Hotel etiquette for out of town guests

Not sure about your area, but $160 doesn't sound outrageous for a night at a Marriott....it's about $260 a night in Philadelphia. I think you'd be fine getting a small block of rooms there, and guests can always make a reservation elsewhere if they prefer to spend less. We provided a block, but also listed a bunch of non-blocked hotels in a variety of price ranges on our website so there was something for everyone.

I like twosteps suggestion

No, you do not have to have rooms reserved and many times it's preferable to allow out of town guests to simply make their own decisions where to stay. If you're only expecting 10-20 OOTs, then it's probably not worth the effort.

$160 seems fairly reasonable to me. We didn't do a room block because we figure adults know how to look up hotels around the same vicinity as our wedding. That also gives them more flexibility budget wise and what not. Who's to say your guests aren't reward members at another hotel and can get their room for free or your hotel choice(s) aren't up to their standards?

$160 doesn't seem bad at all for a Marriott. I think that you can do a room block there, but maybe also put other options available, but don't worry about a room block for those other places. But really, $160 for a hotel isn't bad! They might also give you a discount for the room block, so that could help the price come down. Our hotel on the website says its $169 a night, but with our room block, its only $129. That's the best benefit of a block. But remember, your guests are adults as well, and if they can't afford $160 after flying in, they are also able to do their own research and find a cheaper place.

If you can't do a block of hotels at a discounted price, I would just give them recommendations on hotels in the area. We found 5 or 6 hotels in the area and put those on our website for people to see. As cool as it would have been to have everyone with us in our hotel, we knew people would want to make up their own minds where to stay based on preference and price.

That's a really good price IMO. I have a block reserved at a Hampton Inn in the middle of nowhere pretty much and it's $140 per night. I would get a block of rooms. Ask them if they have a certain number of rooms you are obligated to book. For mine they are having 45 rooms reserved in the block and they will release the extra rooms 30 days in advance with no penalty.

OK I know things are slighty different in Ireland but we had 130 guests and the majority traveled at least two to four hours, about ten came from abroad. Many stayed two nights, with a good few staying three. Most people chose to stay in the hotel ( our venue) I made a list of the four closest hotels and four bnbs ( guests houses) along with a general accommodation website for the area and gave the list out with the invites. As said most just decided to stay in the hotel,but the list had different price options. You have enough to organise, best to just give the guests the information and let them book their own accommodation they will decide what they can afford.

Kathleen I just noticed that you're wedding is going to be in New Braunfels. By process of elimination I'm assuming you're talking about the Courtyard New Braunfels Village. That makes sense that their rate is $160 on a Saturday in October.

Getting married on the Guadalupe? Beautiful!

Hi fellow TX hill country bride! We are in a similar situation (wedding in Boerne). We did get a small block at one hotel and recommended the guests look at several options. We also have AirBnB, VBRO, and cabin rental into on our WW website.

We are setting up a room block at the hotel where we are getting married. In addition to providing the room block information to guests, we will also let them know the names of other nearby hotels so they will know their options.