Determining number of hotel rooms to block off

Is it a courtesy room block, or will you be charged attrition if the rooms don't fill?

If it a courtesy room block, I would be generous with the block. As people start responding to you after STDs and Invites, you can always release rooms.

I agree with MrsMcCoy. You need to find out if you will be held responsible for rooms that aren't booked. The hotel where I blocked my rooms release the rooms a month before. Which means people can't procrastinate with booking their rooms but it also means I'm not held responsible in any way so I blocked the maximum number available which was 30. Hope this helps.

I am booking 3 hotels. 2 of them have attrition because they are smaller hotels. For the 2 hotels with attrition, we need to fill 80% of the rooms. If we fill under 80%, then we are responsible to pay for the difference up to the 80%.

However, if the hotel sells out, we will not be responsible for attrition.

I had the same issue. I just did a courtesy block of 10 rooms at a few different hotels. You won't get charged for any unfilled rooms and they will honor the same rate above 10 rooms as long as they have availability.

Devon- the attrition part makes me nervous for you. Is it a large wedding, or small blocks at those two hotels? I had to book blocks at 3 hotels because hotels in our area were filling up fast, but I only booked small blocks at two of the hotels.

I work in conference planning, and attrition is not fun.

Honestly? I don't even get the room blocking thing, Recommend hotels if you wish, but adults can figure out how to get a room.

It's another thing for you to stress out over that is not your responsibility to stress out over.

Unfortunately there is no magical way! I agree that if they are responsible for them then be careful how many you select. Even though are familes are close (30 min or less) we knew they would stay at the hotel. The hotel only let us have 20 at a time though so we didnt have a lot of choices to make.

I would go through your list and count how many people you really think are coming and will stay. Then send an email letting them know the block is open and that there is a convention that weekend so you would appreciate them booking as early as possible (its not like they get charged yet) so you can make sure you can make sure everyone has a room.

Is the 3rd hotel a courtesy block? If so I would do a large block there and then a recommendation for the other two or a small block at each if you really want to. If the 3rd is a courtesy block you can generally block as many as you want and then any extra are released to the public after a certain date.

Celia, I think it is a nice touch especially if there is a reason why hotels might be booking up around that time. Makes it easier for everyone to stay in one place, which is important to my family. I wouldn't do a block if there was a chance I would have to pay though. That's where I draw the line.

Celia -- sometimes room blocks do make sense. Especially when the hotel offers a discounted rate. The hotel I've blocked gave me a rate that is significantly lower than the other hotels nearby (and better quality). It's a courtesy block.

So yeah, of course people will make their adult choices, but why not at least try to provide a good deal? For me at least, it's been the least stressful thing to deal with.

But if it was attrition, then no way.

Our wedding was 3.5 hours east of hubby's side, and 1.5 hours west for mine. We blocked 60 rooms at 4 different hotels and guess what? Guests didn't block any, at one of them, and only used a total of 30 rooms. Luckily we didn't have to pay anything.

The discount blocks expired 4-6 weeks before the wedding. All the information was on the website, when our save the dates went out, 10 months before the wedding. We did e-mail RSVPs, so we could e-mail back the reminder and information about the room blocks.

It's a good thing we didn't consider dropping welcome bags, off at the hotels. I'm guessing they used at least 6 different ones. A few couples booked at a hotel 20 miles away, to save money. 2 aunts and 1 uncle, from hubby's side cancelled a week before the wedding, because they didn't have a room. One cousin stayed at the hotel that was 4 blocks away; then she asked us if we were providing a shuttle?

The whole thing was a giant cluster-bleep! If I had to do it again, I'd let them fend for themselves.

P.S. My cousin advertised a discounted room block at a wedding we had to fly to. We got a cheaper rate through booking our plane, rental car, and room together, through Expedia.

My hotel block also offers the guest a discount which is about $50 a room. Definitely an advantage!

I should clarify that my reception is at the hotel, so naturally that makes my situation a bit more unique.