When are hotel blocks necessary?

[Deleted User]

My FI's family is primarily in Central Connecticut and my family is in Eastern Massachusetts, so we chose a location close to Springfield, Massachusetts to make it more central. Because everyone is traveling a little bit to get to our wedding, some people will be staying in hotels. Is it necessary for us to reserve blocks? If so, what is the average cost/how do we go about doing this?

EDIT--Just realized I posted this in Ceremony and Vow ideas instead of Etiquette... sorry, early morning fog! Could I please have this moved to the Etiquette board?

arrrghmatey

Trying to give you an answer to the average cost question would be pointless because it depends on the area, time of year, level of hotel, etc. Asking this on your local board would give you a better answer. If you reserve a block of rooms, you usually get locked in at a special group rate for your guests.

It is not necessary to reserve room blocks. People are adults and are responsible for finding their own accommodations. But it is a nice gesture for those who are from out of town and may not know where to stay, especially if you get a special rate and it is located close to the ceremony. Just remember that your guests are not required to stay at whichever hotel you have a room block--they may find somewhere cheaper.

Call up the hotel and ask to speak to the sales/event manager in charge of group rates. Tell him/her you are interested in blocking a number of rooms for your wedding on XX date. They'll know what to do and walk you through it. 

MandyMost

The reason to reserve a hotel block is to make it easier on both you and your guests. Reserving a hotel block costs nothing for you. (Seriously--how often do you hear of something wedding related that costs nothing?!). You just call the hotel, and see if they'll set aside a block of rooms at a given rate; usually they'll "release" these rooms to the general public at a higher rate about a month before the event. You should aim to get a hotel that has a reasonable cost, and/or get a couple blocks with varying price points. A "reasonable cost" will depend on the area and your crowd...for some places anything over $100 is ludicrous, and other areas anything under $300 is a serious deal. 

It's convenient because you'll know where most of your guests are, which makes it easier if you're planning to do welcome bags at the hotel, plan any kind of transportation, or do any kind of after-party. 

Are you planning to stay at a hotel? Your parents? Bridal party? Usually the hotel you get a block in is the same hotel you're using for "wedding central", unless you get an additional one that is cheaper. 

poodledoodleooo

Ditto to the PPs. It's courteous, but not required. We actually only blocked hotel rooms because if we filled X number of rooms they would provide a free shuttle to and from the event. Almost everyone was local, but we knew our friends and family would value the shuttle service and not having to worry about driving.

blabla89

Reserving a hotel block shouldn't be any cost to you. (Side note: you also shouldn't have to give them your credit card, and ideally there should not be any penalty for unbooked rooms.) The hotel may offer a lower nightly rate for the block (but not always) and some hotels offer perks like a free extra room for the B&G, shuttle service, etc. Reserving a block isn't required but it's a nice thing to do for the convenience of your guests.

If you want to reserve blocks, find several hotels near your venue within a reasonable price range for your guests. Call the front desk and tell them you'd like to ask about reserving a block. Speak with the manager or event sales person, ask any questions you have and request a copy of their contract. Decide which hotel is best (maybe even choose two in different price ranges) and send in the signed contract.

ETA: This probably doesn't apply to you, but if there's some reason hotels in the area are likely to be fully booked on the weekend of your wedding (sporting event, convention, graduation at a nearby college, etc.) then you should block some rooms to ensure that your guests can get one.

SP29

Reserving a block is a nice gesture if you have a lot of OOT guests. Two hotels is nice, you can always do one at a lower and one at a higher price point.

The block is free for you. The hotel will reserve X number of rooms at a special rate. The rooms are then released (meaning they are no longer reserved) usually about one month prior to the event date. You can provide the hotel information on a separate insert or a wedding website. 

mlg78

There's no cost for you so since it sounds like there's traveling going on, I don't know why you wouldn't do it.  It's simple...just call up and speak to whoever handles the room blocks (in our case it was the GM).  They'll tell you how much it is so you can provide the cost to your guests and they'll give you a cut off for when they release the room block.  That's also not the end of the world...they can usually still book under the block if your guests procrastinate but they're at risk for being filled up by others.

[Deleted User]

I'd say take consideration for your guests situations when you decide whether or not you need a room block. Because I am the only member of my family living in MD, and FI's family lives downstate, we knew a room block was necessary for us. We got one at the ski resort where we are having the wedding, and will probably get another one at the hotel down the street from the resort that is a bit cheaper. We figured this is a nice gesture so guests aren't struggling to find a room if things happen to be busy that weekend. 

lc07

what @blabla89 said. 

Also, In the city I live in most hotels wanted me to be responsible for the rooms being booked as a part of our attrition clause. Basically, I was responsible for 90% of the room block being used. If only 60% of it got booked, I would have to pay for the other 30% of the unused rooms. So make sure you read your contracts/fine print. I went with a hotel that I did not have this clause, but like PPs mentioned, they released the rooms to the general public one month before the wedding date. 

wrigleyville

Isn't that the start of prime "leafer" tourist season? I'm not from that area, but I figured hotels in New England jacked-up their rates as it gets closer to October.

If that area is really popular with tourists during the fall, I'd try to get a block and lock in a decent rate. Definitely ask what the hotel's policy is regarding the date the rooms are released, if you're responsible for any rooms that don't sell, etc.

MandyMost

Also, having a room block takes some stress away from the guests, because they can just trust that you picked a decent hotel in a decent location at a decent price, and not have to do all that research themselves. 

fitvegan

We reserved a room block because that area is a popular summer concert area and room prices would have jumped up $30 if a concert ended up being that night but because we did the block it secured that room price. We also don't have to pay for unbooked rooms like most hotels so it was a win win situation for us.

huskypuppy14

wrigleyville said:

Isn't that the start of prime "leafer" tourist season? I'm not from that area, but I figured hotels in New England jacked-up their rates as it gets closer to October.

If that area is really popular with tourists during the fall, I'd try to get a block and lock in a decent rate. Definitely ask what the hotel's policy is regarding the date the rooms are released, if you're responsible for any rooms that don't sell, etc.

1st week of October (if I did the math right for her wedding date) is a little too early for southern new England leaf peeping. Most people go to New Hampshire or Vermont, not Massachusetts. October is one of the busiest wedding months around here though, so I agree she should get a block. 

Like LC07 says, make sure you don't have to cover the rooms if too few people book. They are not always free, like pp said.

badbnagdway

I agree with others, it's not required, but it is helpful to do a room block. You can usually get a lower rate on rooms for your guests by doing this. For example, in our block a room that usually costs $129 is $109. I learned when I called local hotels that each hotel does blocks a little differently. In my area the three primary types of blocks are these: 

1. A "courtesy" block with a slight discount that doesn't actually hold the room for any particular time, no charge; 

2. A block with a discount where if you do not meet the minimum room block number (generally 10 rooms) you (the host) have to buy the remaining blocked rooms (so if the minimum is 10 and only 8 get booked by the deadline you have to pay for 2 rooms). 

3. A block where the rooms are discounted and held up to a certain date (generally about 30 days before the event). If the minimum (again, usually 10 rooms) isn't met, all the guests get charged the regular rate instead of the discounted rate. 

The majority of places the third option. I personally was unwilling to go with option 2 because you just don't know how many people are going to book in the block. 

frenchiekin

huskypuppy14 said:

wrigleyville said:

Isn't that the start of prime "leafer" tourist season? I'm not from that area, but I figured hotels in New England jacked-up their rates as it gets closer to October.

If that area is really popular with tourists during the fall, I'd try to get a block and lock in a decent rate. Definitely ask what the hotel's policy is regarding the date the rooms are released, if you're responsible for any rooms that don't sell, etc.

1st week of October (if I did the math right for her wedding date) is a little too early for southern new England leaf peeping. Most people go to New Hampshire or Vermont, not Massachusetts. October is one of the busiest wedding months around here though, so I agree she should get a block. 

Like LC07 says, make sure you don't have to cover the rooms if too few people book. They are not always free, like pp said.

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SITFB

Totally agree that OP should do a block.  I'm getting married the same weekend in MA and every hotel I called said that October is their absolute busiest month (and was the reason the rates were higher than usual).  Granted, our wedding is just outside Boston so there are a lot more college-related events going on than in Springfield, but like PPs said, October is a crazy popular month around here for weddings and tourism.  

Getting at least one room block is a no-brainer, IMO.  It was free (!) and one of the most effortless things we've done so far in all of the planning.  We did a few different hotels in a range of price-points and distances to the venue.

MadHops21

For the wedding I'm going to end of next month, the groom said he actually found it cheaper to book a hotel room online than doing the blocks. I'm not sure if it's just the area (border in Indiana) or time, but they told us recommended hotels and I heard from the groom to juts book online instead for a cheaper rate. So I don't really know. 

MandyMost

MadHops21 said:

For the wedding I'm going to end of next month, the groom said he actually found it cheaper to book a hotel room online than doing the blocks. I'm not sure if it's just the area (border in Indiana) or time, but they told us recommended hotels and I heard from the groom to juts book online instead for a cheaper rate. So I don't really know. 

Sometimes you can get great deals online, particularly if there are available rooms. I'm guessing the location of the wedding is likely one that won't be fully booked up around the wedding.

For my wedding, hotels were totally booked. People who needed to book a room within a month of the wedding (because of a change of plans or whatever) after the room block had "expired" were looking at minimums of $500-$800/night! Crazy! Luckily the hotel I was working with was amazing and was able to add a couple extra rooms to my block (for about $250/night...still expensive overall, but not bad for the area. The cheapest I could get anywhere in the major areas of the city). This was in Boston, by the way.

Multiple wedding vendors had told me that October is the new #1 wedding month in the New England area, more popular than Juen, by the way!

badbnagdway

MandyMost said:

MadHops21 said:

For the wedding I'm going to end of next month, the groom said he actually found it cheaper to book a hotel room online than doing the blocks. I'm not sure if it's just the area (border in Indiana) or time, but they told us recommended hotels and I heard from the groom to juts book online instead for a cheaper rate. So I don't really know. 

Sometimes you can get great deals online, particularly if there are available rooms. I'm guessing the location of the wedding is likely one that won't be fully booked up around the wedding.

For my wedding, hotels were totally booked. People who needed to book a room within a month of the wedding (because of a change of plans or whatever) after the room block had "expired" were looking at minimums of $500-$800/night! Crazy! Luckily the hotel I was working with was amazing and was able to add a couple extra rooms to my block (for about $250/night...still expensive overall, but not bad for the area. The cheapest I could get anywhere in the major areas of the city). This was in Boston, by the way.

Multiple wedding vendors had told me that October is the new #1 wedding month in the New England area, more popular than Juen, by the way!

Yeah, the block gets your guests a discount, but the more important aspect is that it holds rooms, at least until a certain date, at a certain price. Sometimes even if a weekend doesn't seem like it would be a big popular weekend there is a convention or other large event planned that isn't on the radar. If you block rooms it doesn't mean that the guests HAVE to stay in the block, they are free to shop around, it just means you are holding space up to a certain date as an option. I wouldn't have thought our wedding weekend would be popular but apparently it's incredibly popular (early May) and also the weekend of a college graduation. I blocked rooms three months out, and currently (three weeks out) there are close to zero other options left downtown for hotels.

[Deleted User]

thanks for all your advice, everyone! Sorry I've been MIA--haven't really been on the computer much lately.

Anyway, sounds like I'll be inquiring about blocks. I incorrectly assumed that I'd have to be paying for this, but if I can get a free one, why not! It'll be a great courtesy to my out-of-town guests.