Room Blocks Advise

I looked it up on Expedia first. I woudlnt take their word for it.

Do you have a hotel contact? I'd call and speak with them. Is it possible your guests are getting a "better" room option by booking through the room block? Is there something included in the room block (like breakfast) that isn't included if you don't book that way? There may be a valid reason for the price difference but, it doesn't hurt to look into it. Also, are the guests that are quoting a cheaper price booking through the hotel directly or are they using a discount hotel booking site? This may account for the difference too.

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There is nothing included in the room blocks that would raise the price. We booked the room blocks directly from the hotels, and now people are calling to book their room directly through the hotel. FH called and asked about room blocks without asking what their rates are in the first place. I have had this experience with military "discounts" as well. If you don't ask what their regular rates are they will charge you a higher price sometimes.

Military rates are often cheaper than group rates, but many hotels only offer the military rate with a valid Id and can’t give that to anyone without a military id.

you could always call them and see if they can reduce the rate. I’ve had to do this on occasion when our regular rate drops below our standard rate. It’s vey very rare but it does happen

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You misunderstood what I said. I did not say anything about offering a military rate. What I said was if you ask a hotel what their military rate is before just asking for their rate without any discounts some of them will quote you a higher price then what the regular rate is. I was just stating that I have experienced this. I know how military discounts work, as far as requiring an ID. I served. My point was that my FH didn't ask the hotel what their regular rates were, but just jumped to asking about room blocks. Now we are finding out that the hotel's regular rate is lower then what our group rate is.

Before booking our hotel blocks I checked the rate they offered against what I'd be able to book the room for on Travelocity or Expedia for that weekend to confirm that "35%" discount wasn't being overly dramatized. Remember that hotel prices fluctuate too! If the discount they offered you was only something like 6% it's possible they could've dropped their rates now to be lower than what you locked your block in at. I'd call the salesperson and mention your guests have noticed a difference and is there anything they can do to help rectify that.

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I'll have FH give them a call. He handled room blocks and I know he just called them without checking prices first. He just texted me saying he was going to cancel the room blocks because of this, so I'll have him call and ask them about it before he does anything else.

The point of this post was for people who are looking into room blocks so they don't make the mistake of not verifying prices before signing contracts with the hotels. It was a mistake on our part to not do that first and now it could effect our guests and we are trying to fix that ASAP.

I actually am sort of dealing with this now. They quoted me about the same price or like $2 cheaper. So I’d like to call them and see if I can get an even bigger discount.

The hotel where we blocked rooms originally gave us a $20 discount off of their regular rate. Ridiculous. FH contacted them and said hey, look, we wanna use you guys but other hotels in the area are offering rooms for x amount, and they were able to secure that rate for us. So they might be willing to work with you.

Our hotel original gave us 10 off their normal price. For a Hyatt I was okay with that. Since then the sales manager has called me and said my blocked has been lowered in price. But yes do need to see what pricing is out there as my cuz booked his room as a corp rate outside my block cause it was originally cheaper then the block rate but now like a dollar cheaper. But then I had to go and link him to the wedding party to hopefully make sure his room isn't on like floor five and rest on 2. That's what I like most about blocks is it allows them to try and keep family close together when they are making room assignments. The pricing is just a plus. That and sometimes if you ask the block hotel for a room for yourself for your wedding night if you aren't leaving for the honeymoon till the next days or so, they can go outside their reservation system and give you a really good price.

View Quoted Comment I'm begin to regret my hotel "block". You're right, the actual rate is cheaper than what my guests are paying. They offer a shuttle to my reception venue, so that was an attractive bonus for me. I guess that part is worth it....

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I noticed with my block that the time of year also effects the price... I am doing an August wedding by the shore, and made sure to look into room blocks last August (we are having a longer engagement so this was an option ) this way I knew what their summer pricing is/was. Some family actually got a cheaper rate due to the price difference from August to September and they booked super early due to knowing their travel plans. I also have one family member that is using rewards they have with the hotel chain so theirs is cheaper as well.

I went to the hotel website and acted as though I was going to book a room for my wedding weekend without using the block and saw that the price was the same as they quoted for the block.

So I put the room block price on my wedding website, so that people can compare before using the room block option. I figured maybe the prices go up closer to the date, but this locks in the price when I set up the block. At some hotels you have to call to get the room block (no online option), so I didn't want people to have to waste their time doing that if the price wasn't any better than what they were seeing online.

The block of rooms is typically reserved together, so part of what you get is the convenience of everyone being in the same hall or on the same floor vs scattered throughout the hotel randomly. If the hotel isn't very large, this probably won't matter at all.

Rates change all the time, so this is not surprising, I used to work in hotel sales. Everyone should shop their rates a few times a month just to make sure. Most of us got blocks a year or so out from the date when the hotel thought they were going to be full. A few months/weeks out they aren’t full and they drop the rate. It’s not maclisious, they can’t keep up with all of these contracts. Call them out and get the rate updated. I just dropped my rate from $189 to $149 at a downtown dc property.