickbacks come from the rates that you are paying. If you are paying $60 for a room, $5 of that goes right back into the Watchtower Society's pockets. That means they could have made the same profit if you booked independently and paid $55 for the same room. Typically, very few people actually pay the full rack rate for a room anyway, as many have found out that booked a room on their own.
But, worse than getting ripped off and the dishonesty of the Watchtower Society for failure to disclose the kickbacks and free rooms (which would be fine, if they were honest about it), if you book a room through that number, you are helping support pedophilia. I wonder how many people would book a room through that arrangement if they knew that $4 or 5 of the price goes to defend pedophiles within the ranks and silence the victims. If you book through the Society's arrangement, you are effectively donating $5 or so per room per night to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund!
You (who are active witlesses still and still going to the Kingdumb Hell) are soon going to see the instruction again to book only within the "recommended lodging list". I urge everyone to NOT do that. If you can get out of going at all, don't. The whole synopsis will be on this forum, as there are always people that are forced to go and are willing to post the outline on here (often even before your turn). There is no charge for looking at such posts.
If you must go, and you are traveling where you need a motel, then I urge you please to find a motel room not on the list. Or, if you disobey and book before the event, without identifying yourself as a delegate, you are going to avoid donating to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund. You can also disobey and book online (but only if the instructions on the list do not explicitly allow doing so). You will save money on your phone bill as a bonus; you will also likely save yourself the aggravation of a busy signal (however, totally booked hotels could still be a factor).
Doing this could well yield some savings. Despite what the Tower wants you to believe, they are not getting the lowest price for you. You can do better by booking online. And there are likely lots of motels that are cheaper than what is advertised on that list. But, even if you do not save any money (and even if you actually pay more), you have the peace of mind that not one penny of that money is going to defend pedophiles. I would rather pay a few dollars more in profits for a motel operator or to help defray energy costs than pay indirectly to help the Watchtower Society defend its pedophiles. Obviously, the Tower is going to be pxxxed if everyone does this. But, if we are to cripple their operations, we must be astute to the hidden sources of revenue that they are generating and disobey them to avoid setting these off.