About CookUnity

CookUnity is the first chef-direct subscription service, a chef-to-food-lover marketplace connecting award-winning chefs with consumers nationwide. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, CookUnity has grown to 800+ employees, 100+ chefs, and delivers millions of restaurant-quality meals annually.

CookUnity needed a Brooklyn venue for an 80-person team retreat - four nights, easy access for NYC-based employees, with a vibe that matched their culture. They submitted a proposal through Marco and received quotes from 9 shortlisted properties within days.

A High-Stakes Event in a Tight Market

CookUnity had run four leadership offsites with Marco before. Smaller trips - easier logistics, more flexibility. This was different.

Their annual planning week required 80 employees in the same place for four nights. That's 320 room-nights in Brooklyn - an expensive and supply-constrained hotel market - at a time when demand from other corporate groups was high.

The People Experience team at CookUnity is lean. Malena wasn't going to spend weeks trading emails with a dozen hotel sales managers, reconciling quote formats, and decoding attrition clauses. They needed a fast, organized process that delivered real competitive pricing - without the operational overhead.

And the timeline wasn't flexible. The planning week had a fixed date. There was no room to drag the sourcing process out.

Marco negotiated group rates across all venues, with the Moxy Brooklyn Williamsburg coming in at $329/night versus the $431 rack rate - a 24% discount before additional concessions like waived resort fees, complimentary room upgrades, and 20% attrition flexibility.

How It Worked

CookUnity submitted their event details through Marco. Within days, Marco had sourced, contacted, and gathered group rate proposals from 9 Brooklyn properties - all formatted consistently and presented side-by-side on a single comparison page.

For each property, CookUnity could see:

• Group rate vs. rack rate
• Resort fee status (waived or charged)
• Concessions offered (upgrades, WiFi, F&B credits)
• Attrition flexibility and contract terms
• Total cost at their room block size

No email chains. No chasing hotel reps. No reformatting quotes into a spreadsheet. Everything needed to make a confident decision was in one place.

The Moxy Brooklyn Williamsburg stood out - not just on price, but on the full package Marco negotiated:

• Room rate: $431/night rack → $329/night (24% off)
• Resort fees: $30/night → Waived
• Room upgrades: 2 complimentary
• WiFi: Complimentary
• Attrition flexibility: 20% (protects against no-shows)

From the moment CookUnity submitted their event details to the day they signed the contract: 10 days.