Do Hotel Room Blocks Really Save Anyone Money?

Some do actually offer a discount. But IMO the purpose of the block is to make sure guests have a place to stay if they choose, basically so the hotel doesn't sell out. It also makes it easier for shuttling guests to and from the venue if the couple decides to provide transportation, or in my daughter's case the shuttle is complimentary.

It depends on the hotel. My hotel did offer a significant discount for doing a room block, but it was not a courtesy block so I had to guarantee a certain number. It wasn't a problem for me because I planned to pay for those rooms anyway. However, the main reason to do a block is to make sure your guests have a place to stay because hotels often sell out in advance. It is also nice to have them all together in one place.

The rate I got for my hotel blocks saved my guest about $100 a night.

Yes a wedding block will save money for our guest.

Unless you are having your reception at the hotel, have a large number of guests, or are having your wedding during an off season for the hotel, you don't get that great a discount. Most people can get the same rate using one of the online sites like Trivago.

Some have discounts. For my cousin's wedding in Colorado, it actually was cheaper for me to book with my AAA membership than the block discount.

When I was shopping for hotels to do a courtesy block, I got at most 5 bucks off the price for the guest. I live in a large metropolitan area with tons of hotels so I'm not worried about my guests finding rooms. I'm happy to help my guests find a place, but I didn't reserve a courtesy block because I knew that needs would be different (some closer to airport, some next to venue, others prefer to be closer to our house etc).

I've only attempted to use a block once for a friend's wedding- it was over 200 bucks a night for a town I've lived in and I know is not expensive. I shopped around on my own and found a hotel for 100 bucks a night that included everything I wanted.

I got quotes from a few hotels. All but one did not offer a price break. The one that I chose was actually my first choice, gave a pretty good discount imo (almost $30 per room), and didn’t require me to pay a deposit. They also are accommodating my rehearsal dinner at their restaurant/bar.

So the discount may be small but it does guarantee a block of rooms. I will say I just did mine today and the kimlton was surprisingly cheap with a block compared to their normal price.

We are currently searching for a hotel room
block and have found that the discounts are anywhere from 5-25% off of the notmal
rate. Yes some hotels offer the same as a discount website but if you can get a block that does not require a guarantee then to me it’s worth it. The guests will all be together, with a discounted rate, and the ability to interact with others after the wedding of breakfast the next day.

The purpose of a block is to ensure there is room for your guest, like first come first serve. But my venue is offering a substantial discount on rooms booked for the wedding. I believe it’s almost $100 a night.

After I looked back at the price of the hotels we have room blocks at and the group rate given with the block, I think they are charging more. If I had to go back and do it all over again I would ask for their prices up front and then ask about group rates so I knew I was actually getting a discounted rate. I know hotels have a tendency to do this. I know when I ask about military discounts I always ask the normal price first and then for the military discount.

Just curious for those of you who are saying the blocks are SAVING $100 per night...what are the base rates of these places? Are you providing other options for guests who have lower budgets?

Some offer discounts, but they are usually minimal. Ours was 10%, but I asked and AAA or AARP discounts were 15% so I mentioned that to our OOT guests incase they were members of either.

I think the hotel block I booked is a good price. It's $120 a night with shuttle service in the Chicago Suburbs. It's more so convenient to have everyone in one place. We plan to head back there after the reception to go to the bar if people are still up to party.

Ok I work in a hotel and I can tell you, that depending on the season, events going on in the area, it can be significant. I have seen it both ways. Where I am from when Nascar comes into town our rates go through the roof are $219 a night. So if you are having your wedding on the Saturday of Nascar weekend, and block rooms at the hotel your block rate might be $150 and you have up until a month before to book, or the block is sold out (your guests booked the maximum amount of rooms you have reserved) . If it's in January/February you may get a block room for $99. I have actually seen the block rate be more expensive though than the AAA/AARP rate for guests though also, because the availability the day of was way lower than expected. What I did for two weddings (both had room blocks), I booked the block first for the room rate, and then checked the website again for a cheaper price a few days before, I cancelled my block rate, and got a lower price. This worked out twice for me.

Sometimes yes, our wedding block price per room is $50 less per night than it would have been at the same time the previous year. But I do think they're more for convenience for OOT guests, so they know where is a good place to stay rather than Googling and hoping for the best. Also if you're doing transportation, it's typically much cheaper to only have one hotel stop.

Ours is giving us a $30 a night discount. Our hotel is $95 a room for our rate. I also got two nights in a king suite for $75 all together for blocking with them.

We are actually not doing a room block. We live in a very touristy town and getting married during the holidays. A lot of the hotels/B&B's we wanted to block/reserve do not offer them at that time of year because they are so busy and (historically) they do raise their prices. The only hotels that would block are ones up by the highway a good trek from town where we are getting married. We have stated on our website we cannot room block but did leave suggestions and websites for our traveling guests to find the best prices. We also left suggestions in all price ranges from renting vacation beach houses to the best hotels and everything in between. We are getting married in FL.

It probably depends on the hotel. Ours initially charged $150-180 per night I think (pre-taxes) for a variety of suites, and the rates have actually gone up even more since then. We locked in pricing from $129-149 per night, should our guests choose to use the room block, so booking through our link does save them a bit of money. It's a nice perk and as a guest I always hope for reduced pricing through a room block, but if nothing else, it's nice to have a guaranteed room set aside for me.