hotel block questions

Many hotels require at least ten rooms minimum for a hotel block. We did RFPs with two hotels near our venue and the discount was at least $50-75 per room and better rates than what can be found on the travel sites. If you tell the hotel how many OOT guests you are expecting they can help you with an estimate for the room block.

We were not expected to guarantee any rooms but I have heard of that. Make sure you work with the "group travel" department or something similar. Don't call the front desk or the national number or you'll get the runaround (been there, done that!) - make sure you are talking with someone from the group bookings and he/she can tell you everything you need to know.

Good luck!

Just call around and ask. I'm having my reception at a Hilton and I told them I need around 10 rooms but it may be more. They gave me a room rate of $89/night when it's usually $120 or more. They also gave me a website link I can put on my wedding website that my guests can book online. Guests need to book by a certain date or they will typically give your rooms away. It was really easy!

Speak to the Hotel's Director of Sales or Sales Manager. They can help you with blocks and booking.

I just signed a contract for the Courtyard Marriott. They will do a room block of 10 room for me. If all 10 rooms are not booked by a month prior to the wedding, they will release the rooms in the system so that the general public can buy the rooms. I will not be held responsible for the un-purchased rooms.

There should be no fee. I think it's called a "concierge block" in the business. They hold the rooms for up to a month before your wedding and then any unbooked rooms are released. I just booked through Marriott and in Northern VA, which can be quite expensive, I got a rate of $89 a night that includes breakfast and all rooms are studio suites. I had to sign a letter of intent. Read it carefully to make sure there's no hidden fees.

There is only a fee if you go over their "magic number". If you enter into a binding contract, you will often have to pay for room that do not meet 80% of the block. Usually that number is over 25 or 30. You should be fine with your low number as long as you bump it up to the minimum. Like many have said, most hotels will release it 30 days prior to the block.

You will still have to sign some paperwork, but you will know if you are signing a legally binding contract. They don't want you to assume you are going to have 50 rooms, and then 10 rooms actualize. It messes up their room inventory and rates!

Thanks. That really helps. Did you guys go check out the hotel in person or just book based on pictures?

I use to do this as a living ( block rooms) people would come to visit or call to block and we would offer I think 10% off the room.

There's a contract involved indicating a minimum number of rooms we have to save for you. Although if you don't use them all there's is USUALLY no penalty. We just release the rooms. We do ask for a cut off date to reserve the rooms then we release it back into inventory if they're not all taken up.

You will get cheaper rates if they book online with a no cancellation policy but you can't keep track of the rooms rented (if you wanted to put a little something in their room or whatever)

A room block is when you reserve a number of rooms at a hotel for out of town wedding guests. The main reason you do this is that hotels will give a discount (10-20%) when all the rooms are blocked at one hotel. With only five rooms, I'm not sure you'll get much of a discount.

There are 2 types of room blocks...

1) Courtesy room block where you get a group rate and the hotel holds rooms for you up to 3-4 weeks before the wedding.

2) Traditional room block: you get a group rate you have to guarantee around 80% of the rooms... meaning if you ask for 10 rooms and only 5 of your guests stay there, you have to pay for the other 3 yourself

Here is a set of articles that you can read to get more information about blocking rooms at a hotel for a wedding: http://grouptravel.org/wedding/frequently-asked-questions-faq-about-blocking-hotel-rooms-for-a-wedding/