Help! Since you guys are so wise

npasquale16

FMIL is pressuring us to find accomodations for the wedding, which I understand.  So today, FI and I are going around to hotels, finding out rates and measuring distance from our place/church, etc.  We have A LOT of OOT guests, so we've got to pick something good.

My questions for you ladies--
1.  How much would be reasonable (IYO) for a hotel room for the wedding?
2.  What discount should I bargain for?  I'm not afraid to try to talk the price down for my guests, but what's a normal discounted rate to expect (on average--obvi we all live in different parts of the country)
3.  What is your experience with hotel-provided shuttles?  We were hoping to get one included so guests didn't have to worry about getting lost on the way to the reception/hotel/wherever.

Am I not thinking of any ammenties you would look for?

Thanks for the help!!!

JenGin74

Have you asked on your local board? They'll be able to give you reviews for specific hotels in your area.

I think 15-20% discount for blocking rooms is standard, but I could be wrong.

npasquale16

Local board takes too long to respond a lot of times--we're going this afternoon.
Thanks for info!

JenGin74

Maybe you could check out the hotels online before you go so you don;t waste time looking at the crappy ones

MeaghanandMichael

1. I would chose a bunch of different price options. Give people the $100.00 a night rate (or under, as long as the hotel is still decent and AAA rated) and something a step above.
2. 15% discount has been my experience
3. I would definitely try to book with a hotel that provides shuttles. However, if you are having a separate location for the church and the reception, remember that you may have to pay extra for the shuttles to bring people from the church to reception as they will not have their cars with them. I might even look into a separate shuttle service you can book all day to make runs to the various hotels.

npasquale16

Thanks so much for the advice everyone!
MilkDuds--I had no idea about attrition clauses!  I'll be on the lookout.  Incidentally, FI's fam is from IN

  I'm making my list of questions and heading out!

Nebb

I gave my guests 2 options, an expensive one and a more inexpensive one. Only 2 guests ended up using the inexpensive hotel and everyone else went to the nicer one. I would see what kind of discounts or packages they are able to offer you before you start asking for special rates, and just try to negotiate something based on what theyre offering.

SarahPLiz

I think you should save yourself time and have the hotels bid on you. I used hotelplanner.com and it was great. I just put in the number of rooms I thought we might need, and really lowballed on the price. Then the hotels came back with bids. You can compare all of them in one place before you even contact them, so the whole breakfast/airport shuttle/ smoking rooms comparison can be  done online with no pressure.

npasquale16

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_guys-wise?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:ea98154d-bf6e-423a-a6a4-eae8e540da79Post:aa3042cf-77b7-47e7-b9af-816269436444">Re: Help! Since you guys are so wise</a>:
[QUOTE]I think you should save yourself time and have the hotels bid on you. I used hotelplanner.com and it was great. I just put in the number of rooms I thought we might need, and really lowballed on the price. Then the hotels came back with bids. You can compare all of them in one place before you even contact them, so the whole breakfast/airport shuttle/ smoking rooms comparison can be  done online with no pressure.
Posted by SarahPLiz[/QUOTE]

So gladI checked here before we left!  This is a great idea and will definitely satisfy FMIL and convince her we're actually working on finding accomodations (I think she secretly thinks we don't care).

mysticl

I think I'm stealing the hotelplanner.com idea.

SarahPLiz

I'm glad I could help. You can also tell your FMIL that most major hotels won't take reservations more than a year in advance, so you are actually really early on finding accomodations.

mysticl, it was great!