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Jessalyn
Dedicated September 2020

Are room blocks with big chains worth it?

Jessalyn, on November 12, 2019 at 11:47 PM Posted in Planning 1 34
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Hi everyone! Getting room blocks set up is one of the things I'm working on this month for our June 2020 wedding, and I'm wondering if anyone has advice to offer on if/when/with what hotel chains it's worth doing. The Courtyard by Marriott that's just a few miles from our venue said they could offer a "discounted rate" of $189/$209 per night, depending on the type of room. However, their website lists those same rooms for our dates as $129/$139 per night. I realize their standard rates may increase as our wedding dates get closer, but at the moment this just feels exasperating. I'm waiting to hear back from a Hampton Inn & Suites as well, and will be interested to see how the pricing compares.

Have you had any particularly positive or negative experiences on room blocks with specific hotel chains? Any tips or advice you can offer would be much appreciated!

34 Comments

Latest activity by Jessalyn, on November 14, 2019 at 11:37 PM
  • Jmz
    Expert July 2022
    Jmz ·
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    I don't have anything to contribute because it's too early in my process to have started looking at this (sorry) but I am also curious as it's a thought I've had about hotel chains...
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  • M
    Expert September 2020
    Marcia ·
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    One chain I checked with had rooms for $129 on Travelocity but when I tried to reserve a block they wanted to give me the “discount rate” of $145.

    Hampton Inn’s travelocity price was $145 and they offered me a rate of $119.

    I guess it just depends on the chain.
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  • Crystal
    Devoted October 2020
    Crystal ·
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    My friends sister had an issue with this. She had a block of rooms saved and her guests used a different site to save them. But they didn’t count towards her room minimum. She got into a huge fight with them because the room discount they offered wasn’t lower than what they offered her guests. So both my friend and I were cautioned to be mindful of that when writing contracts with hotels.
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  • Jessica
    Beginner April 2021
    Jessica ·
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    We have blocked rooms at delta by Marriott and I haggled them down to $109 per night for my guests.
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  • E
    Devoted November 2019
    Emily ·
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    We did a block with Wyndham . We invited 75 people and only one person used the block . Don’t be surprised if they don’t want to give you many rooms.
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  • H
    Master July 2019
    Hannah ·
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    I would point this out to the hotel. We booked a block with Courtyard and the discount rate was about $50 cheaper a night than the listed price without a block rate.
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  • Alejandra
    Super November 2021
    Alejandra ·
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    That’s strange. We booked 20 rooms with the Courtyard Marriott at about $81 a night for our guests, but it was well over a year in advance at that point.
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  • Mrs. S
    Master November 2019
    Mrs. S ·
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    Honestly it has not been worth it for me. The rate they gave us was actually higher than their website, no one booked the third hotel, and people could take or leave our shuttle which was the main point.
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  • Jeanie
    Super February 2020
    Jeanie ·
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    I have a block with Sheraton, which is part of the Marriott chain, and when I made it they used the going rate for that time and took a percentage off. I would definitely call them and ask why there’s such a gap in pricing. They had told me there’s a chance someone will find a lower price, but it will usually be a pay up front with no flexibility to change or cancel. But I haven’t come across any lower prices. My block actually closed on Monday and the price was $100 cheaper per night. I haven’t gotten the final room list, but we’re not responsible for any that weren’t booked and didn’t have to pay anything to have the block made.
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  • Nicole
    Super August 2020
    Nicole ·
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    We have a room block with Hyatt for $109/night. When I looked to see what their standard rate was at the time, it was $129/night and I thought, wow they only took off $10. I wonder with the wedding in August that their standard rate will be much higher. Either way I don’t think $109 is bad and I love the hotel we chose, but I can already see some of my guests thinking it’s not a good discount if it’s only $10 less than the standard rate.
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  • Cyndy
    Master May 2019
    Cyndy ·
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    I did a room block at the Hyatt in my room rate was $269/night. If you are seeing something different online I would contact them and see if you can get them down to that price. If you know you will have out-of-town gas then it’s worth it to have a block as long as you are not committed to the amount of unused rooms so check your contract. Obviously rates vary depending on the city in time of year but I would try to get them down as far as you can now
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  • Chelsea
    Expert September 2021
    Chelsea ·
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    I think it depends on the hotel. Our wedding is in downtown Los Angeles and we got a room block at the Marriott Bonaventure which is regular 250-300 a night for a discounted rate of 189 so it was definitely worth it for us!
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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    It sounds like experiences vary quite a bit. Good luck when you get that part of the planning process!

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    It sounds like it does depend. I'm glad you were able to get a discount from Hampton Inn, that's good to know!

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    That's really good to know, thanks for the warning. We're only planning on doing room blocks where there's no commitment for us to pay anything, just a certain number of rooms at a specific rate they'll hold until a particular date before the wedding (usually a month or so, I think?), and having heard experiences like this is part of the reason why.

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    Good job! This gives me hope that their answer to my "Um, that's not a discount" email might move us in the right direction.

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    Oh wow. I get that it's kind of a gamble for hotels. The majority of our guests are coming in from out of state and there aren't a ton of places to stay that are super close to the venue, so I'm hoping they'll take all of that into account.

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    Good to know, thank you! I emailed them back and pointed out what I was seeing on their website, so we'll see how they respond.

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  • Taylor
    VIP October 2020
    Taylor ·
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    I think it depends on the hotel. The heightened cost might account for the possibility of it not actually booking and them blocking it off for so long? Most of the hotels in the area we're getting married are requiring a two night minimum as of now. This worked for the wedding party that is required to be there for rehearsal but for everyone else, it's an issue. The Hilton is available for $150/night for those two days though. The guests will be advised to start looking for accommodations on their STD because of the unfortunate hotel situation.

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  • Jessalyn
    Dedicated September 2020
    Jessalyn ·
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    That's good to know! Hopefully it was just a mistake on their part, we'll see.

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