Skip to main content

Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

Jennifer
Just Said Yes February 2020

Group Rate @ B&b

Jennifer, on January 10, 2020 at 2:38 PM Posted in Planning 0 5
So long story but I’m getting married in a small town in about 7 weeks with limited accommodations and booked a nice B&B in town about 9 months ago. I just wanted to get it off my list but I realize now that was a mistake. I signed a contract and paid a $700 deposit for 10 rooms for my wedding party at a group rate of $175/night per room to “lock in the booking.” I added 5 more rooms about a month ago without updating the contract (done over email) at the same rate. I am getting married in the low season and realized that I could book a room at the B&B for $125 after taxes and fees from a third party site or $145 after taxes and fees directly from their website. Apparently the group rate I got was an average rate that included their high season rates. This seems ridiculous to me to pay a premium for an advance booking especially since we are booking nearly every room they have. I contacted the lodging coordinator for clarification on this and asked her if we could renegotiate the group rate something closer to the current going rate and she seems open to it although she said this would change it from a flat rate to a variable rate by the type of room (premium, deluxe, or standard) which could end up costing some guests more. I should say members of our wedding party are paying for themselves and are already aware of the $175/night rate and agreed to it so it’s not a huge deal, however I feel guilty that all of us are being overcharged. All told, we are overpaying by about $900-1,500 depending on what rate you go by (third party or their website). Any recommendations on what if anything else I can do? I guess I can just wait to see what she comes back with and see how it compares with the original rate. Also curious if anyone has ever heard of something like this before - I understand Bed & Breakfasts operate differently than hotels so maybe this is standard for them?

5 Comments

Latest activity by Jennifer, on January 10, 2020 at 3:51 PM
  • Jennifer
    Just Said Yes February 2020
    Jennifer ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    Well she already got back to me and agreed to a $30 discount for the rooms that were not included on the contract (5 rooms) but the other 10 guests/rooms are locked in at the $175/night price. This would be, in my opinion, unfair unless my fiancé and I paid for every room ourselves (possible, but would be tough) and then requested reimbursement from everyone in our party at the reduced rate. This strategy would only save each guest about $10 however so not sure that it would be worth draining our savings over it...
    • Reply
  • Sarah
    Master September 2019
    Sarah ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    This is kind of the reality of advanced group rates and hotel blocks sometimes. If you book through a third party you can sometimes get a cheaper room, but the block ensures rooms will be available to the group exactly the way they’re booked. Third party sites don’t always guarantee that and obviously third party or their website would sell out if the place is full while the block would keep those rooms from being blocked by people outside of your guest list.
    • Reply
  • Jennifer
    Just Said Yes February 2020
    Jennifer ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    View Quoted Comment
    Yea that’s basically what the lodging coordinator said too and while I agree and do like that we all get to stay together onsite - something which may not have been possible if we hadn’t booked so far in advance - it just felt a little backwards since my impression of rooms blocks/group rates were supposed to save you money, not the other way around. Oh well! We are going to stick with our original rate to keep things fair among all our guests and learn a valuable lesson!
    • Reply
  • Mcskipper
    Master July 2018
    Mcskipper ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    This happens. There’s no guarantee the blocked rate is the best rate. You shouldn’t feel guilty as long as you’re not REQUIRING the guests to book your block. They can do their own shopping/research/booking. We had a number of guests who stayed at our blocked hotel but did NOT book through the block as they found a better rate via another site.
    • Reply
  • Jennifer
    Just Said Yes February 2020
    Jennifer ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    View Quoted Comment

    Nope not required - we just let our wedding party know it's where we were staying and the rates and offered to add them to our booking, and they all agreed it would be fun/convenient to stay together and nearby to the venue. I was hoping to save them a little money, but c'est la vie!

    • Reply

You voted for . Add a comment 👇

×
WeddingWire celebrates love ...and so does everyone on our site! Explore how we embrace diversity

Groups

WeddingWire article topics