Hotel/room Blocks

For us we live in a very small town with only two hotel options. Blocking rooms simply means no one else can book those rooms unless they are attending your wedding (essentially just reserving the rooms for your guests) Our guests are unfortunately not getting a discount but the rates aren't to bad anyway, I don't know if this is how it is everywhere but that's how it is for us.

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Thank you! I just always assumed by blocking off rooms for a wedding they gave you a little bit of a discount. Maybe not lol. $126 isn't that bad that's usually about what we pay when we stay at a hotel for a wedding.

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Honestly it would make more sense if they did offer a discount but whatever.. LOL

One of ours is doing a deal where if all our rooms get booked we get our room for free, but honestly I'd rather just pay full price for our room and give my guests whatever the discount would be. But who am I to tell them their wrong

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Yeah that's what ours is doing. If we book 15 rooms we get a suite for free and a free shuttle. So I guess maybe that's why the rooms aren't discounted. I mean the price isn't bad that's normal for the area.

If you haven't yet, I'd try searching for the hotel on a travel site or two and see what prices come up. If there are consistently lower prices, I might call the hotel and ask if they can do any better on the price. I think the importance of a block depends on how tough it will be to find a hotel room in the area for your date. We live is a major suburban/metropolitan area, and easily had a couple dozen hotels within easy driving distance of daughter's wedding venue, and the wedding was in the off-season, so we didn't expect availability to be a concern. We decided not to do a block and just let OOT guests know which cities/towns they might want to consider (e.g., did they want to be closer to the venue, the freeway, the beach, etc.). Many guests had a chain they preferred (rewards points, etc.), so we probably had people staying in at least 8-10 different locations, including one in an Airbnb and another at a time share near Disneyland. In the circumstances, it worked well for us.

A block is more to ensure that your guests have a chance to book their rooms before the hotel sells out. Not all hotels offer discounts with their room blocks. You may be able to negotiate the price with the hotel where they will lower it if it drops for any reason between the time you sign your contract and your wedding date.

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Thank you! I already tried searching it on different sites and they all say no deal available and to call the hotel. So my guess is they don't offer and discounts.

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Perfect. Thank you!

First off, I love your date! We are 6/7/2020.
secondly, room blocks vary by hotel including what is included as well as price and other benefits. Some just hold the rooms and others will offer more. Most depends on where you live and the hotel chain. Ask around and see what places offer.

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Thanks! My parents anniversary is 6/7, so your date is a good one as well! There is another hotel minutes away from this one I already looked into so I plan on calling them too to see what they offer.

We did room blocks at 2 different hotels, to give our guest options, and we actually got discounted rates at both. So it may just depend on the hotel and the location you are in. The fact that a shuttle is included is very nice. Is that for all guests of the hotel, or just those in your room block? If that is a benefit for just your guest, maybe that is why there is no discount?

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Yeah I was thinking because we get a free shuttle and suite if 15 rooms are booked that's why its not discounted. The shuttle is specifically for weddings and if 15 rooms are booked its free. The only concern with that is that it is only an 11 person shuttle and they will only go to the venue from the hotel and back twice. If you do the math that's not enough to fit guests in 15 rooms (if there are 2 per room). It does say on the bottom though that we can request additional rides if they have the ability. Which is nice because I'm sure that will work out, as far as I know we are at the only wedding venue in the area.

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That is really nice. I think the shuttle is worth not having a discount. And I am not sure what type of hotel it is, but $126/night seems like a pretty good deal. So I think your guests will probably be okay with that as well. Especially once they realize they don't have to worry about driving themselves to and from your venue. A 2 ride limit is odd, but at least they give you the option to add additional trips.

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I was thinking the same way. $126 is a good price/standard price for the area. It is a Holiday Inn. They also receive free WIFI (which may be standard lol IDK), breakfast and there is a pool, hot tub and a gym too and then a ride to and from the venue. I know people like my parents and grand parents will opt to driver/will already be there with me so that helps with the 11 person limit per ride. 2 trips is odd to me too.

Does the $126 include shuttle cost? Or free wifi? The Marriott we blocked at gave us a rate of $119. At the time, regular rates were $129 but prepay rates were $109. The difference was our rate would stay the same the entire year, it included free wifi, and our guests can cancel up to 24 hours out with no fee. Plus if we filled 15 rooms per night, we got a free room. I recently looked and rates per night were up to $269 (because rates increased as the hotel filled) so now our blocked rate is MUCH better!

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It includes shuttle cost if we book 15 rooms, wifi, pool, hot tub and gym access and breakfast.

Hi Jessica! I actually work in hotels sales, specifically social blocks My market (NYC) is prob a little different, but a problem you might be facing is that the hotel is not "open" for next year yet. Hotels usually open rates a year out, so since we're only just in June they haven't really started thinking of June 2020. The sales manager or whoever you're dealing with, probably quoted you what they are selling currently or BAR rate. I would monitor the rates as you get closer, maybe 6 months out and if they go below $126 they should honor the lower rate OR I would ask for a 10-15% discount what they're selling. That's pretty typical. I hope this kind of helps!

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Does the normal hotel rate include all that?

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Thank you! My wedding is the beginning of June next year so she said she would be able to quote me. But what you said makes sense. I will keep an eye on it!

View Quoted Comment Yes. Minus the shuttle that is just for weddings.