FedRooms is the U.S. government's own hotel program, run by GSA. It guarantees rates at or below federal per diem with no add-on fees — but since the public booking site was retired, you book it through your agency's travel system, not a website.
FedRooms® is GSA's government-wide lodging program. Per GSA's own program page, it offers Federal Travel Regulation–compliant rooms "at or below per diem" across more than 12,000 properties in over 3,000 markets, and it is available to U.S. government and military personnel on official travel. It is the closest thing to an official answer to "where should a federal traveler stay" — every property in the program has already agreed to the government's rate ceiling and its traveler-protection terms.
These are the terms GSA publishes for the program, and they are the reason a FedRooms rate can beat a hotel's own "government rate" even when the nightly price looks the same:
A hotel chain's own government rate makes none of these promises by default — resort fees and standard cancellation windows still apply unless the rate's terms say otherwise. That difference, not the nightly price, is usually what separates the two.
GSA describes FedRooms as available to U.S. government and military personnel — federal civilian employees and uniformed service members traveling on official business. Two groups regularly ask about it and are not covered:
This is the part that trips people up. The old consumer-facing fedrooms.com booking site has been retired — as of our check the domain no longer even serves the program's own certificate. GSA's current guidance lists only agency channels: you get FedRooms rates inside your agency's booking tool — DTS (Defense Travel System), E2 Solutions, SAP ConcurGov, ETS2 or GO.gov — or through your agency's Travel Management Company. If you are booking leisure travel on a public hotel website, you are not booking FedRooms; you are booking that chain's own government rate, which is a different thing with different rules.
GSA lists a program support contact of Hotels@FedRooms.com / 833-617-1341 (6 a.m.–6 p.m. Central, business days).
The two get conflated constantly, and the confusion costs real money at checkout:
| FedRooms | Chain government rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | GSA (federal program) | Each hotel chain (commercial rate) |
| Who can use it | Federal/military on official travel | Whoever the chain says qualifies — varies by chain |
| Where you book | Agency travel tools (DTS, ConcurGov, E2, ETS2) | The chain's public website or app |
| Price promise | Always at or below per diem | Often near per diem, but not guaranteed |
| Fees & cancellation | No resort/booking fees; 4 p.m. day-of cancellation | The rate's own terms — read them |
Every chain page on this site documents the right-hand column: see each chain's government rate compared.
↥ Check your own eligibility → Browse all chain rate pages →
Yes — GSA's program materials describe FedRooms in terms of official/TDY travel by U.S. government and military personnel, booked through agency travel systems. Personal trips fall back to each hotel chain's own government rate policy.
GSA's FedRooms eligibility language covers government and military personnel and does not mention contractors, and GSA's per-diem FAQ says its rates are for federal travelers only. A contractor's rate access is up to each hotel chain.
No. The public FedRooms booking website has been retired; GSA's current page lists only agency booking tools (DTS, E2 Solutions, ConcurGov, ETS2, GO.gov) and agency Travel Management Companies as the way to book FedRooms rates.
Not necessarily the cheapest nightly number — but it caps at per diem and strips resort, booking and early-departure fees, and allows cancellation until 4 p.m. on arrival day (domestic), which chain rates don't promise.
A newer FedRooms option GSA advertises for stays over 30 consecutive nights — long trainings, projects and disaster response — alongside GSA's separate Long Term Lodging program.